Energy & Environment II

HW#7

Due, Friday, February 22, 2002

 

We have learned that the tangential force pulling the turbine blade in its direction of rotation is:

 

FT = Lsinf - Dcosf

 

The angle f is expressed as:

 

f = a + g

 

where  a = angle of attack

            g = blade set angle.

 

For the airfoil section discussed on page 286 of the text, the lift and drag coefficients are:

a (degrees)

CL

CD

-4

0.11

0.009

0

0.33

0.015

4

0.60

0.030

8

0.92

0.059

12

1.13

0.086

16

1.43

0.143

 

The equation above is rewritten in terms of the lift and drag coefficients as follows:

 

FT = ½rVR2A(CLsinf - CDcosf)

 

where  r   = air density

            VR = relative velocity (VR2 = U12 + VT2)

            U1 = velocity magnitude of air approaching the turbine blade

            VT = tangential velocity magnitude of turbine blade

            A   = planform area of the section of turbine blade being considered = cDr

            c   = chord of turbine blade section

            Dr =  length of turbine blade section

 

A.     For each of the following ratios of VT/U1, find the maximum value of the tangential force coefficient (CLsinf - CDcosf), and find the angles a and g corresponding to the maximum tangential force coefficient:

 

VT/U1 = 0.5, 1.5, 3.0, 5.0, 8.0, 10.0

 

B.     Plot the maximum values of the tangential force coefficient and the corresponding a and g angles versus VT/U1.

 

C.    Discuss the turbine blades (a and g) you would use for each of the following cases:

 

1.      A multi-bladed wind turbine (pumping turbine) at its tip and near its hub (axis).

 

2.      A two-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine at its tip and near its hub.

 

Note: For parts A and B, you should use a spread sheet for your analysis and plotting.