S051021 Performance of a Drag-type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Variable-pitch Flat Plate Blades : Effects of the End Plates and Ribs of Blades

Abstract

This paper describes the performance of a drag-type vertical axis wind turbine with variable-pitch simple flat plate blades. The pitch of the blades was controlled using a chain and sprockets arrangement to ensure that the blades rotated around their own longitudinal axes by only 180° during the each full revolution of the main rotor. To improve the performance of this wind turbine, the effects of the end plates and the ribs of the blades were investigated. The power coefficient of the wind turbine with variable-pitch blades depends on the turbine solidity, and that with the end plates increased more than that without end plates. However, the power coefficient of the wind turbine with the ribs decreased more than that without the ribs.