SHROUDED WIND TURBINE MOBILE CHARGER

B Tech
Mini Project Report
2014
Done by
1. PRAJITH KS

ETALEME066

2. PRANAV AV

ETALEME067

3. PRAVEEN PR

ETALEME068

4. PRAVEEN PRADEEP

ETALEME069

5. PRAVEEN V PRASAD

ETALEME070

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Government Engineering College

Thrissur-680 009

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

ABSTRACT

This project discusses a novel type of energy converter that uses wind energy to
produce electricity. The objective of this project is to harvest energy from lowspeed wind flows, available while travelling in trains and buses, in order to power
and charge mobile electronic devices like mobile phone. A DC generator and
integrated circuit is used in this project to provide constant voltage supply
required for charging of mobile devices. DC motor is used as generator in the
place of AC generator with a regulator circuit comprising of different components
like Voltage regulator IC, Charging pin and capacitors for ripple free voltage
supply. The turbine is enclosed in housing instead of more common open turbines,
to utilise the venturi effect to generate maximise power. Various designs of the
housing were modelled and flow analysis was conducted on each of them in a
virtual wind tunnel using simulation software to determine various parameters
such as wind velocity, pressure and density during the fluid flow through the
housing. Several possible designs of the housing are suggested and best alternative
amongst them is determined. The system is able to charge the battery when the
wind speed exceeds 36 km/hr.This project could be used as emergency source for
charging mobile phone while travelling in a vehicle when charging outlets are not
available.

Key words: DC generator, charging, venturi effect, voltage regulator, wind

velocity, wind pressure, flow analysis, flow simulation, pressure, velocity, kinetic
energy,

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and
assistance from many people and we are extremely fortunate to have got this all
along the completion of our project work. I would not forget to thank them.
I respect and thank our project guide Prof. Jayee K. Varghese, for providing me
with all the support and guidance I required to complete the project on time. I am
extremely grateful to him for providing such a nice support and guidance though
he had busy schedule managing.
I owe my profound gratitude to our Prof. Abdul Samad, who took keen interest on
our project work and guided us all along, till the completion of our project work
by providing all the necessary information.
I would not forget to remember Mr Kesavan for their unlisted encouragement and
more over for their timely support and guidance till the completion of our project
work.
I heartily thank our head of the department, Prof Varghese Jobs, and our group
tutor Prof. Manmohan CV, for the timely information provided to us during the
completion of this project work.
I am thankful to and fortunate enough to get constant encouragement, support and
guidance from all Teaching staffs of Department of Mechanical Engineering
which helped us in successfully completing our project work. Also, I would like to
extend my sincere regards to all the non-teaching staff of department of computer
science for their timely support.

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ABSTRACT
2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
3. LIST OF TABLES
4. LIST OF FIGURES
5. LIST OF SYMBOLS
6. LIST OF SYMBOLS
7. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
8. CHAPTER 2 SIMULATION OF WIND FLOW ANALYSIS
9. CHAPTER 3PRESSURE, VELOCITY AND DENSITY
ANALYSIS
10. CHAPTER 4 CONSTRUCTION
11. CHAPTER 5 SCOPE AND CONCLUSION
12. REFERENCES

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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE1: Parameters fixed for simulation
TABLE2: Estimated wind energy harvested by different models

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Cylindrical closed pipe constructed for analysing the flow
Figure 2.a: Cut plot of X component of velocity of wind through Actual model
Figure 2.b: Cut plot of X component of velocity of wind through Test model 1
Figure 2.c: Cut plot of X component of velocity of wind through Test model 2
Figure 2.d: Cut plot of X component of velocity of wind through Test model 3
Figure 3.a: Cut plot of Total velocity of wind flowing through Actual model
Figure 3.b: Cut plot of Total velocity of wind flowing through Test model 1
Figure 3.c: Cut plot of Total velocity of wind flowing through Test model 2
Figure 3.d: Cut plot of Total velocity of wind flowing through Test model 3
Figure 4.a: Cut plot of pressure of wind flowing through Actual model
Figure 4.b: Cut plot of pressure of wind flowing through test model 1
Figure 4.c: Cut plot of pressure of wind flowing through test model 2
Figure 4.d: Cut plot of pressure of wind flowing through test model 3
Figure 5.a: Cut plot of density of wind flowing through Actual model
Figure 5.b: Cut plot of density of wind flowing through Test model 1
Figure 5.c: Cut plot of density of wind flowing through Test model 2
Figure 5.d: Cut plot of density of wind flowing through Test model 3
Figure 6: Shrouded wind turbine mobile charger
Figure 7: Turbine
Figure8: 20V DC Generator
Figure 9: IC 7806
Figure 10: Circuit Diagram
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LIST OF SYMBOLS

