THE EFFECT OF NUMBER OF BLADES EXPERIMENTALLY ON THE HORIZONTAL WIND TURBINE SPEED

The aim of this research is to find the effect of the number of blades on the wind turbine speed and to find which number of blades is suitable for low wind areas and high wind areas. In wind turbine design; the number of blades, tip speed ratio, and the rotational speed of the rotor are the most important factors. At first, the tip speed ratio and the number of blades must be selected. The power of a wind turbine generator depends on the rotational speed of the rotor. The increase in wind velocity leads to an increase in the rotor speed. At wind velocity 2.36m/s, the rotational speed of 6 blades, 4 blades and 3 blades was 288, 54, and 34 rpm respectively. And, at wind velocity 13.85m/s, the rotational speed of 6 blades, 4 blades, and 3 blades are 1856, 2220, and 2103 rpm respectively. So, when the number of blades decreases, the rotational speed will increase at high wind velocity. But, at low wind velocity, the rotational speed is more effective when the number of blades increases. So, 6 rotor blades were found as suitable for low wind velocity areas as in Iraq.