In this paper, we examine existing literature on the way that the number of blades of a wind turbine affects its efficiency and power generation. A wind turbine blade is an important component of a clean energy system because of its ability to capture energy from the wind. The power that a wind turbine extracts from the wind is directly proportional to the swept area of the blades; consequently, the blades have a direct effect on power generation. The number and configuration of the blades is very important because it affects the speed and efficiency of turbine. Unfortunately, as the number of blades increases, so does the slipstream effect. Too few a number of blades results in poor efficiency and thus inadequate performance. Too large a number of blades increases weight and production cost. The correct number of blades is important to fit the generator performance curve to optimize overall turbine performance and efficiency.
The global population is moving away from fossil fuel technologies due to their many disadvantages, such as air pollution, greenhouse gases emission, global warming, acid rain, health problems, and high costs. These disadvantages make fossil fuels unsustainable. As a result, renewable energy is becoming more attractive due to its steadily decreasing costs. Harnessing renewable energy promises to meet the present energy demands of the African continent. The enormous renewable energy potential available across the African continent remains largely untapped, especially for wind energy. However, marginal and fair wind speeds and power densities characterize African wind energy resulting in low and unsustainable power in many areas. This research develops a techno-economic model for wind energy cost analysis for a novel, Ferris wheel-based wind turbine. The model is used to techno-economically analyze the siting of wind turbine sites in low wind speed areas on the African continent. The wind turbine’s technical performance is characterized by calculating the annual energy production and the capacity factor using the wind Weibull probability distribution of the cities and theoretical power curve of the wind turbine. Its economic performance is evaluated using annualized financial return on investment, simple payback period, and levelized cost of electricity. The techno-economic model is validated for 21 African cities and shows that the Ferris wheel-based design is very competitive with four current, commercial wind turbines, as well as with other sources of energy. Hence, the new wind turbine may help provide the economical, clean, renewable energy that Africa needs.
The design and development of wind turbines in low-wind-speed areas involves several technical and financial challenges related to maximizing conversion efficiency and minimizing cost. Unfortunately, much of the African continent is dominated by low-wind-speed resources. In this study, a multi-parameter optimization method is used to explore the design of a novel Ferris wheel wind turbine (FWT) technology, which has an 800-kW generation capability. We used the tip speed ratio, lift-to-drag ratio and power coefficient to determine the optimal efficiency by varying the number of blades and rim diameters. The capital cost estimates, as affected by rim diameter and the number of blades, are presented. This paper studies FWTs at their rated wind speeds because wind turbines have their maximum performance at the rated wind speeds, and this allows one to observe the effects of changing the rim diameter and the number of blades without the need to consider the location of the turbine. The results show that reducing the number of spokes by half (from 64 to 32) on the four rim diameters studied decreases the efficiency by less than 0.19%, while reducing the acquisition cost by 42%, installation cost by 42% and mass by 28%. Reducing the number of spokes to a quarter (i.e., from 32 to 16) decreases the efficiency by less than 0.31%, reduces the acquisition and installation costs by 36% and 35.5%, respectively, and the mass by 19.2%, of the four rim diameters studied. The reduction of the number of blades has a significant effect on the efficiency and capital cost with varying rim diameters. This paper shows the potential for Ferris-wheel-based wind turbines for low-wind-speed conditions, such as those that prevail in parts of Africa.
This paper posits that a low-speed wind turbine design is suitable for harnessing wind energy in Africa. Conventional wind turbines consisting of propeller designs are commonly used across the world. A major hurdle to utilizing wind energy in Africa is that conventional commercial wind turbines are designed to operate at wind speeds greater than those prevalent in most of the continent, especially in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). They are heavy and expensive to purchase, install, and maintain. As a result, only a few countries in Africa have been able to include wind energy in their energy mix. In this paper, the feasibility of a novel low-speed wind turbine based on a Ferris wheel is demonstrated for low wind speed applications in Africa. The performance of Ferris wheel wind turbines (FWT) with 61 m (200 ft), 73 m (240 ft) and 104 m (341 ft) diameter rims and an 800 kW generator are evaluated for selected African cities. The research also compares the Weibull wind distribution of the African cities of interest. A comparison between the FWT and the conventional commercial wind turbines in terms of efficiency, rated wind speed, cost, performance, and power to weight is included. Results show that the FWT has the potential for economic power generation at rated wind speeds of 6.74 m/s, which are lower than the average of 12 m/s for conventional wind turbines and have lower power to weight ratios of 5.2 kW/tonne as compared to 6.0-9.2 kW/tonne for conventional wind turbines.
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