- E.m.f generated across the coil of generator

Eext - E.m.f required across external circuit

Emax - Peak voltage of generator output
f

- Frequency of generator output

- Density of air flowing through the housing

-velocity of flow of the air

-area of cross section

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

With rapid developments in the technology availability of mobile electronic

devices has only shown a rising trend. This tremendous increase in usage of these
devices has brought up an important problem of charging these devices on the
move. Many times circumstances arise when we are unable to charge our daily use
gadgets like mobile phones when we have to travel to a different place. But this
problem can be tackled by using energy resources charging pins powered
automobile battery and alternators, using solar panels or through hand operated
dynamo through a combination of many gears are used for charging mobile
phones. But a problem occurs when there is no sunlight or the light is not in a
proper amount. Also the person might be using a public transport system or the
automobile battery is not in a condition to charge the device. Also the use of hand
operated geared charging unit is very laborious to use and also not effective for
long. In such circumstances in order to overcome charging limitations, exploration
has been carried out with mobile phone charger based on wind energy and at
present we have come with a solution of maintaining sustainability of energy
stored in the phone battery by Wind Driven Mobile Battery Charger .This
concept utilises wind generated electrical energy to charge the mobile phones
battery.

1.1 WIND TURBINE

A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into
electrical power. A wind turbine used for charging batteries may be referred to as
a wind charger. The result of over a millennium of windmill development and
modern engineering, today's wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of
vertical and horizontal axis types. The smallest turbines are used for applications
such as battery charging for auxiliary power for boats or caravans or to power
traffic warning signs. Slightly larger turbines can be used for making small
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contributions to a domestic power supply while selling unused power back to the
utility supplier via the electrical grid. Arrays of large turbines, known as wind
farms, are becoming an increasingly important source of renewable energy and are
used by many countries as part of a strategy to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

1.2 TYPES OF WIND TURBINES

1.2.1 HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE (HAWT)

Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft
and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the
wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large
turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most
have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker
rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator.

1.2.2 VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE (VAWT)

Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged
vertically. One advantage of this arrangement is that the turbine does not
need to be pointed into the wind to be effective, which is an advantage on
a site where the wind direction is highly variable, for example when the
turbine is integrated into a building. Also, the generator and gearbox can
be placed near the ground, using a direct drive from the rotor assembly to
the ground-based gearbox, improving accessibility for maintenance.
The key disadvantages include the relatively low rotational speed with the
consequential higher torque and hence higher cost of the drive train, the
inherently lower power coefficient, the 360 degree rotation of the aerofoil
within the wind flow during each cycle and hence the highly dynamic
loading on the blade, the pulsating torque generated by some rotor designs
on the drive train, and the difficulty of modelling the wind flow accurately
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and hence the challenges of analysing and designing the rotor prior to
fabricating a prototype.

1.2.3 COMPACT WIND ACCELERATION TURBINE

Compact Wind Acceleration Turbines (CWATs) are a class of wind
turbine that uses structures to accelerate wind before it enters the powergenerating element. The concept of these structures has been around for
decades but has not gained wide acceptance in the marketplace.

1.3 SUBTYPES OF VERTICALAXIS WINDTURBINE

1.3.1 DARRIEUS WIND TURBINE
Darrieus turbines were named after the French inventor, Georges
Darrieus. They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and
cyclical stress on the tower, which contributes to poor reliability. They also
generally require some external power source, or an additional Savonius
rotor to start turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque
ripple is reduced by using three or more blades which results in greater
solidity of the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade area divided by the rotor
area. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-wires but have
an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.

1.3.2 SAVONIUS WIND TURBINE

These are drag-type devices with two (or more) scoops that are used in
anemometers, and in some high-reliability low-efficiency power turbines.
They are always self-starting if there are at least three scoops.

1.3.3 TWISTED SAVONIUS

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Twisted Savonius is a modified savonius, with long helical scoops to

provide smooth torque. This is often used as a rooftop wind turbine and
has even been adapted for ships.

Not all the energy of blowing wind can be harvested, since conservation of mass
requires that as much mass of air exits the turbine as enters it. Betz' law gives the
maximal achievable extraction of wind power by a wind turbine as 59% of the
total kinetic energy of the air flowing through the turbine.
Further inefficiencies, such as rotor blade friction and drag, gearbox losses,
generator and converter losses, reduce the power delivered by a wind turbine.
Commercial utility-connected turbines deliver about 75% of the Betz limit of
power extractable from the wind, at rated operating speed.

