Journal 4-4 Max Bardowell 4-28-08

Most Efficient Blade Angle for Wind Turbines

Answer to Last Week’s Question: Tesla died of heart failure alone in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel, some time between the evening of January 5 and the morning of January 8, 1943, at the age of 86. Despite selling his AC electricity patents, Tesla was destitute and died with significant debts. Later that year the US Supreme Court upheld Tesla's patent number U.S. Patent 645,576 in effect recognizing him as the inventor of radio.

wikipedia.com

Last week we were asked to design and then carry out a lab plan based around the wind turbine models we had built earlier in the week. Designs for our turbine called for a blade that was cupped toward the back edge of the blade in order to more effectively catch the wind. With the addition of this feature, we would also need to determine what angle, in relation to the front edge of the turbine, the blade should be turned to, to achieve the maximum output/ input efficiency. This was tested by recording the output energy at a series of different blade angles, from 30 degrees to 180 degrees, and then calculating the output efficiency for each. The 30 degree angle produced the highest output efficiency: .0276 watts, while the next highest angle, 45 degrees, only produced an efficiency of .0197 watts. My findings supported my hypothesis, as the wind passing over the blades at a 30 degree angle has the greatest combination of both blade surface area and catch. In order to produce a turbine with the most efficiency output, it is necessary to create a blade that has a cupped edge to catch the wind. However, you must first determine what angle, in relation to the front edge of the turbine, the blade should be turned to, to achieve the maximum output/ input efficiency. The results gained from this experiment could be very applicable to any future designs of wind turbines, where the maximum efficiency that can be gained from the least amount of material is optimal.

I also learned that the construction of your materials must be sound before you even design an experiment to surround them, as faulty equipment will disrupt the flow and findings of an experiment. I also learned that measurements must be precise, as flawed measurements will carry through the entire experiment, affecting the final results and thus the answer to the initial question posed.

Question: Who is the leading manufacturer of wind turbines?