Final Year Project - OWC Simulator

SCHOOL OF INFORMATICS AND ENGINEERING
A BENCH-SCALE BLAST-BOX DEMONSTRATOR FOR DATA ACQUISITION

SYSTEM
by

Bruno Pereira Franco

Student of Automation Engineering at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG)
Cincia sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders
Bolsista da CAPES Proc. N CsF 88888.027597/2013-00 / Scholarship by CAPES
Proc. N CsF 88888.027597/2013-00
CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasilia DF, Zip Code
70.040-020, Brazil.

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONOURS) IN MECHATRONICS

SUPERVISOR: GARRET BRADY
SUBMISSION DATE: 01/05/2014

BRUNO PEREIRA FRANCO BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONOURS) IN MECHATRONICS 01/05/2014
- i -
ABSTRACT
The main objective of this project is to build a bench-scale blast box for a data
acquisition system. The blast-box basically consists in box that serves to generate
airflows in its interior. It will work with a turbine and a generator, to simulate the work of
an OWC renewable energy converter. The data acquisition will be held using the
National Instrument hardware, the NI-USB 6008, which will send the data for the NI
LabView. The project consists of 4 main parts, first is the building of the blast-box,
second is the design and 3d printing a turbine, third is the choice of a generator and forth
the implementation of the data acquisition system.

- ii -
DECLARATION

The work submitted in this report is the results of the candidates own investigations and
has not been submitted for any other award. Where use has been made of the work of
other people it has been fully acknowledged and referenced.

Student Name

______________

- iii -
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ viii
Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Problem ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Background ........................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Scope and Objectives ............................................................................................................ 3
1.4 Document Overview ............................................................................................................. 3
Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 3 Materials and Methods .................................................................................................... 8
3.1 Blast-Box .............................................................................................................................. 8
The blast box, as previously stated in this report, will be responsible for the OWC functions. It
will generate an expansive and a compressive airflow that will drives a bi-directional turbine. 8
3.1.1 Piston ............................................................................................................................ 8
In an OWC device, the waves oscillatory movement has the task of pump the air in the
chamber, however in the blast-box of the project this task will be done by a piston. In some
experiments with OWCs tests rigs (Nader & Sajadian, 2011) had been used a motor to drive
the piston, which is really useful to control the velocity of the airflow, however it loses the
idea of a bench-scale project and wouldnt be so educational as well. In contrast, the project
piston will work in and out by hand. .......................................................................................... 8
3.1.2 Geometry of the blast-box ............................................................................................ 9
3.1.3 Building the Blast-Box ............................................................................................... 12
3.2 Turbine ................................................................................................................................ 13
3.2.1 Turbine Requirements ................................................................................................ 13
3.2.2 Turbine Draft .............................................................................................................. 14
3.2.3 3D Printing Process .................................................................................................... 18
3.3 Generator: ........................................................................................................................... 19
3.3.1 Mounting the turbo-generator system......................................................................... 25
3.3.2 Turbo-generator system into the turbine pipe ............................................................. 26
3.3.3 Rig Test ...................................................................................................................... 27
3.4 Data acquisition System ..................................................................................................... 29
3.4.1 Equipment Description ............................................................................................... 29
3.4.2 Data acquisition Experiments ..................................................................................... 29
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3.4.3 Execution of the experiments ..................................................................................... 40
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion .................................................................................................. 41
4.1 DA1 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................. 41
4.2 DA2 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................. 43
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................. 46
5.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 46
5.1.1 In relation to the project itself..................................................................................... 46
5.1.2 In relation to the area of study .................................................................................... 46
Chapter 6 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 47
Appendix A Other material ............................................................................................................ 48

- v -
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
WEC Wave energy converter

NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
OWC Oscillating water column
NI National Instruments

Mechanical Power
Mechanical Rotational Power
Pneumatic Power
Electrical Power
F Force
Piston velocity
D Turbine Diameter
Hub Diameter
Armature Resistance
Back-Emf constant
Angular Velocity
Flow Rate
Torque
Pressure Drop
V Load Voltage
Ia Current in the generator
Pressure Coefficient

Flow Rate Coefficient
A Piston Area
L Piston side
Hub-tip-ratio
Hub perimeter
Blade width
t Thickness ratio
Ea Emf voltage
Resistor n
Vn Voltage n
%V Percentage of the load voltage
Load total resistance
Current n

