IDC 603 – Technical Paper

Topic – Effect of using a Convergent Nozzle on Wind Energy

produced by the Wind Turbine.

Name – Vivek Kumar Gangwar

R.No. – 160812
B.Tech .(3rd year UG in Mechanical Department, IIT Kanpur)
 Objective
To find a relation between
power produced and air
flow velocity through the
model of an external flow.
To verify the theoretical result
by using convergent nozzles of
different dimensions and
determine value of the velocity
exponent through regression of
the experimental data.
 Introduction
 Wind energy is the second most feasible and widely
used form of renewable energy.
Global Wind Energy Production in
Gigawatts from 2001 to 2016.
 Its use and importance is increasing at a very high
rate. But due to geographical restrictions, wind
energy power plant can not be setup in all parts of the
world.

 In the regions where wind turbines are setup, people

are facing issues like low efficiency and unsteady
supply of power.

 By improving the efficiency of all the turbines, we

can rely on wind energy up to great extents and
thereby stepping ahead towards a clean and
pollution-free environment.
Nomenclature
 Theoretical Formulation

RTT:

Mass Conservation:
[B=mass(m) & β=1]

Momentum Conservation:
[B=(m𝒖) & β=(𝒖)]
 External Flow Model

 Wind is flowing at (Uo) and there is an obstacle of

certain dimensions in its path.

 Control volume is defined by red box around the

obstacle.

 Velocity profile after the obstacle is assumed to be

linear with (Uo/2) at center and (Uo) at far away
locations.

 Function of velocity profile can be approximated as:

𝑈𝑜 𝑦
Ux = ( ).(1+ ) ;
2 𝐿
Uy = 0 ;
 Continue….

 The flow is considered to be incompressible which

may not be the real case.

 Flow is also considered to be inviscid flow neglecting

the friction because fluid in this case is air, although
air can create enormous drag but on large surface not
on blades of the turbine.

 Mass conservation and momentum balance can be

applied over this control volume to get ;
1. A relation between h & l.
2. External Force over this body.
Force and Power Analysis

Power produced by the

wind turbine is a strong
function of flow velocity
and by enhancing the
velocity at blades of
turbine, we can surely
increase efficiency of our
wind power plants.
 Convergent Nozzle
 By the use of continuity equation, it can be easily
deduced that
(Ao.Uo = A1.U1)

 If A1<Ao, then we have U1>Uo. This increment in

velocity depends linearly on the ratios of inlet and
outlet surface area.

 In the experimental setup, various nozzles of

different ratios of inlet and outlet area were used.
Inlet velocity of air was kept constant at (3m/s).
Convergent Nozzle
 Then Power produced was noted down for both the
cases, with and without the nozzle.
 Experimental Results

(Ao/A1) Uo (m/s) U1 (m/s) Pi (Kw) Pf (Kw)

16 3 48 0.005 20.297

9 3 27 0.005 3.618

6.25 3 18.75 0.005 1.209

4 3 12 0.005 0.315

1 3 3 0.005 0.005
Velocity Exponent (Curve fitting)

Proposed relation through

RTT showed that the power
should depend on cube of
flow velocity. Experimental
data always follows our
theoretical analysis.
 Conclusions
 Use of convergent nozzles in the present design of our wind turbines can bring a revolutionary
change in the field of renewable energy and its derivatives.

 By a small increment in flow velocity we can multiply the power production by many times.

 This can lead to setting up of new wind power plants in the countries with low wind velocity
and thereby decreasing their dependency on fossil fuels for electricity production.

 It is therefore proved that with the use of a convergent nozzle over the wind turbine, its power
production can be increased many times but there is a requirement of further research and work
to be done by design engineers.

 Major drawback seen in the structure of turbines is that their shaft and supporting pole usually
fail due to heavy size of blades (dia~35m) of the turbine. Already, the pole is overloaded and
by addition of a convergent nozzle, it will have to bear a huge load.
 Continue……
 Apart from that issue, a convergent nozzle has a huge
lateral surface area which will bring heavy surface
forces into the picture. Supporting Pole of
the turbine failed
due to unwanted
 These forces can break the structure very easily forces and loads.
because wind direction is completely unpredictable
and also real flows are unsteady apart from being
violent.

 Hence, there is a further scope of research in this field

and that requires a sincere and serious work from our
design engineers.

 If they can come up with strong and stable designs,

then wind energy can be harvested at huge scales for
domestic as well as industrial purposes.
 Acknowledgement

 The author would like to thank Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta, tutors and whole EPP team who
motivated him to do this piece of work.

 Parents and friends have been a continuous source of motivation throughout the journey.

 Not to forget, this piece of research work was possible only because of help done by Mr.
Manoj Kumar in Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, IIT Kanpur. Mr. Kumar helped a lot in building
of the experimental setup and carrying out the experiments with great care.

 A hearty thanks to everyone who contributed in writing this technical paper.

Questions?