Bioinspired turbine blades offer new perspectives for wind energy

Abstract

Wind energy is becoming a significant alternative solution for future energy production. Modern turbines now benefit from engineering expertise, and a large variety of different models exists, depending on the context and needs. However, classical wind turbines are designed to operate within a narrow zone centred around their optimal working point. This limitation prevents the use of sites with variable wind to harvest energy, involving significant energetic and economic losses. Here, we present a new type of bioinspired wind turbine using elastic blades, which passively deform through the air loading and centrifugal effects. This work is inspired from recent studies on insect flight and plant reconfiguration, which show the ability of elastic wings or leaves to adapt to the wind conditions and thereby to optimize performance. We show that in the context of energy production, the reconfiguration of the elastic blades significantly extends the range of operating regimes using only passive, non-consuming mechanisms. The versatility of the new turbine model leads to a large increase of the converted energy rate, up to 35%. The fluid/elasticity mechanisms involved for the reconfiguration capability of the new blades are analysed in detail, using experimental observations and modelling.

Three tidal turbines in interaction: An experimental study of turbulence intensity effects on wakes and turbine performance

“…In fact, small blade movements have been cancelled, so the energy losses are lower and an increased force is acting on the turbine. Conversely, this could be an argument proving that passive blade deformation or movement can increase the working range of the turbine as recently suggested by Cognet et al [37] in the wind energy framework. This suppression of small blade movements probably also explain the lower fluctuations of C P and C T experienced by the actual turbine for the higher T SR.…”

A Rudimentary Computational Assessment of Low Tip Speed Ratio Asymmetrical Wind Turbine Blades

“…This paper presents the computational numerical investigation of the bio-inspired vertical axis wind turbine in 2D in order to study the credibility of the proposed design relative to proposed morphology and outline design feature. Literature review indicated that bio inspired wind turbine design has improved the efficiency of the turbine as shown in research conducted by Fish, et al [20] and V. Cognet [21]. In this research the proposed design was modelled using Savonius wind turbine's configuration as reference and benchmark.…”

Bio-inspired aerofoilts for small wind turbines

“…Wind turbines tend to be subject to deflections due to aerodynamic loading during operations, and the use of flexible blades as a form of passive pitch control has been previously explored. Wind tunnel studies have shown that an elasto-flexible lifting surface increases the chamber thus increases lifting capabilities and postpones stall onset [7], preventing the sudden drop in lift, and has been shown to increase the energy production of the wind turbine by up to 35% [8].…”