DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A ROADSIDE VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

Abstract

This report describes the proceedings of the final year project; in partial fulfillment of the bachelor’s degree at School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, NUST, H-12, Islamabad to design and fabricate a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine for roadside deployment which should be able to generate enough power to sustain the streetlights and aims at extracting energy from the wind gusts generated as a result of passage of vehicles on the roadside. With the ever growing energy demand, it has become necessary to carry out research in renewable energy technologies. The report presents a thorough overview of the potential estimation of wind at the side of the roads, suggests ideal location for application of wind turbine to harness energy. The details of the turbine design and optimization are also provided. A brief account on the methods used to manufacture the turbine is also provided. Testing of the turbine was done in limited circumstances, yielding satisfactory results but there is still room for further improvement in the design.