EXPLORE PUBLICATIONS BY COUNTRIES

Wind Energy, Solar Energy, CFD, FEM, Wind Power Enhancement

Being a tropical country, Bangladesh does have wind flow throughout the year. However, the prospect for wind energy in Bangladesh is not at satisfactory level due to low average wind velocities at different regions of the country. The field survey data indicated that the wind velocities are relatively higher from the month of May to August, whereas, it is not so for the rest of the year. Therefore, exploiting the wind energy at low wind velocities is a major predicament in creating a sustainable energy resource for a country with inauspicious forthcoming energy crisis. The scope of this paper concentrates on an innovative approach to harness wind power by installing an auxiliary unit which would only assist the primary turbine unit in case the wind velocity falls under the required value. The auxiliary unit would comprise a secondary turbine, which would be operated by a DC motor connected to a battery system that is charged by a solar panel. A specially designed conduit would encompass both the primary and auxiliary turbine units. A CFD simulation utilizing ANSYS FLOTRAN was carried out to investigate the velocity profiles for different pressure differences at different regions of the prototype conduit. A feasibility analysis of the modified system was eventually carried out for the preferred conduit design.