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Main idea of the OWC and the bench-scale blast box ....................................................... 2
Figure 2 Modified Nader Dizadji , Seyed Ehsan Sajadian. Modeling and optimization of the
chamber of OWC system. Energy Volume 36, Issue 5 2011 2360 2366.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.01.010 .............................................................................. 5
Figure 3 Wells Turbine (Raghunathan, 1995) ................................................................................. 6
Figure 4 Airfoil Drafts (Thakker & Abdulhadi, 2007) .................................................................... 7
Figure 5 Blast Box Model ................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 6 Project Blast-box model .................................................................................................. 10
Figure 7 Part of the Turbine Design Spreadsheet (Brady, 2013) ................................................... 10
Figure 8 Blast-box draft and measures .......................................................................................... 12
Figure 9 Piston draft and measures ................................................................................................ 12
Figure 10 Blast-Box Material ........................................................................................................ 13
Figure 11 Turbine with its respective measures ............................................................................. 15
Figure 12 NACA021 Thickness X Position graph ......................................................................... 16
Figure 13 Thickness X Position graph for the project blade width................................................ 17
Figure 14 Cylinder object: 3d view (left) and top view (right). ..................................................... 17
Figure 15 Airfoil NACA0021 Blade made in Blender .................................................................. 18
Figure 16 Printed turbines in the 3-D Printer ................................................................................. 18
Figure 17 Printed turbines in the 3D Printer Oven ........................................................................ 19
Figure 18 Basic generator circuit ................................................................................................... 20
Figure 19 Multimeter plugged in the motor that is fixed in the lathe machine .............................. 22
Figure 20 Getting the angular coefficient with the Excel .............................................................. 23
Figure 21 DC motor found in the mechatronics laboratory ........................................................... 24
Figure 22 Screw hub piece with measures ..................................................................................... 25
Figure 23 Turbo-Generator system. ............................................................................................... 26
Figure 24 Metal structure to hold the turbo-generator system. ...................................................... 26
Figure 25 Turbine inside the tube .................................................................................................. 27
Figure 26 Blast-box prepared for the first test ............................................................................... 27
Figure 27 Piston Movement in the blast-box - with the added paper in the structure ................... 28
Figure 28 Finished Rig................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 29 DA1 test circuit .............................................................................................................. 30
Figure 30 DA1 LabView block diagram........................................................................................ 31
Figure 31 Voltage Input Setup of DAQ Assistant (From NI LabView Software) ......................... 31
Figure 32 Input Voltage Electric Diagram (From the NI LabView software) ............................... 32
- vii -
Figure 33 Current Input Setup of DAQ Assistant (From NI LabView Software) ......................... 33
Figure 34 Figure 25 Input Current Electric Diagram (From the NI LabView software) ............... 34
Figure 35 VI Front Panel ............................................................................................................... 36
Figure 36 Physic Circuit for DA1 .................................................................................................. 37
Figure 37 DA2 Test Circuit ........................................................................................................... 38
Figure 38 DA2 LabView Block Diagram ...................................................................................... 39
Figure 39 Voltages Chart from DA1.............................................................................................. 41
Figure 40 Power Load graph in the left and Current Graph in the right from DA1 ...................... 42
Figure 41Voltages graph from DA2 .............................................................................................. 43
Figure 42 Power Load graph in the left and Current Graph in the right from DA2 ..................... 44

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1Allowed flow rate values ................................................................................................... 11
Table 2 NACA021 Thickness Distribution .................................................................................... 16
Table 3 Thickness Distribution in the project blade width ............................................................ 16
Table 4 Results of the generators attributes experiment. ............................................................... 22
Table 5 Calculated information about the motors .......................................................................... 23
Table 6 Motor main properties ...................................................................................................... 24
Table 7 Estimated Values for DA1 ................................................................................................ 30
Table 8 Estimated Results For DA2 .............................................................................................. 39
Table 9 Results From DA1 ............................................................................................................ 41
Table 10 Results from DA2 ........................................................................................................... 43

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Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Problem
In this project, the main problem is to collect data from the blast-box, which will simulate
an oscillating water column (OWC) wave-generating plant. The oscillating water column
device is an offshore form of renewable energy, which uses the motion of ocean waves to
produce clean energy (Figure 1 Main idea of the OWC and the bench-scale blast box
) .
OWCs are usually installed on the coast and consist of an air chamber in which
the front wall has an aperture that lets the waves enter. Wave action causes the water
level in the air chamber to go up and down. Thus, the air in the chamber is propelled
through an air turbine. When the wave recedes, causing a fall in pressure, the air flows in
the opposite direction through the turbine.
This turbine have a unidirectional rotate movement, which is possible due to the
habitual use of Wells turbines, a specific type of turbine that is also analyzed in this work.
The angular velocity and the torque produced by the turbine makes it possible to drive a
generator that transforms the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy.
A blast box is one popular way of demonstrating the OWCs. A pipe or box is
open at one end and is stopped by a piston, which can be worked in and out by hand,
pushing and pulling air through an orifice at the other end, in which a turbo-generator
system sits. The objective is to capture data to calculate the different power
transformations in the rig. And in the end compare this data and check the performance of
the rig.
- 2 -

