The design of a windmill rotor is critical for harnessing wind energy. In this work, a study is conducted to optimize the design and performance of a rotor blade that is suitable for low wind conditions. The windmills’ rotor blades are aerodynamically designed based on the SG6043 airfoil and wind speed data at local selected sites. The aerodynamic profile of the rotor blade that can provide a maximum power coefficient, which is the relation between real rotor performance and the available wind energy on a given reference area, was calculated. Different parameters, such as blade shapes, chord distributions, tip speed ratio, geometries set angles, etc., were used to optimize the blade design with the objective of extracting maximum wind power for a water pumping system. Windmill rotor of 10.74 m, 7.34 m, and 6.34 m diameter with three blades were obtained for the selected sites at Abomsa, Metehara, and Ziway in south-east Ethiopia. During the rotary blades performance optimization, blade element momentum (BEM) theory and solving iteration by MATLAB® coding were used.
Towards automation of wind energy rotor blade production: a review of challenges and application examples
