SolarEnergy,Vol. 20, pp. 305-31I. PergamonPress 1978.

Printed in Great Britain

DIFFUSER AUGMENTATION OF WIND TURBINES

K. M. FOREMAN,B. GILBERTand R. A. OMAN

Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Research Department, Grumman Aerospace Corporation, Bethpage, NY 11714,
U.S.A.

(Received 29 November 1976; in revised form 23 June 1977; received for publication 27 September 1977)

Abstract--One of the more promising advanced concepts for overcoming the economic deterrents to widespread
use of windpower is the Diffuser-AugmentedWind Turbine (DAWT). The diffuser controls the expansion of
turbine exhaust flow, producing a highly subatmospheric pressure at the turbine exit. The low static pressure
induces greater mass flow through the turbine in contrast to a conventional turbine design of the same diameter.
Thus, the output power of the DAWT is much larger than for an uushrouded turbine.
Our wind tunnel investigation of models of two diffuser design concepts is directed toward unconventional,
very short, cost-effective configurations. One approach uses the energetic external wind to prevent separation of
the diffuser's internal boundary layer. Another method uses high lift airfoil contours for the diffuser wall shape.
Diffuser model tests have indicated almost a doubling of wind power extraction capability for DAWTs
compared to conventional turbines. Economic studies of DAWTs have used these test data and recent (1975) cost
projections of wind turbines with diameter. The specific power costs ($/kW) for a realistic DAWTconfigurationare
found to be lower than conventional wind turbines for very large size rotors, above 50 m diameter, and for rotor
diameters less than about 20 m. The cost-to-benefit assessment for intermediate size rotors is affected by the
uncertainty band of cost for these rotor sizes.

1. INTRODUCTION interest in Japan and Great Britain took the form of

It is the consensus of experts[l] that the major un-
resolved technical problem in the design of conventional
wind turbines for very large power systems is in the
blade dynamics of large diameter rotors. Because of this
fact, integration of wind generators into a national or
regional power grid is inhibited by the unacceptable
reliability of very large units or the economic liability of
many smaller units of comparable total power output.
This technical factor interacts with the economic con-
straints associated with matching supply and demand
schedules in variable wind, the low power density of
wind, the high development risk of new system concepts,
and the capital intensive nature of wind power systems.
Many of the above capital and performance restric-
tions of conventional wind turbine systems can be
reduced or eliminated by enclosing the wind turbine in a
suitably shaped duct. The nonrotating duct structure
provides a diffuser section behind the rotor that produces
a power augmentation of considerable magnitude (typic-
ally 1.5- to 2-fold) for a given size rotor, as well as
dampening gusts, reducing performance sensitivity to
wind directionality, and raising the level of axial velocity
significantly.
Ducted windmills have been suggested periodically for
over half a century. Unfortunately, one prestigious early
investigator (Betz[2]) concluded that diffusers were not
economical for then-current applications. This result,
although based on correct theory, followed from restric-
tive conditions that the diffuser exit plane static pressure
would be equal to ambient atmospheric pressure, that
only small ratios of exit to throat area were allowable,
and that disk velocity ratio would be lower than was
being projected by erroneous analyses at that time. Thus,
progress in applying ducted wind turbines was effectively
squelched until the late 1940s to mid-1950s. Renewed
more general analyses and limited experiments of ducted
windmills. The test results, even with crude ducting,
showed enhanced power output over free rotors[3].
Parametric analyses indicated that, for example, with a
3.5 diffuser expansion ratio and a 15 per cent diffuser
pressure loss, the power output of the ducted windmill
would be 65 per cent greater than conventional systems.
Further, the disk loading of the rotor would be only 1/4
of the free turbine and thus be cheaper to make. Despite
these clear indications of aerodynamic superiority, to our
knowledge continued work toward definitive experiments
was not pursued in England. Early in 1960, an Israeli
group repeated much of the earlier analytical development
and proceeded to some experiments concerning perfor-
mance of two dimensional diffusers [4], duct inlet contour
effects on axial misalignment of the incoming flow[5],
and performance of short axisymmetric diffusers with
exit plane ejectors.
Later studies by Igra[6] showed that the exit plane of a
DAWT has, in fact, the greatly depressed pressure level
that was hoped for to produce the large augmentation
effect. Indications are that base pressure reductions are
on the order of l/2q~ and could raise the diffuser aug-
mentation above the 4-fold range. The diffusers in this
application have the unique advantage that a plentiful
supply of high energy air exists just outside the diffuser
wall. Our initial investigation in 197217], discovery of the
Igra results, and further exploration on our part has led
to an extremely promising prognosis for the concept,
especially in the context of large systems. However, the
benefits of DAWTs must overcome the highly visible
cost of the shroud structure. Therefore, the focus of our
research has been the technical challenge of extracting
sufficient fluid mechanic performance from a very com-
pact diffuser that will be cheaper to build than the

