Biomimetics in wind turbine blade designs: a review from aerodynamic perspective

To meet rapid energy demand, clean energy sources like wind have the potential to play a vital role. In context of Bangladesh with its low wind speed to produce maximum power from wind turbines various modifications are needed. The aim of this research is to provide a comparative analysis among different nature inspired modifications of wind turbine blades and find out the best possible biomimetic approach to enhance the performance of wind turbines in low wind-speed regions like Bangladesh. Through implementing diverse biomimetic approaches, such as, humpback whale tubercles in fin, bird wings, penguin flippers, and butterfly wings into blade design will not only increase the power output but also lower the cut-in speed. Literature reveals that horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) inspired by albatross and stork wings have potential to harness wind energy under low wind speed conditions achieving power coefficient (C_p) 0.440 to 0.445 for albatross wings and 0.384 to .407 for stork wings. From this study, wind turbine inspired by Maple seeds turns out to be the best modification, along with Albatross and Storks wings showing higher power coefficient. This comparative analysis will be beneficial for the researchers to select the best biomimetic modification or best sets of nature inspired modifications for conventional turbines to maximize their performance in low wind-speed regions.