EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE DIFFUSER-AUGMENTED WIND TURBINE CONCEPT

The surface area requirements of an efficient diffuser have been reduced by innovative use of the external wind to produce a cost-effective wind energy conversion system (WECS). Three sets of tests were conducted on very compact diffusers: 1) on small-scale models using screens to simulate a real turbine; 2) on ten times larger scale models with screens; and 3) on a real turbine. The first-generation nonoptimized diffuser-augmented wind turbine (DAWT) configuration is a conical, 60 deg included angle diffuser with an area ratio of 2. 78 controlled by two tangential injection slots for boundary-layer control. This baseline model provided over three times the power of a conventional WECS with the same turbine efficiency, diameter, and free wind. An optimized configuration should provide augmentations greater than four.