IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v326y2022ics0306261922012533.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Extending the operating limits and performances of centimetre-scale wind turbines through biomimicry

Author

Listed:
  • Carré, Aurélien
  • Gasnier, Pierre
  • Roux, Émile
  • Tabourot, Laurent

Abstract

This paper reports the design and fabrication of an innovative small-size propeller and its experimental testing once assembled with an electromagnetic generator. The bioinspired rotor is based on the shape and behaviour of maple samaras that optimise the aerodynamics at low Reynolds numbers. To the authors’ knowledge, it is the first samara-based wind energy harvester reported to date and one of the smallest wind turbines in the literature. The different blade angles and the number of propeller blades are optimised. A permanent magnet miniature generator with low friction ceramic bearings is used to convert rotation into electrical power. The performance of this 44 mm diameter horizontal-axis wind turbine is tested under wind speeds from 1.2 to 8 m s−1. The output electrical power measured in resistive load is between 41 μW and 81.7 mW, which leads to an overall efficiency between 2.6 (1.2 m s−1) and 17.8% (4 m s−1). Estimates of different losses in the harvester make it possible to determine power coefficient CP which reaches 28.4%. Among the miniature wind turbines in the literature, this device demonstrates one of the highest rates in terms of efficiency and power density. Moreover, thanks to its operating speed decreased to 1.2 m s−1 – the lowest in the state of the art – it presents one of the largest ranges of airspeeds for energy harvesting.

