Experimental Evaluation of a Recycled-Material Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) with Passive Directional Flap Mechanism

Development of cost-effective and decentralized power in rural areas is one of a need in today's era. The valorization of waste and recycled materials for product development is a vital option for promoting sustainable resource management. The present study focuses on the development of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) by using recycled materials, followed by an In Situ experimental performance evaluation. The unidirectional rotation of the turbine is achieved by a Passive Directional Flap Mechanism (PDFM), which is intended to mitigate the negative torque generated on the returning blade during rotation. The main performance parameters, i.e., power coefficient (Cp) and torque coefficient (Cm) were found. The maximum power coefficient (Cp) of 16.51\% was harnessed at a wind speed of 9.3 m/s (Re = 398,526), at a tip speed ratio (TSR) of 0.42. For all investigated Reynolds numbers, the maximum torque coefficient occurred at the minimum TSR. An empirical correlation between TSR and Cp was developed for the entire range of wind speeds.