305
306 K . M. FOREMAN et al.

incremental cost of larger diameter wind turbines to turbine is

produce the same rated power. We call such short
diffusers cost-competitive designs because they will r = 27Ceii16 = 1.686Cei. (3)
reduce the capital expense of electrical energy genera-
tion by wind energy conversion. Based on equal turbine rotor diameters and free wind
speeds, r can also be expressed by
2. THEORY OF DIFFUSER AUGMENTATION
The results of one dimensional momentum theory 27 Cr ( 1 1-Ce4
= ]~ ~312 (4)
applied to a DAWT were presented by Oman and r - Cp R + Cr ]
Foreman[7]. Referring to Fig. 1 the ideal power
where
coefficient, Cpi, can be written
I 2
Cr = (P2- p3)]spV2
Cel =
I V3
'~P23V21~O o (1)
and
and
Cp R = (p,-p3)1½pV32= r / D / 1 - ( A3] z/
• \Y,/j
Cp, = [1 - K, - Cmle - [1 - "qD(I - h)2]e 3 (2)
The inlet duct losses are combined into the overall duct
where AP23 is the pressure drop across turbine stage(s); pressure recovery coefficient, C m, in eqn (4)• Since the
V2, the axial velocity at turbine; p, the air density; Vo, turbine load factor Cr is practically unrelated to Cm[4],
the free wind velocity; ~= 1/21I/o; Ki, the inlet total the maximum relative power coefficient (or augmentation
1 2 1 2
pressure lossl~pVo ; Cp4 (P4-- po)hpVo ; "11o
= =
ratio) is
(p4- P3)1½p(V32- v4z); h = AzIA4 = A31A4.
The main significance of eqn (2) is that the power =9(1 - p g ' / ( I - C p 4) (5)
available to a perfect ducted turbine can be made to r. . . . PdX~ 3(1 - CPR)
increase significantly by a small rotor/exit area ratio, a
high diffuser efficiency (rio), an optimum disk velocity which coincides at the optimum load factor/4/
ratio (~), and a strongly negative base pressure
coefficient (Cm). The velocity ratio will be determined by (Cr)op, = 2(1 - CpR). (6)
the disk loading (Ap23]½pVoz) of the turbine that is in-
stalled in the duct, which is where the detailed design of Thus, the greatest power augmentation over conven-
the turbine begins. tional wind power generators is obtained for
Since the maximum ideal power coefficient of an un- • The largest possible negative value for exit plane
ducted (free) turbine equals 16/27, the relative power pressure coefficient (i.e. diffuser exit pressure is
coefficient, r, of a shrouded to the best unshrouded wind reduced below atmospheric pressure).

STATIONNUMBER
0 123 4 5
I II I ~ I

,NLET SEOT,ONS
SLOT
_ __ -- ~ ~ E N q CONVENTIONAL
R ROTORFLOW
"~ ~_~CENTERBO,DY
BOUNDARYLAYER
CL- [.OSINGMOMENTUM
~ - - "L-- _ ~ REENERGIZED
[~.~ BOUNDARY
/ Z-"'-4AYER
I - ! o~
~,~ BLADE
i
ROTOR ?'~l.2W "~"~
\~.
~
AUXILIARY SLOT
ENLARGEDVIEW
UNDISTURBED OF B O U N D A R Y
AIR F L O W LAYER CONTROL FLOWS

Fig. I. Ducted wind turbine showing reference stations.

