Investigation of a Vortex-Based Bladeless Small Wind Power Generator with External Agitators for enhanced VIV effect

Abstract

Nowadays, electricity, which is supplied from non-renewable sources, is expensive. Alternatively, one needs to extract energy from a renewable source. The major requirement for a windmill is a wind velocity sufficient to rotate the blades or induce vibration. Bladeless wind turbines working on the vortex principle were already an option tested. In this work, a modified vortex-based small wind turbine was designed, fabricated, and tested for power generation by attaching external mechanical leaves (multi-blades) to a tapered cylindrical mast. These external multi-blades are expected to disturb the smooth wind flow across the mast, giving more oscillation or vibration. A piezo-electric conversion system uses this induced vibration for wind energy conversion. The power could be generated from the blade for domestic purposes (on a larger scale). The fabricated Model was tested for performance with a wind speed ranging from 2 m/s to 5 m/s. The cut-in velocity was 2.7 m/s, at which a 0.16µW power was generated and reached a maximum of 0.9 µW at 4.5 m/s.