The Study on Optimizing the Automatic Adjustment Mechanism of Blade-Pitch for Small Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Though horizontal axis wind turbines have high power coefficient, they need to have yaw correction mechanism and strong wind protection devices. Mid and large sized wind turbines are equipped with blade-pitch correction system (BPCS) mainly for keeping the rotor rotate in a constant speed so that the electric power generated can be fed directly into the power grid. The blade-pitch correction system also plays an important part in strong wind protection but costs a fortune. Relatively, the low-cost small wind turbines, which are the main exported goods of Taiwan’s green industry, are not equipped with one due to the cost consideration. In our last research project (NSC99-2221-E-182-047) supported by Taiwan’s National Science Council (NSC) a simple BPCS was designed to carry out similar functions as those in the mid and large sized wind turbines do. However, in our recent project (NSC100-2221-E-182-063) we found several problems in the BPCS. They can be summarized in three aspects: (1) the three blades do not act synchronized; (2) the system needs a damping mechanism; (3) the direction of blade-pitch correction under strong wind is incorrect. In this project we propose several concepts of solution and hopefully correct the problems. The objectives of this project are designing, fabricating, and testing a blade-pitch synchronizing mechanism, a damping mechanism, and an optimized blade-pitch adjustment system. The optimal goal of this project is to transform the laboratory technique into practical production technique in order to promote the final product value and attract buyers.

Project ID:PB10108-2792
External Project ID:NSC101-2221-E182-038