Comparative CFD Analysis of Three Wind Turbine Airfoils

Wind energy has been experienced as one of the most usefulsources of renewable energy. The most common device thatis used to harvest energy from wind is the wind turbine.Blade is a key element in a wind turbine. The airfoil of theblade structure has an important role in the hydrodynamicproperties of the blade in parallel with air flow conditions.In this paper three airfoils with different thickness fromNACA family, 0012, 0015 and 0018 have been simulatedand analyzed. The results of simulation are compared withexperimental results. Results indicate that as the Reynoldsnumber increases, a higher maximum lift coefficient isproduced in all airfoils. The NACA 0012 produces lowermaximum lift, but stalls at a higher angle of attack comparedto the NACA 0015 and NACA 0018 airfoil. Late stallreduces the noise during operation of the turbine. The resultscan be used to guide the selections of the geometricparameters and constraints in an aerodynamic optimizationof wind turbine blade’s airfoils.