wind power propellers

[jclough]

I've recently been researching propellers for wind generators. I've noticed that some props have a curved surface much like an airplane propeller while others use flat blades.

It seems as though the flat blades would be cheaper and better able to deal with high winds.

Does anyone know what the advantages of the airfoil type are?

Any input would be appreciated.


Jon

 

[jlprice]

Airfoil cross sections should be more efficient, while flat blades are easier/cheaper to make. How much more efficient the cross section is depends on how appropriately the section is chosen. A poor choice could be worse than the flat blade.

-jeff

 

[ornerynorsk]

The most efficient is the egg-beater style.

 

[Dimov]

I got recently interested in the field.I wanna build 20KW wind turbine.After downloading about 400MB of datasheets and reviewing different web sites I came to the conclusion that there is a different airfoil for every design.It depends what kind of wind generator U R planning to do(HAWT-VAWT,upwind-downwind,power,number of blades etc). Some of the most used airfoils are NACA 64-2XX.
U can find lots of useful information on

http://isoar.ca/~andrewm/rc/airfoils/

U will find AUTOCAD DXF files there as well.

I would be happy if anyone will share his experience in this field.

-Dimo