Semester Award Granted

Spring 2025

Submission Date

May 2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Oscar M. Curet

Abstract

Wind turbines provide renewable energy but must be installed at suitable locations to maximize power generation. Applying duct geometry to wind turbines can increase output power, allowing for the integration into urban applications where space is limited, and visual pollution must be minimized. Therefore, the objective was to determine the change in output power for a wind turbine with variable area ducting comprised of a converging inlet nozzle and a diverging outlet diffuser. Parametric studies of 3D-printed models were conducted in a low-speed wind tunnel at 5 m/s to determine the optimal duct angle and area ratio with the greatest power output. Power was measured from an electrical load applied with a potentiometer to a turbine with a 47 mm blade diameter. For the small-scale model and low-speed test conditions, the addition of variable geometry improved the output power when compared to a constant area duct surrounding the turbine. The best performing nozzle with an area ratio of two and a double contraction angle of 90°had a power increase of 53.7%. The best performing diffuser with an area ratio of two and a double expansion angle of 10° had a power increase of 93.0%. However, when comparing the variable area duct geometry to a bare turbine with any ducting, minimal power improvement and even power reduction was observed. Lastly, combining both an inlet and outlet diffuser, resulted in an 84.4% power increase compared to the turbine with a constant area duct despite a smaller inlet area. This test case also resulted in the highest wind power harnessed per inlet area at 6.80 W/m2 compared to 4.87 W/m2 for the bare turbine.

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