Shrouded wind turbines: a critical review on research and development
Mohammad Hadi Katooli, Younes Noorollahi
Abstract
Wind energy is rapid and mature energy, which is vastly growing in many countries. Therefore, it is needed to introduce new technologies of wind energy to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Shrouded wind turbines are believed to be a promising technology in wind energy conversion that can improve its overall efficiency and output. The special structure of the shroud causes a low-pressure area behind the turbine. Therefore, more mass flow is drawn into the turbine for higher power outputs. This new technology enables the use of wind turbines within urban areas with low wind speeds. The objective of this paper is to review all the papers in the shrouded wind turbine field and to state the research gaps in the subject. It is conceived that the main focus of shrouded wind turbine studies is on experimental studies, which have proved the beneficial idea of using a shroud. The main purposes of these experiments were to maximize the extracted and to improve efficiency while keeping the size of the diffuser small and improving the economics of the system. Therefore, this method improves the power output higher than 2–5 times.