 Diffuser augmentation of wind turbines
• The largest possible diffuser pressure recovery
coefficient.
• A unique relation of turbine disk loading to diffuser
pressure recovery in which high recovery favors low
power loading by inducing greater volume flow
through the disk.
Because coefficients such as Cp4, ~ and To must be
empirically determined, the one dimensional theoretical
performance indicated by eqn(5), in practice, is a
semiempirical theory in which weighted averages of
measured quantities at DAWT cross sections need to be
introduced for proper quantitive evaluation.
3. DIFFUSER DEVELOPMENT
There are several different types of diffuser concepts
that have been suggested for a DAWT. The design
criteria of an appreciable subatmospheric pressure at the
exit plane and a large pressure recovery within a diffuser
having the smallest possible structural cost immediately
imply the need for functional diffusers with equivalent
half angles much greater than the conventional 3--60.
Nevertheless, they must maintain effective performance
characteristics. We have chosen what appear to be the
two most promising design concepts for further study.
The first of these employs the injection of the external
air for boundary layer control. As indicated by Fig. 1,
external high energy air, freely available without power
penalty from the wind, is injected tangent to the wall,
thereby adding axial momentum to the boundary layer.
The additional momentum helps the boundary layer fluid
flow against the severe adverse pressure gradient and
frictional losses that are present in the wall region of
large angle diffusers. This can prevent the flow from
separating from the wall, the primary cause of the failure
of flow in large angle diffusers. The second diffuser
concept is the use of a diffuser constructed from short
ring airfoils. Each ring airfoil produces a local aerody-
namic pressure and velocity field as a result of the
section contour. The low pressure distribution along the
internal ring surface induces more flow through the tur-
bine. By the use of high lift wing contours for the rings
or by flaps, appreciable augmentation should be
obtainable.
4. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS
The experiments have been conducted in a low speed,
low turbulence level, free jet tunnel facility (see Fig. 2).
The core region of a free jet flow is used as the test
section in which uniform wind conditions are simulated.
The 29.2cm circular jet issues from a 91.4x91.4cm
settling chamber. The jet is formed by flowing through a
standard ASME long radius nozzle. The mean flow is
uniform across the exit. The maximum velocity of the
facility is 17.7m/see (58fps); however, a velocity of
14.7 m/see (48 fps) was used for the tests. Models were
mounted slight downstream of the nozzle exit plane.
Boundary layer controlled diffuser models were con-
structed of stainless steel and aluminum sheet metal.
Ring wing models were machined from aluminum bar
stock. Uniform screens were used to simulate the tur-
307
Fig. 2. Photo of jet tunnel with Dawt model installed.
bine. Over 150 models and test conditions have been
investigated so far in this program.
The instrumentation employs a transconductance
differential pressure transducer. The most successful
measurements have been derived from the combined use
of a single static pressure probe and a single total pres-
sure probe. These are constructed from very slender
stainless steel tubing which can pass through the screens
used. Complete axial pressure traces are taken from an
upstream to a downstream position passing right through
the screen. For the axial and radial pressure measure-
ments, the probes are mounted in a tridirectional, motor-
driven traversing mechanism. This device gives an elec-
trical output proportional to its position so that pressure
versus spatial position can be directly traced on an x-y
recorder.
5. TURBINE SIMULATION
Since a family of wind turbines is impractical to build
for an exploratory investigation of small scale diffuser
models, we have simulated the turbine energy extraction
by screens that dissipate the energy at the turbine sta-
tion. The turbine performance is represented by the local
disk loading coefficient
1 2
Cr = (P2 - P3)/~-OV2 (7)
The power extracted per unit area is the product of the
total pressure drop and the local velocity. From know-
ledge of the disk loading and the measured ratio of local
to free stream velocity, Vd Vo, the augmentation ratio can
be found
CT
r = -6~(q2/qo)
3/2
(8)
In Fig. 3, we show a typical axial static pressure
traverse along the centerline of a diffuser employing
boundary layer control to inhibit separation. The local
flow approaching the screen (turbine simulator) is
accelerating because of the subatmospheric pressure
condition (Cp4) existing at the diffuser exit plane. There-
fore, the qz[qo value is significantly greater than 1.0 at a
disk loading coefficient of 0.47 and the augmentation
ratio at the axis is 1.38. From repeated axial surveys at
 308 K, M. FOREMANetal.

