Performance Investigation of Onipko Rotor Wind Electric Turbine (ORWET) using Dimensional and Numerical Approach

The Onipko Rotor Wind Electric Turbine (ORWET) is characterized as a small-scale horizontal axis wind turbine invented by the scientist Dr. Oleksiy Onipko. After a preliminary study on ORWET, this paper focuses on predicting the coefficient of performance (Cp) of the ORWET-110 model which is 1.128 m in diameter. Initially, two prototypes with rotor diameters of 150 mm and 250 mm are designed & manufactured respectively to conduct the experimental test. Later on, the experimental data has been used for the dimensional analysis by applying the Buckingham Pi-theorem method and a correlation between torque and diameter variations of the turbine is plotted. The equation obtained from the correlation curve is then used to estimate the power output of ORWET-110. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis has been done to compare the dimensional analysis result. An average 6.5% deviation of C
p
is observed from these two analysis results. The study also exhibits that the ORWET-110 responds well to low wind speed by generating electricity from 2.5 m/s. The compact size and versatile features of ORWET made it more suitable to use in diverse circumstances.