What Are the Different Types of Wind Turbine Design?

A wind turbine ^[1] is a type of turbine that uses wind energy as its power. An aerospace research institute in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, USA has developed a wind turbine that generates electricity at half the cost of conventional turbines.

Wind turbine ^[1]

Normally, when the wind passes through the turbine, almost half of the air is forced to stay around the blades instead of passing through them, and the energy in these winds is lost. Traditional wind turbines can only use up to 59.3% of wind energy. This value is called the Betzlimit.

The design of wind turbines, borrowing from jet engine technology, overcomes a basic defect that exists in traditional wind turbines. Shrouds around the blades of wind turbines direct air through the blades and accelerate them, which increases electricity production ^[2]

The idea of shielding wind turbine blades is not new. Early designs were too large to be put into practice or performed poorly, in part because the blades must be arranged very closely to align the wind direction between 30 or 40. The new blades are smaller and can deviate from the wind direction by 150 to 200 during operation.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering say that such a design could double or triple the turbine's power output, which is credible. Part of the increased power comes from the use of shelters to direct air into the turbine ^[1]

The aerospace research institute has built small prototypes for wind tunnel testing. The next step is to build a 12-foot-diameter, 10-kilowatt system for field testing. This is followed by commercial wind turbines. Eventually the company plans to build large turbines that can reach 1 MW.