wing designs, are presented. It is apparent that a peak f

[,,~.---16 MESH/INCH SCREEN value of almost 1.9 can be achieved with a 30o diffuser
FLOW I
RETARDATION'..4..- O.IO0"INLET SLOT half-angle at an optimum disk loading of about 0.6, using
0.1
• u7TREAM "--~-.,,--- 0.025"AUXILIARY SLOT
boundary layer control. The ring wing diffuser exhibits
0 ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
are increasing r value with CT. Although a peak value of
f was not yet encountered for the flapped NACA 4412
-0.1
contour diffuser tested, an f = 1.6 is indicated for CT =
E 1.10.
-0.2
The ratio of (q2/qo) for the boundary layer control
~) -0.3 diffuser at peak ~ is 1.31. The value of this ratio is 0.9 for
the ring wing design at a CT = 1.1. Both diffusers
I * -0.60
°7 -0.4 produce considerably greater inflow velocity to the tur-
bine than the theoretically best q21qo of 0.44 for con-
-0.5 ventional unshrouded turbines, at an optimum CT of 2.0.

-0.6 7. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Economic assessment of the DAWT relative to a con-
-0.7 -2i i i I I I I
-I I 2 3 4 ,5 ventional Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS)
AXIAL DISTANCE FROMSCREEN
-0.8 (INCHES) requires that the most competitive versions of each
concept be identified and priced according to realistic
o.5I and consistent costing rules. Identifying the cost-opti-
~o.4 .T.~ I CT'PT+'A'~alNLET
APT mized DAWT is more complicated than for conventional
WN
~ I o.zr5 WECS, because there are more parameters affecting the
economics, and there is a paucity of good performance
~[0303
and costing laws for compact diffusers.
To avoid the complicated calculation of utility cost of
OA electrical power (i.e. mills per Whr), we set an analysis
objective to compare the capital cost per unit power of
ATMOSPHERIC good DAWTs with the best conventional wind turbine
PRESSURE _'~ 0 '1 2
AXIAL DISTANCE FROM SCREEN machine. This involves the cost trend of production
(INCHES} quantity ( - 100/yr) wind turbines with size as well as the
Fig. 3. Typical centerline axial static and total pressure surveys in cost trend of a short length diffuser of demonstrable
the 300 half-anglediffuser shown, Cr = 0.47. augmentation ratio, r, capabilities. The rotor cost in-
formation has been generated under NASA-Lewis
different radial positions it is found that the q2/qo ratio Research Center sponsored contracts[8, 9]. The diffuser
and r increases with radial distance from the axis. The cost estimates were made by Grumman on the basis of a
weighted average augmentation ratio, F, for the entire finite element structural analysis for a full scale optimum
cross section of the turbine simulator is 1.89 for the boundary layer control diffuser design (2.78 area ratio,
diffuser of Fig. 3. length/turbine diameter = 0.5, 0 = 30, f = 1.89) indicated
by data of Fig. 4. The total cost of the diffuser and rotor
6. MODEL TEST RESULTS has been normalized by the square of the turbine
The model test results of measured augmentation ratio diameter to facilitate comparison of the two systems.
for a range of turbine disk loadings between 0.3 and 1.10 Detailed development of the rotor and diffuser cost
are shown by Fig. 4. Examples of both types of short trends are presented in reference[10]. Two characteris-
diffuser concepts, the boundary layer control, and ring tics are clear for the normalized rotor cost trends depic-
ted by Fig. 5
• A 100 per cent uncertainty in turbine cost estimates,
especially in the low to intermediate size range,
1,8 depending on the estimating organization
• The typical U-shaped average cost curve shows the
1.7 initial economics of scale to about 25 m diameter, and
sharply rising costs as larger rotor diameters require
716 /
Jr more elaborate construction and advanced materials
f
J to overcome escalating aeroelastic stresses
1.5 RING WING DIFFUSER .....,,,/If
DESIGN /
At this time, operationally reliable rotor diameters
L4 greater than about 65 m are highly speculative. Alter-
/ /
/ natives to specifying the rated output at an installation
0.4 01.5 8.6 0.7 O.S dO L0 I!l site beyond the capability of a 65 m diameter rotor are
CT • Replication of conventional turbines on supplemen-
Fig. 4. Representative model test results of two short diffuser tary superstructure to create a multiunit system
designs. • Using a DAWT
 Diffuser augmentation of wind turbines 309

