Design and realization of a Small-Scale Horizontal Wind Turbine with a Novel Blade Configuration

Abstract

This study presents the design and the realization of a small-scale horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) featuring a novel blade configuration aimed at rural electricity generation. The new blade design was derived from a 200 mm diameter PVC tube with a 3 mm wall thickness. Each of the three blades has a circular camber section with a 25° twist angle between the root and the tip, where the local pitch angle equals zero. The turbine, with a rotor radius of 1295 mm, was mounted on a conical hub and tested under real wind conditions.

The prototype was developed to validate previous numerical simulations that demonstrated good aerodynamic performance compared to conventional blade geometries. Although no precise measurement instruments were available, visual observations confirmed stable operation and effective wind energy capture. The numerical investigation, based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a realizable k–ε turbulence model, predicted a maximum power coefficient (Cp) of 0.344 — slightly higher than similar configurations reported in the literature. This experimental implementation highlights the feasibility of low-cost fabrication using PVC material while maintaining satisfactory aerodynamic efficiency for different applications.