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

CHAPTER 2
SIMULATION OF WIND FLOW

Study of flow through the proposed model of the wind turbine is required for
determining the best design solution for the housing of the turbine. The design of
the housing must enhance the amount of kinetic energy available at the throat of
the housing. This would improve the wind energy density available at cross
sectional area of the throat. Thus proper design of the housing can improve the
energy extracted from wind. Here we conducted simulation studies on four
possible types of designs of housing.
1. Actual model
2. Test model 1
3. Test model 2
4. Test model 3
One of these models (actual model) was designed to be virtual replica of the
constructed model. We used the flow simulation add on available in SolidWorks, a
commercial simulation software to conduct the study. For the purpose of
comparison we analysed the flow by choosing a cylindrical computational domain
132cm long. One face of the cylinder was chosen for the inlet boundary condition
representing steady wind flow velocity of 10m/s (36km/hr).The boundary
condition on the other face was selected as the pressure equal to atmospheric
pressure. The throat area and length of the convergent and divergent parts of the
housing were made to be the same for each of the four models. Also the type of
material, roughness of surface, very suitable selected but the same for all models.
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PARAMETERS FIXED

VALUE

Total length of housing

32cm

Length of computational domain

132cm

Roughness of surface

10 micron

Inlet and outlet diameter

17cm

Throat diameter

9cm

Boss diameter

3cm

Free stream velocity

10m/s

Table 1: Parameters fixed for simulation

Figure 1: Cylindrical closed pipe constructed for analysing the flow

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Figure1 shows the modelling done for conducting the flow simulation. Each of the
four models were modelled in the same manner by enclosing them in similar
cylindrical closed pipe. Meshes were later created by computer for solving the
various flow parameters such as total velocity component of velocity, pressure and
density. The flow through the housing were analysed without introducing the
turbine blades. This was done because of three reasons. One, the flow of the air
through the housing with turbine is highly turbulent and therefore the cut plots
will have large variations according to the selection of planes. Two, the maximum
wind energy available at throat occurs when there is no obstruction to flow of
wind through the housing. This value obtained from each of the four models could
be compared easily without considering the complicated design of the turbine.
Third, the mass rotational speed of turbine is required to simulate the flow through
turbine. Since the speed of turbine varies with mass of blades and frictional torque
of the generator it becomes cumbersome to incorporate the effect on wind flow in
the housing after the introduction of the turbine.

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

CHAPTER 3
VEELOCITY, PRESSURE AND DENSITY STUDY

VELOCITY STUDY
Velocity of wind flowing through the housing is an important parameter which
determines the kinetic energy available for harvesting. Increase in velocity of
wind increases the kinetic energy of the wind.
By principle of continuity rate of mass flowing into a flow element should be
equal to rate of mass flow out of the element. Mathematically,

A V = constant

Equation 1

So reduction in area increases the velocity of wind flow through the reduced
section. This is called venturi effect there is a limitation as to how much the area
of throat can be reduced. When the velocity of flow approaches 0.3 mach the flow
starts becoming compressible. When this happens the velocity of flow doesnt
increase even if inlet flow rate is increased.
Figure 1.1 a, b, c, d (next page) shows the cut plots for the X component of
velocity of wind in the X-Y plane within the preset computational domain. The cut
plots show variation in the x component of wind velocity by using a false colour
image with a colour scale. It may be noted that the colour scale varies with the
each model. It can be observed that in the actual model peak x-velocity at throat is
only 13.56 m/s. It is also to be noted that major region of the flow outside the
actual model consists of high velocity wind which cannot be harvested since
turbine is placed inside the housing. There is major restriction to wind flow as the
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velocity at inlet is only 6m/s while the free stream velocity is 10m/s. This shows
that the design of actual model has to be improved for more efficient housings.
The Test models show better x-velocity profile. The velocity of flow outside the
Test models never exceeds the x-velocity at the throat. The throat x-velocity of
Test model 1 is especially promising at 18.94 m/s. Peak throat x-velocity for Test
models 1 and 2 are 18.05m/s and 17.18m/s. Negative x-Velocity occurs on outer
side of housings. This indicates the formation of turbulent vortices.

Resultant velocity or total velocity profile shown in figure 3.a, b, c and d also
shows similar trends. However there are no negative velocities since on
magnitudes are considered. The peak throat velocity for actual model is 14.95m/s
and for Test models 1, 2 and 3, the peak throat velocities are 19.13m/s, 18.18m/s
and17.18m/s.
The net kinetic energy available per second from wind flowing at the throat can be
calculated using the formula
KE=1/2 AV3

Model

Equation 2

Total

KE at throat after

Assuming 50% turbine

available KE

Accommodating

and electrical losses

at throat

Bethz limit of

Possible output power

59%
W
Actual model
Test model 1
Test model 2
Test model 3

11.34
23.75
20.39
17.20

W
6.69
14.01
12.03
10.15

W
3.34
7.01
6.01
5.08

Table 2: Estimated wind energy harvested by different models

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PRESSURE STUDY

Figure shows the cut plot of variation of pressure of air flowing through the
different models. Common to all pressure cut plots there is a low pressure region
generated at the throat of the housing. This indicates a drop in pressure energy
.This drop in pressure energy is converted to kinetic energy of air. Comparing the
figure 3.a, b, c and d and figure 4.a, b, c and d shows an overlap between regions
of high velocity and regions of low pressure.
In the inlet portion of each model there is a sudden increase in pressure before it
lowers as it reaches the throat of the housings. This is due to sudden obstruction
offered to the free wind stream at the inlet.