control to follow short term gusts is unnecessary because

the DAWT exhibits insensitivity to off-axis winds for
angles up to -+30° with working turbines[6]. Alignment
400 to longer term, major wind directional changes can be
:300
achieved by relatively inexpensive, ground based
machinery, at low rates of rotational speed in response to
forecasted changes or indications of wind monitoring
200
instrumentation.
Based on the average costs of Fig. 5 it is possible to
compare DAWT with conventional WECS on the basis
"E of
I00
• Equal rotor diameters used in both systems
80
(n • Equal rated power output in both systems
o
(J 6 O For the latter condition, the rotor diameter of the
~ 5o WECS is increased by the square root of the DAWT
4O ~ - , _ .., / / ~ ESTIMATE augmentation ratio, f. Thus, a 40 m turbine in a DAWT
with a f = 1.89 requires that the turbine diameter of a
30 conventional WECS be 55 m in order to yield equal
i / power ratings. Of course, if the WECS turbine must be
201 / increased much beyond 65 m, it is not currently realistic
/ 4 , , GRUMMAN to consider such measures.
/ \DIFFUSER
/ ESTIMATE The two cost comparisons are presented by-Figs. 6 and
/
/ 7. Details of these cost analyses are given in Ref.[10]. In
10 i I0 i I i i i i
I0 20 40 .50 60 80 I00 200 the case of equal rotor size in both systems (see Fig. 6) it
TURBINE DIAMETER, METERS is clear that DAWTs have an economic advantage for
Fig. 5. Average cost estimates of wind turbines and a baseline small rotors and very large turbine diameters. The
diffuser design. economics in the intermediate size range are clouded by
the diversity of authoritative cost estimates; the DAWT
With a DAWT, significantly greater power can be can be marginally less (i.e. 0-10 per cent) or up to 25 per
generated without the cost and time delay of additional cent more costly.
land acquisition, legal hearings, or replication of size- For equal rated power output, shown by Fig. 7, the
limited wind power plant designs. Secondary benefits DAWT can be significantly cheaper ( - 50 per cent) than
from using DAWT rather than replication of conven- a WECS for turbine diameters greater than about 40 m.
tional WECS are reduced maintenance and security For smaller turbine sizes, the DAWT can be marginally
manpower requirements, and greater annual on-line fac- cheaper to significantly more expensive depending on
tor. The operational usefulness of the annual wind which cost trend one actually experiences.
energy spectrum is broadened because the DAWTs inlet Note that in both comparisons graphically depicted we
acceleration lowers the minimum wind speed for cut-in have not attempted to include a quantified usable wind
of turbine power, and it can raise the high speed, cut-out, pattern factor. Because of the inherent wind speedup
end of the wind spectrum because of the inherent features of the diffuser inlet section, this can result in
capability of the diffuser to modulate flow by introducing 10-20 per cent greater annual power conversion for the
spoilers or moveable stators. DAWTs also preclude the DAWT compared to the WECS, leading to a greater real
exposure of turbine blades to cyclic operation in tower economic advantage for the DAWT during each year of
wake, and the diffuser moderates natural wind tur- operation.
bulence and short term directional fluctuations. Yaw One encounters occasional comments in favor of

USING
DAWT MORE GE TURBINE COST TRENDS
L4
COSTLY

1.2
rr
hi

o~
~ 0.8
USING
D T KAMAN TURBINE COST TRENDS
8 0.6
LESS
COSTLY
~ 0.4

m 0
tY
TURBINE DIAMETER,m
Fig. 6. Power cost comparisonof DAWTand WECS for equal turbine size.
310 K.M. FOREMANetal.

1.6
tr
t,i 1.4 USING KAMAN TURBINE
DAWT MORE ~ / E ( ~ T TB~ND~
Q- 1.2

w I0 -

~ 0.8
DAWT LESS USING GE ~ .
> ~ 0.6 COSTLY fOR§iNE- \ -.
I- COST T R E N D S "~ %-__
<
.A
uJ 0.4
W E C S TURBINE D I A M E T E R , m
I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
o1" II 1 I I I I
0 ' ,b ' go' ~o 4o ~o do "~o
D A W T TURBINE DIAMETER, m

Fig. 7. Cost comparison of DAWT and WECS for equal rated power output.

