查看文章

Among all renewable energy resources wind energy is the more widely using form. The highly fluctuating behaviour of wind rises the need for an optimized blade design for various wind energy capturing devices for ensuring maximum usable power output. In this work, based on the real experimental data of an already established wind turbine (Nordtank 150kW) a new optimized design is generated and compared with results of existing literatures. The objective function of this optimization was to maximize the Annual Energy Production (AEP) and to minimize the Blade Mass. The genetic algorithm optimization method employed here allowed a means of tackling the multi-objective problem such that the aerodynamic characteristics of the blade can be optimized for a particular wind speed range with structural constraints. This problem of optimization is done by using an open source horizontal axis wind turbine optimization code developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL). The aerodynamic optimization was done with Blade Element Momentum theory and structural optimization was done based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. In optimization the actual single airfoil type used is replaced with a span wise arrangement of 3 different airfoils. The resulted blade design from optimization offered substantial improvements in aerodynamics of blade and hence by consistent performance within the range of design points than the reference design.