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DENSITY STUDY

Figure 5.a, b, c and d show us the cut plots of variation of density of air flowing
through the different models. The respective colour scale show that the variation
of density of air is of the order of 10 -3 when the colour changes from red to blue.
This indicates that the flow is incompressible. This observation was expected as
the velocity of air should exceed threshold limit of 0.3 mach for the flow to be
compressible. The velocity of wind never exceeds 0.06 mach (20m/s).

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CHAPTER 4
CONSTRUCTION
The constructed model consists of four main components that is the turbine, DC
generator, chip integrated on PCB for voltage regulation, and mobile set charging
pin.

Figure 6: Shrouded wind turbine mobile charger

Turbine
A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from
a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. A turbine is a turbo machine with at
least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum
with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and
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impart rotational energy to the rotor. The turbine used in the model has 7 blades.
In a wind turbine as number of blades increases, for a given mass, its efficiency
increases. Wind turbines use an airfoil to generate a reaction lift from the moving
fluid and impart it to the rotor. Wind turbines also gain some energy from the
impulse of the wind, by deflecting it at an angle.

Figure 7: Turbine
20 volt D.C Generator
A simple D.C generator is preferred over the A.C generator so as to
avoid the use of rectifier circuit and to make the circuit cheap and compact and
also to avoid extra cost. The main difference in the A.C and D.C generator lies in
the manner in which the rotating coil is connected to the external circuit
connecting the load.

Figure8: 20V DC Generator

In an A.C generator both end of the coil is connected to the external circuit via
brushes. In this manner, the e.m.f Eext in the external circuit is always the same as
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the e.m.f E generated around the rotating coil. In a D.C generator the two ends of
the coil are attached to the different halves of a single split ring which co-rotates
with the coil. The split ring is connected to the external circuit by means of metal
brushes. The combination of split rings and the stationary metal brushes is called a
commutator. The purpose of the commutator is to ensure that the e.m.f Eext in the
external circuit is equal to the e.m.f E generated around the rotating coil for half
the rotating period, but is equal and opposite of polarity of this e.m.f for the other
half. In the special case as theoretical, the e.m.f seen in the external circuit is
simply.
Eext = E =Emax sin (2ft)

Equation -3

If Eext is plotted as a function of time according to the formula, the variation of the
voltage with respect to time is very similar to that of an A.C generator, except that
when the negative polarity of an A.C generator is reversed to the positive one by
the commutator. So, as to avoid the use of diodes in the A.C generator D.C
generator is preferred. So, as a result a bumpy DC which rises and fall but never
changes the direction is achieved at the output terminals of the generator.

I.C 7806
I.C. 7806 voltage regulator employ built in current limiting, thermal shutdown,
and safe area protection which make them virtually immune to damage from
output overload. With adequate heat sinking it can deliver in excess of 0.5 A of
current. The most prominent voltage for charging the mobile phones is 5 Volts. So,
I.C 7806 is used as a regulator. A diode is connected in series to the output to
prevent current flowing in the reverse direction. 0.5V is dropped across the diode.
So the output voltage is regulated to about 5.5V.The Figure 9 shows the circuit
diagram of the voltage regulator.

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Figure 9: IC 7806

Figure 10: Circuit Diagram

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CHAPTER 5
SCOPE AND CONCLUSION

A portable wind powered charging unit of great relevance in the current scenario.
As observed from velocity and pressure cut plots test model 1 is suitable design
for efficient wind power harvesting. High voltage dc brushless generators could
improve the efficiency of the system so that power output could be stepped up to
10 watts. The size of the turbine is one of the limitations of the model.
Smaller turbines could be designed at the expense of lowered power rating for the
charger. Designing smaller, lightweight and efficient turbines can help in
improved efficiency. The turbine could be designed as easy to knock down unit to
enhance portability. The design of the housing could be extended to large scale
power generation since this size of the turbine could be reduced.
Further simulation studies could be conducted involving various other parameters
such as lengths of convergent and divergent part of the housing. This could further
enhance the efficiency the turbine.

Department of ME, GEC, Thrissur

REFERENCES
Douglas, Fluid Mechanics, Pearson Education
R.K. Bansal, Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines
D. S. Kumar, Fluid Mechanics, S K Kataria & Sons
F. M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 5th Edition, McGraw Hill
Yuji Ohya, Takashi, Karasudani , Xing Zhang, Shrouded Wind Turbine

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