referencing DAWT performance and economic evalua-
tions to the wind power intercepted by the diffuser exit
area, A4, in eqns (1) and (3). There is no reason why one
cannot choose any reference area, as long as consistency
prevails. However, the viability of wind power ultimately
will depend on its capital cost to meet desired or required
power production capability. It is apparent from the
contemporary cost data given by Fig. 5 [10] that the cost
of efficient dynamic systems, such as wind turbines,
increases faster with size than efficient static structural
systems, such as our compact diffuser design. The
DAWT's power augmentation, obtained at the incremen-
tal cost of the diffuser component, liberates the system's
cost escalation with power rating from the U-shaped
average cost scaling curve of the rotor, and creates a
way to improve wind power economics; the larger the
augmentation factor, and the cheaper the diffuser struc-
ture, the lower the capital cost of wind power will
become. Referencing DAWT performance to area, A4,
implies an economic comparison of the DAWT to a
conventional WECS of blade swept area, A4. This exer-
cise only improves the comparative cost ratio in favor of
the DAWT to a greater degree than shown by Figs. 6 and
7. This conclusion is confirmed by Table 1 which
presents some comparative cost computations based on
referencing DAWT performance to exit area, A4, and
using Kaman turbine cost trends of Fig. 5; use of GE
Table I. Relative cost of power of DAWT and conventional
WECS Ref. to Diffuser exit area A4 (A4/A2 = 2.78)
Turbine Relative Cost of Power
Diameter, m
(~AWTIWecS)
)AWT wECS
i0 16.7 0.84
20 33.4 0.65
40 66.8 0.32
turbine cost would give essentially similar indications.
Therefore, concern about reference area actually is a
factious issue which obsures rather than clarifies the
main cost/benefit relationship that will largely determine
the eventual acceptance of wind power as a valuable
national resource.
8. CONCLUSIONS
Our investigation of cost-effective diffuser augmen-
tation of wind turbines has revealed at least two effective
types of diffusers
• Boundary layer controlled diffusion
• Flapped ring wings
Model tests have demonstrated significant power
augmentation capabilities for DAWT, approaching a fac-
tor of 2. Diffuser exit plane pressure substantially below
atmospheric ( - 0.6 qo) has been verified. Because of this
low pressure it is possible to pump much larger amounts
of air through a DAWT's wind turbine than a con-
ventional WECS, and thus convert more power.
Economic studies using the most recent turbine cost
trends and Grumman-generated diffuser cost estimates
show that DAWTs have lower specific power costs than
WECS for very large and for small turbine diameter
sizes. The relative direct benefits of DAWT in the in-
termediate size range are somewhat obscured by the
significant uncertainty of realistic turbine cost estimates;
DAWT can be marginally cheaper to much more expen-
sive depending on whose authoritative judgement is
used. The indirect benefits of DAWT, including a poten-
tially greater factor for usable annual wind energy pat-
tern, probably means that DAWTs generally become
more economical than conventional WECS, regardless of
size or turbine costing, the longer they are in operation.
Acknowledgements--Thiswork was performed under U.S.
Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
contract E(11-1)2616.

60 I00.2 0. ii NOMENCLATURE
A area
80 133.6" 0.03 Cp, ideal power coefficient, eqn (1)
CpR diffuser pressure recovery coefficient
Exceeds current size limitations for reliable, Cp, overallpressure recovery coefficient
long terra,turbine operating capability CT rotor disk load, eqn (7)
 Diffuser augmentation of wind turbines 311

