[Marky]

Hi all this is my first post on the forum so here goes.

I have made a small wind turbine and was thinking on how to work out the power it generates. Please let me tell you a bit about it. 

I rotates un- loaded at 840 rpm, so I was looking at the best rpm would be about 420rpm. I was thinking on getting it to lift some weight or do some work. due to it's high RPM I was looking at getting going un-loaded and seeing how much it can lift before it stalls the blades or stops going round. for an example if it lifted a 4kg weight 1 mtr is one second that would be 39.2 watts of energy. would this be a good method to work out how much power the turbine would be rated or is this not the correct method.

Many thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Marky

[Pantaz]

Have you looked at any of the web sites dedicated to DIY wind turbines? I can remember seeing at least a couple with write-ups on how they tested different blade designs & efficiency.

[insane_alien]

you could always use OpenFOAM to simulate it if you don't want to go the prototype route.

[Marky]

Hi all and many thanks for the replies, I was looking at open FOAM but all I need is a ball part number of what it could do so I can design the PMG for proof of concept. or an alternative method of finding out what it might do. What I was looking at was how if it was 100% efficient say like a Pelton  turbine, as I have been told you need 4 times the amount of power to lift a weight. I am unable to get my head around this one

All I am saying is if the mass pushing on the blades at say at 90 degrees at 1kg and it could lift .250 of a kg at the wing speed would it be 100% or 50% efficient

Many thanks for your replies.

Marky,

[insane_alien]

I'm not sure i understand the question, are you talking about lift to drag ratios?