Study of an air-activated flat vertical axis wind turbine

The growing energy demand and scarcity of fossil fuels turning the present world towards renewable energy sources. Wind energy can be a solution that can meet the demand up to a certain extent. The giant turbines come with many limitations. Meanwhile, several new turbine designs are coming with individual as well as commercial solutions. Most of the existing wind turbines are either lift or drag-driven with their individual merits and demerits. In the present study, an air-activated hybrid-type flat vertical axis wind turbine has been investigated. The turbine model and its functioning have been described here. The mathematical model is developed to address the behaviour of the turbine. To justify the hybrid nature, individual drag, and lift force components are examined. Further, the torque and resulting output power from the turbine have been calculated and presented. The turbine showed a cut-in speed of 4.59 m/s. At a wind speed of 7 m/s, the maximum drag and lift forces are found as 2.401 and 0.065 N, respectively. At the same wind speed available torque is observed as 0.028 N-m and the resulting output power is 6.41 W.