Ki inlet total pressure loss 3. G. M. Lilley and W. J. Rainbird, A Preliminary Report on the
L axial length of diffuser Design and Performance of Ducted Windmills, Rep. 102,
p static pressure College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, (April 1956), available as
Pt total pressure Tech. Rep. C/T 119, The Electrical Research Association,
AP23 pressure drop across the turbine (rotor) Leatherhead, England (1957).
qo free stream dynamic pressure 4. A. Kogan and E. Nissin, Shrouded Aerogenerator Design Study
q2 local dynamic pressure at the rotor face 1. Two dimensional shroud performance. Bull. Res. Coun.
r augmentation ratio, eqn (3) Israel. llC (1), 67-82 (Apr. 1%2).
weighted average augmentation ratio for rotor cross sec- 5. A. Kogan and A. Seginer, Shrouded Aerogenerator Design
tion Study II. Axisymmetrical shroud performance. Israel J.
Vo wind velocity Technol. 49-56, (Feb. 1%3).
V2 axial velocity at the rotor face = V3 6. O. Igra, Shrouds for Aerogenerator. Rep. No. 2, Dept. of
rotor station velocity ratio = VflVo Mech. Engng., Ben Gurion University of Negev (Mar. 1975).
r/o diffuser efficiency 7. R. A. Oman and K. M. Foreman, Advantages of the diffuser
0 diffuser half angle augmented wind turbine. In Workshop, pp. 103-106 (Dec.
A diffuser throat-to-exit area ratio = AflA4 1973).
p air density 8. R. L. Thomas, Large experimental wind turbines--where we
are now. NASA TMX-71890 (29 Mar. 1976).
REFERENCES 9. Wind Generator System, Final Design Review, NASA-LeRC
I. J. M. Savino, (Editor), Proc. NSF-NASA Workshop on Contract NAS 3-19404, Kaman Aerospace Corp. (16 July
Wind Driven Generator Systems, Washington, D.C., (11-13 1975).
June 1973), Rep. NSF/RA/W-73-006, (Dec. 1973) (in par- 10. R. A. Oman, K. M. Foreman and B. L. Gilbert, Investigation
ticular the report of the Committee on Rotor Design, pp. of diffuser-augmented wind turbines. Part lI--Tech. Rep.,
213-217); hereinafter referred to as Workshop. ERDA Rep. C00-2616-2 (Jan. 1977). Also available as
2. A. Betz, Energieumsetzungen in Venturidtisen, Natur- Grumman Res. Dept. Rep. RE-534, Grumman Aerospace
wissenshaften 10, (3) 160-164 (1929). Corp., Bethpage, New York (Jan. 1977).

Resumen--Uno de los conceptos m~isavanzados para obviar el rechazo al uso econ6mico amplio de la eoloenerg/a
es la Eoloturbina Aumentada por Difusor (DAWT). El difusor controla la expansi6n del flujo posturbina
produciendo una presi6n altamente subatmosf6rica a su salida. La baja presi6n estfitica induce a un mayor flujo de
masa a trav6s de la turbina, en contraste con la turbina convencional del mismo di~.metro. As/, la salida de potencia
de la DAWT es mucho mayor que la de una turbina sin envoltura.
Nuestras investigaciones en tunel de viento de dos disefios de modelos de difusor estfin dirigidas hacia
configuraciones no convencionales, muy peque6as, de costo efectivo. Una aproximaci6n usa la eoloenergia externa
para prevenir la separaci6n de la c~.pa lfmite interna del difusor y el etro m6todo emplea contornos de l~iminas de
aire de alta depresi6n para la configuraci6n del difusor.

R~sum~--L'un des concepts les plus prometteurs pour surmonter les ditficult6s 6conomiques d'une extension de
I'utilisation des a6rog6n6rateurs est le (DAWT) ou Turbine 5_air a diffuseur. Le diffuseur intervient sur l'expansion
du flux de sortie de la turbine, en produisant une d~pression au dessous de la pression atmosph6rique ~ la sortie de
la turbine. La basse pression statique entraine un flux massique plus important h travers la turbine, que celm d'une
turbine de conception traditionnelle. Ainsi la puissance de sortie d'une DAWT est beaucoup plus 61ev6e que celle
d'une turbine non 6quip~e.
Notre recherche, en soul, erie, de deux modules de conception de diffuseur, est orient6e vers des configurations
non-conventionnelles, br~ves et de bon rapport de coot. L'une des approches utilise l'6nergie du vent ext~rieur
pour ~Sviter la s6paration de la couche limite interne du diffuseur. Une autre utilise un profil sp6cial des patois du
diffuseur.
Les essais ont montr6 une ~l~vation de presque deux fois des possibilit~s d'extraction d'~nergie de la
DAWT par rapport 5. une turbine classique. Des 6tudes ~conomiques ont pris en consid6ration ces donn~es
exp~rimentales ainsi que de r6centes 6valuations (1975) du coot des turbines en function de leur diam~tre. Le coot
sp~cifique de I'~nergie ($/kW) pour une conception r~aliste de DAWT se r~v/~le inf~rieur au coot des turbines
classiques pour les rotors tr~s grands, au-dessus de 50 m de diam~tre, ainsi que pour les diam6tres inf6rieurs ~. 20 m
environ.