TsAGI Talks about Current Developments at Scientific Conference ‘Germany and Russia: Ecosystems without Borders’
29 October 2020
In October, Kaliningrad State Technical University held VIII International Baltic Forum which included ‘Germany and Russia: Ecosystems without borders’, international scientific conference. TsAGI (a part of NRC “Zhukovsky Institute”) was represented by Sergey Gribkov, Senior Scientist of Department for Hydrodynamics and Industrial Aerodynamics, Academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering.
The scientist delivered two reports on TsAGI research in renewable energy.
The developments were presented at Green Energetics section. The paper Technique for testing small wind turbines by method of acceleration in the wind tunnel and in field proposed a technology for obtaining aerodynamic characteristics of a wind wheel from its acceleration intensity and its inertia moment determined experimentally as follows. A cylindrical load is attached to a wind-wheel blade; the blade is then deflected by a small angle and released. A specialist records the wind-wheel damp oscillation period in relation to the vertical position of the loaded blade. Comparing oscillation period with characteristics of the load, the specialist finds the wind-wheel inertia moment.
‘This method reduces the hours-long wind tunnel tests of wind turbines to a few minutes, and provides a relatively small rate of steady flow. Similar tests could be performed in the field as well—the wind velocity remains unchanged while the wind wheel speeds up to synchronous velocity,’ said Gribkov.
The tests were conducted in the T-1-2 wind tunnel (WT). According to Gribkov the method developed in TsAGI can be applied for testing any horizontal-axis wind turbine. The method enables a comparatively quick setting of a wind wheel, a fast determination of optimum blade angles, and allows choosing the best blade type. The method was elaborated for low-power wind turbine designers and for those developers who cannot do wind tunnel tests.
The second report, Vertical-axis wind turbines. Design technique, dealt with designing vertical-axis wind electric turbines whose rotor has arc-profiled vanes and guide vanes.
On the basis of experimental studies in TsAGI wind tunnels, recommendations are given on the choice of the aerodynamic scheme of the wind electric turbine and its geometry, which make it possible to obtain required parameters for this type of vertical-axial wind turbine. This method was used to design a modular wind electric turbine that was tested in the village of Izobilny, Stavropol Territory.
Vertical-axis wind electric turbines may prove their efficiency in Far North and in strong-wind zones. They could also be used as energy sources for solar-wind lights, as an electricity supply for mobile communication systems, for external power trucks, for navigation and coast-guard systems, and for other industrial objects.
The international conference ‘Germany and Russia: Ecosystems Without Borders’ had three sections—‘Biotechnology’, ‘Digital Ecosystems: society — ecology — economics’, and ‘Green Energetics’. The event aimed at sharing opinions related to urgent problems in energetics, ecology, food biotechnologies, healthy food production, and recycling. The conference creates opportunities for Russian-German win-win long-term research projects.