Suggested Citation

  • Carré, Aurélien & Gasnier, Pierre & Roux, Émile & Tabourot, Laurent, 2022. "Extending the operating limits and performances of centimetre-scale wind turbines through biomimicry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:326:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922012533
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119996
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261922012533
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119996?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh, Ronit K. & Ahmed, M. Rafiuddin, 2013. "Blade design and performance testing of a small wind turbine rotor for low wind speed applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 812-819.
    2. Ran Nathan & Gabriel G. Katul & Henry S. Horn & Suvi M. Thomas & Ram Oren & Roni Avissar & Stephen W. Pacala & Simon A. Levin, 2002. "Mechanisms of long-distance dispersal of seeds by wind," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6896), pages 409-413, July.
    3. Arroyo, A. & Manana, M. & Gomez, C. & Fernandez, I. & Delgado, F. & Zobaa, Ahmed F., 2013. "A methodology for the low-cost optimisation of small wind turbine performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Rivarolo, M. & Freda, A. & Traverso, A., 2020. "Test campaign and application of a small-scale ducted wind turbine with analysis of yaw angle influence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    5. In-Ho Kim & Byeong-Ryong Kim & Yeon-Jae Yang & Seon-Jun Jang, 2022. "Parametric Study on Ducted Micro Wind Energy Harvester," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, January.
    6. Rahmatian, Mohammad Ali & Hashemi Tari, Pooyan & Mojaddam, Mohammad & Majidi, Sahand, 2022. "Numerical and experimental study of the ducted diffuser effect on improving the aerodynamic performance of a micro horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    7. Dar, Arslan Salim & Armengol Barcos, Guillem & Porté-Agel, Fernando, 2022. "An experimental investigation of a roof-mounted horizontal-axis wind turbine in an idealized urban environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1049-1061.
    8. Chu, Yung-Jeh & Lam, Heung-Fai, 2020. "Comparative study of the performances of a bio-inspired flexible-bladed wind turbine and a rigid-bladed wind turbine in centimeter-scale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    9. Singh, Ronit K. & Ahmed, M. Rafiuddin & Zullah, Mohammad Asid & Lee, Young-Ho, 2012. "Design of a low Reynolds number airfoil for small horizontal axis wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 66-76.
    10. Ikeda, Teruaki & Tanaka, Hiroto & Yoshimura, Ryosuke & Noda, Ryusuke & Fujii, Takeo & Liu, Hao, 2018. "A robust biomimetic blade design for micro wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 155-165.
    11. Lipian, Michal & Dobrev, Ivan & Massouh, Fawaz & Jozwik, Krzysztof, 2020. "Small wind turbine augmentation: Numerical investigations of shrouded- and twin-rotor wind turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dogru, Safak & Yilmaz, Oktay, 2024. "Extensive design and aerodynamic performance investigation of diffuser augmented wind turbine (DAWT) guided by generalized actuator disc theory," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Rahmatian, Mohammad Ali & Hashemi Tari, Pooyan & Majidi, Sahand & Mojaddam, Mohammad, 2023. "Experimental study of the effect of the duct on dual co-axial horizontal axis wind turbines and the effect of rotors diameter ratio and distance on increasing power coefficient," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    3. N. Aravindhan & M. P. Natarajan & S. Ponnuvel & P.K. Devan, 2023. "Recent developments and issues of small-scale wind turbines in urban residential buildings- A review," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(4), pages 1142-1169, June.
    4. José Luis Torres-Madroñero & Joham Alvarez-Montoya & Daniel Restrepo-Montoya & Jorge Mario Tamayo-Avendaño & César Nieto-Londoño & Julián Sierra-Pérez, 2020. "Technological and Operational Aspects That Limit Small Wind Turbines Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-39, November.
    5. Tummala, Abhishiktha & Velamati, Ratna Kishore & Sinha, Dipankur Kumar & Indraja, V. & Krishna, V. Hari, 2016. "A review on small scale wind turbines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1351-1371.
    6. Ahmadi Asl, Hamid & Kamali Monfared, Reza & Rad, Manouchehr, 2017. "Experimental investigation of blade number and design effects for a ducted wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 334-343.
    7. Shafiqur Rehman & Md. Mahbub Alam & Luai M. Alhems & M. Mujahid Rafique, 2018. "Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade Design Methodologies for Efficiency Enhancement—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-34, February.
    8. Karthikeyan, N. & Kalidasa Murugavel, K. & Arun Kumar, S. & Rajakumar, S., 2015. "Review of aerodynamic developments on small horizontal axis wind turbine blade," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 801-822.
    9. Rahmatian, Mohammad Ali & Nazarian Shahrbabaki, Amin & Moeini, Seyed Peyman, 2023. "Single-objective optimization design of convergent-divergent ducts of ducted wind turbine using RSM and GA, to increase power coefficient of a small-scale horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    10. Ali, Qazi Shahzad & Kim, Man-Hoe, 2022. "Power conversion performance of airborne wind turbine under unsteady loads," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    11. Fan, Zhixin & Zhu, Caichao, 2019. "The optimization and the application for the wind turbine power-wind speed curve," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 52-61.
    12. Fei Zhao & Yihan Gao & Tengyuan Wang & Jinsha Yuan & Xiaoxia Gao, 2020. "Experimental Study on Wake Evolution of a 1.5 MW Wind Turbine in a Complex Terrain Wind Farm Based on LiDAR Measurements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Rocha, P. A. Costa & Rocha, H. H. Barbosa & Carneiro, F. O. Moura & da Silva, M. E. Vieira & de Andrade, C. Freitas, 2016. "A case study on the calibration of the k–ω SST (shear stress transport) turbulence model for small scale wind turbines designed with cambered and symmetrical airfoils," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 144-150.
    14. Christopher Costello & Nicolas Querou & Agnès Tomini, 2014. "Spatial concessions with limited tenure," Post-Print hal-01123392, HAL.
    15. Ikeda, Teruaki & Tanaka, Hiroto & Yoshimura, Ryosuke & Noda, Ryusuke & Fujii, Takeo & Liu, Hao, 2018. "A robust biomimetic blade design for micro wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 155-165.
    16. Erkan, Onur & Özkan, Musa & Karakoç, T. Hikmet & Garrett, Stephen J. & Thomas, Peter J., 2020. "Investigation of aerodynamic performance characteristics of a wind-turbine-blade profile using the finite-volume method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1359-1367.
    17. Zhiqiang, Li & Yunke, Wu & Jie, Hong & Zhihong, Zhang & Wenqi, Chen, 2018. "The study on performance and aerodynamics of micro counter-rotating HAWT," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 939-954.
    18. Costello, Christopher & Quérou, Nicolas & Tomini, Agnes, 2015. "Partial enclosure of the commons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 69-78.
    19. Chiarelli, A. & Dawson, A.R. & García, A., 2015. "Parametric analysis of energy harvesting pavements operated by air convection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 951-958.
    20. Silva, Paulo A.S.F. & Tsoutsanis, Panagiotis & Vaz, Jerson R.P. & Macias, Marianela M., 2024. "A comprehensive CFD investigation of tip vortex trajectory in shrouded wind turbines using compressible RANS solver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:326:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922012533. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.