Noise effects of blade characteristics in wind turbines

Wind energy is one of the world's leading renewable energy sources today. Due to the rapid development of wind turbine technology, wind energy has become one of the possible alternatives to fossil energies. That is why giant wind turbines are being built to generate more than 12 megawatts of power, like offshore turbines. However, these turbines not only benefit people by producing clean energy; but it also has disadvantages and the potential to harm the environment. The aim of this study is to examine the noise effects of blade characteristics in wind turbines. The characteristics of the wing in this study can be divided into eight main headings: Aerodynamic properties, twist angle, blade materials, tip speed ratio, blade shape, blade thickness, blade loads and smart wing. By examining the blade characteristics separately and determining the effects on noise and power for each, an improved rotor is proposed by combining all the features. Blades were designed in SOLIDWORKS 2019 environment. Ansys Fluent 2019 R3 program was used to simulate the air flow conditions around the turbine and to obtain the results of its interaction with the rotor blades. The study is aimed to help understand the noise of wind turbines and the effects of noise on electrical energy production, and thus show the way to increase energy efficiency as well as reduce noise. The analysis results were compared with the acoustic noise measurements of the 12% scale model of the NREL Phase VI wind turbine constructed in the low-speed wind tunnel of the Korea Aviation Research Institute. The results of turbine blade characteristics analysis were compared with noise and power measurements at different wind speeds (7 m/s, 10 m/s, 13 m/s, 15 m/s, 20 m/s, 25 m/s). The results showed the best agreement with the experimental results at a speed of 10 m/s. In addition, the improved rotor results proposed in this study showed an average of 95% increase in power and 11,25% decrease in noise at 10 m/s speed.