Jet Wind Turbine - A Concept for High Efficiency Wind Power

It is becoming necessary to fully understand how to improve wind turbine efficiency, as energy consumption and cost reaches record-breaking levels. The cost of oil and nonrenewable resources is skyrocketing, and the depletion of these resources will require a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy source. An improvement in wind turbine efficiency will allow the limits of today to be surpassed, and someday be able to extract all of the energy from the wind with only a few improvements in technology. One such method of improving turbine efficiency is a Diffuser augmented wind turbine (DAWT) as an improvement to the conventional horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). DAWTs are simply a HAWT with a trumpet-bell-shaped diffuser surrounding the rotor blades and extending aft. A DAWT is claimed to have a greater efficiency than conventional HAWTs, even possibly higher than the Betz limit, because the diffuser allows for a greater pressure drop across the rotor blade. DAWTs offer additional advantages in addition to increased augmentation, including minimal tip speed losses, and small rotor diameter that increases RPM and thus generates more power.... Mehr