A Study on Improving the Blades of a Three-Blade Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine for Agricultural Areas Using a Laboratory Made Model

Since Iran is considered a windy country due to its proximity to the sea and the presence of the Alborz and Zagros plateaus. It is necessary to implement mechanisms to increase the production capacity of low-bladed wind turbines. The aim of this study was to determination the optimum parameters of the turbine including: angle of the blade, surface of the conical ratio of the blade and surface of the location of the maximum arc of the chord length. A 3-blade wind turbine was designed and built in a laboratory scale. The thickness of each blade was 20% of the chord length and a thickness of camber was 6% of the chord length. The results showed that the difference between the powers obtained from the experiment at different wind speeds, angles, the location of the maximum arc and the conical ratio of the blade has a significant difference. Results of Duncan's test presented that 15 degrees angle with the average power of 0.8612 W from five levels of blade attack angle, 100% level with the average power of 1.17 W from three levels of the conical ratio of the blade, 30% level with the average power of 0.8139 W from three levels of maximum arc location and 12 m/s with the average power of 1.078 W from three levels of wind speed have the highest productive power. In addition, the interaction of variables (blade attack angle, taper ratio, maximum arc location and speed) is significant and in the model with 15 degrees attack, 100% cone ratio, 30% maximum arc location and 12 m/s wind speed was an optimal model for producing more power.