DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION OF VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE USING AVP

Abstract

This investigation focuses on the development and performance optimization of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) by using Asymmetric Vortex Provider (AVP). This experiment has been carried out at BAUST campus, Saidpur where the local velocity is much lower than the coastal areas. The objective was to build a VAWT with a very low starting speed as well as performance optimization which have been accomplished by using 6 blade section AVP made of PVC. This study shows that after using AVP, this VAWT is capable of producing power at very low wind speed under different conditions. It also depicts that using AVP doesn’t increase the moment of inertia whereas it increases the RPM tremendously at any wind speed along with the turbine efficiency. The RPM was measured and compared at different conditions and it shows that at the same wind speed, the rpm of VAWT with AVP is much higher than the rpm of VAWT without AVP. The local velocity of the turbine is also increased by using AVP. This whole investigation suggests that, AVP can be a solution for those areas where wind speed is not enough to rotate the turbine blade to produce electric power.