Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
BIO-INSPIRED SMALL WIND TURBINES USING FLYING SEEDS GEOMETRY
Submission Author:
Bruno Alcantara , DF , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Bruno Alcantara, Ramiro Bertolina, Antonio Brasil Junior
Presenter: Ramiro Bertolina
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-2359
Abstract
This research paper investigates the power coefficient of falling seeds from the Pterogyne nitens tree and aims to develop a small wind turbine with blades inspired by the seed's wing-shaped geometry. The study explores the seeds' geometry, structure, fibers, weight, surface characteristics, and flight dynamics to understand their motion and potential for energy generation. High-speed cameras were used to capture the seed's position and inclination during laboratory tests, which provided parameters for rotation and descent. The results align with previous research, indicating that the falling seed from this species achieves a power coefficient of over 35$\%$. These findings offer insights into the potential for biomimicry in wind turbine design and highlight the importance of understanding natural systems for sustainable energy solutions. This research paper presents a study on various turbine models aimed at optimizing the blades and evaluating the power coefficient obtained. Numerical analysis was performed on ANSYS CFX software with the Shear Stress Transport turbulence model and a mesh model designed to accurately reflect the blade/fluid interface and the turbine wake. Several turbine designs were evaluated, varying characteristics such as blade size, pitch angle, and blade surface. The designed blades showed significant differences from traditional models, with an aspect ratio of 4.2 (as opposed to the conventional of over 10) and a larger chord length near the tip of the blade. The blades were tested as flat surfaces, enabling the study of the surface geometry rather than the wing profile. CFD results showed a power coefficient of 0.26 for the proposed turbine model. Further studies are required to improve the power coefficient extracted by the turbine, including experimenting with different aerodynamic profiles.
Keywords
Small wind turbines, Flying Seeds, Numerical Modeling with CFD
