Performance evaluation of wind lens in turbulent environment

Renewable energies are getting progressively widespread due to the growing worry of carbon discharges. There has been a substantial volume of advancement being made in renewable energy sources. One of the remarkable ones is wind power. The common myths of building a wind turbine in highways suburban, and coastal areas are the extent of the machine, and the turbulence may affect the performance of the turbine that ultimately may uncover a poor return on investment. In this paper, some laboratory testing was performed on a conventional turbine and a wind lens turbine to determine if there are any potential applications for the Wind lens turbines in a turbulent environment. Highways, coastal and suburban areas may prove appropriate for this kind of turbine. However, there is still additional analysis required on the effects that these turbines may have on local fauna migration patterns. It is also important to check if the noise pollution generated by the wind lens turbines are enough to cause disruption. Two different types of edges were also embraced to see whether performance in such a location relies more on blade type than the design of the turbine. From the testing in a lab-scale wind tunnel, it was found that on average the wind lens design provided a 40% increase in efficiency both in the Betz coefficient and tip speed ratio of the turbine. However, the wind lens turbine requires further assessment to determine its suitability in environments not exposed to constant wind currents such as highways. There is a possibility that the wind lens turbine can be applied in a turbulent setting with further assessment and enhancements to the manufacturing process of the turbine models. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.