Abstract
The objective: The objective of my project was to determine the most efficient design of a wind turbine (based on the amount of voltage produced) using a combination of different blade materials, a different number of blades, and different speeds of the wind. My hypothesis is that the most efficient wind turbine will have three triangular balsawood blades at a pitch of 45° and a wind speed of 8 miles per hour (mph)..
Methods/Materials
A model wind turbine was assembled using a KidWind Energy Kit.
Triangular blades (8' long and 3' wide) were cut from balsawood, coroplast, plexiglass, and zinc metal.
A 20' oscillating fan with three speed settings (high, medium, and low) was used as a source of wind.
A homemade anemometer was used to measure the approximate speed of the wind in mph.
The first portion of the experiment was conducted by installing two blades at a pitch of 45° at various wind speeds.
The second portion of the experiment was conducted by installing three blades at a pitch of 45° at various wind speeds.
The voltage produced by the wind turbine was recorded using a simple Multimeter.
Results
My hypothesis partially matched with the results. A wind turbine with three blades produced more voltage than a wind turbine with two blades when the blade material and wind speeds were identical. A wind turbine with three plexiglass blades at a pitch of 45° and at the high wind speed setting of 8 mph produced the most voltage of 3.4 volts, followed by balsawood, coroplast and zinc metal. The most voltage produced by a two-bladed plexiglass wind turbine was 3.01 volts at a speed of 8 mph.
Conclusions/Discussion
A wind turbine with three plexiglass blades at a pitch of 45° and a wind speed of 8 mph was the most efficient. For a wind turbine with two blades, the best combination was the same as a turbine with three blades. Overall, plexiglass performed the best for all experiments.
This project is to find how different blade materials, number of blades, and the speed of the wind impact the voltage produced by a model wind turbine?
Science Fair Project done By Josh S. Dhaliwal
