Design criteria and CFD analysis of a small wind turbine installed at Banihal top in snow bound high altitude area: A case study

To explore wind energy in high altitude Himalayan region a small wind turbine of 10 kW capacity is installed at the altitude of 2900 m at Banihal top (Jammu and Kashmir, India). Wind data from 1997 to 2007 are analysed to evaluate the capacity of wind power at the site. The design wind speed 14 m/sec is found with 2.5 Weibull k-factor. The hump of the ridge line is considered for installation of wind turbine. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the wind profile is carried out for the DEM of the area to obtain optimum height 8m of wind turbine tower. The standard IEC 61400-2 is adopted for designing S-special class small wind turbine for average rated wind speed 14 m/s. The wind turbine blade is selected after considering its fatigue and permissible bending stress at extreme wind speed of 35 m/sec at the site during 1997-2007. CFD analysis at different wind speed and angle of attack is carried out on the selected blade airfoil NACA 23015 for their optimum value. Lift and drag force coefficients are analyzed at various velocity and angle of attack with the help of ANSYS Fluent software. The cut-in speed of wind is decreased from 3.5m/s to 3.0 m/s by changing the angle of attack from 14° to 16° and by increasing effective swept area with special attachment to the hub. It helped to increase the efficiency and performance of wind turbine at low wind velocity without changing the blade profile and its length.