Figure 1 Main idea of the OWC and the bench-scale blast box
1.2 Background
At a time when the consumption of electricity has increased, and that a
progressive general awareness of the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use arises, it
becomes imperative a bet on clean energy sources, sustainably produced. Thus,
investment in renewable energy has been gaining momentum, driven by European
directives stipulate that an incorporation of renewable energy from the electrical system.
Currently, renewable energy sources with higher capacity are hydro, wind and
photovoltaic origin. Besides those mentioned there is another with great potential for
exploitation of wave energy. In recent years, wave energy has gone through a cyclical
process with good and a bad phase reflects the great difficulty is to obtain a feasible
solution.
OWC-type wave energy plants have been a subject of international research for a
number of years, and no single technology has yet emerged as a clear winner from the
hundreds of projects going on internationally. A notable example is the Pico Wave Plant
(http://www.pico-owc.net/), an experimental wave plant built in 1992 as the European
Wave Energy Pilot Plant, co-funded by the EC, in order to demonstrate the technical
viability of wave energy in a small Island grid
- 3 -
1.3 Scope and Objectives
This project is about to build a functional rig, that simulate an OWC device, and
extract data from it. It is not a project about mechanical equations or thermodynamic
analyses, therefore, some approximations, with the respect in these areas, were made in
the project.
The requirements of the project are:
1. Input Mechanical Power 40W
a. Input Force
b. Input velocity
2. Output Electrical Power 8W
a. Generator must be chosen following this eq:

3. Turbine rotational speed = 3000 rpm
4. Tube diameter D = 0,15m
5. Measure the power in each stage of the project
a. Mechanical Power P
mec
= v x F
b. Pneumatic Power P
pneu
= Q x p
c. Rotational Power P
rot
= w x T
d. Electrical Power P
l
= V x I

1.4 Document Overview
Chapter 2 (Literature Review): This chapter presents some previous works that were
highlighted for their contribution in the project. Specifically, it bring some information
about the turbines and OWCs previous studies (which were the newest areas in the
project development)
Chapter 3 (Methods and Calculations): This chapter was divided in 4 parts, the blast-box
building, the turbine design and printing, the generator choice and the data acquisition
- 4 -
system. Each one of these parts was fulfilled with a great amount of information and
details.
Chapter 4 (Results and Discussions): This chapter brings the results from the data
acquisition experiments that were made in the chapter 3. Also, discuss the validation of
these results and their meaning for the entire project
Chapter 5 (Conclusion): This chapter shows what was learned in the project, and what the
main conclusion of doing this project is.
- 5 -
Chapter 2 Literature Review
Lots of research has been done since the 70s on OWC type WECs. Studies had
already been done in relation of the geometry of the air chamber, (Kosow, 1991), and it
proved that choosing the right geometry it is possible to find a better conversion from
wave energy to pneumatic energy (with less energy loss). The studies had been made
changing the angle of the back and the front plates of the chamber, the length of the top
side of the chamber, the time that was measured (as when the compression as during the
expansion), the positing of the outflow air tube and the height and the length of the wave.
It was found a geometry that proves to have the best efficiency, Figure 2.

Figure 2 Modified Nader Dizadji , Seyed Ehsan Sajadian. Modeling and
optimization of the chamber of OWC system. Energy Volume 36, Issue 5 2011 2360
2366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.01.010

Central to the performance of an OWC WEC is the turbine. Since OWC was
created there are no total certainties about which turbine it must be used. Recent studies
(Setoguchi & Takao, 2012) compare the efficiency of some kinds of turbine in an OWC
plant. If the plant uses a conventional turbine, it must have a system of non-return valves
for rectifying the airflow. These valves will produce a unidirectional flow that allows the
work of the conventional turbines. Even if this system been functional it is not good at
all, because for a large scale plant the valves system turn to be too expensive, with
difficult implementation and with a complicated maintenance. For a system without non-
- 6 -
return valves a self-rectifying air turbine can be used. This type of turbine will have a
unidirectional rotation independent of the airflow directions. Five types of those turbines
were compared: wells turbine, impulse turbines, radial turbines, cross-flow turbines and
Savonius turbines (Setoguchi & Takao, 2012). The studies show that the impulse turbine
has a superior performance under irregular flow conditions. However the Wells turbine is
more simple and cheapest for those applications, without loose too much performance.
According to Raghunathan (Raghunathan, 1995) the wells turbine has the
capability of rotate in the same direction regardless of the air flow direction. The blades
are symmetrical and they are arranged with a 0 angle in relation with the rotation plane.
The relative air velocity, W, creates forces in the blade thats depends of the incidence
angle, . One of these forces is the lift force, L, normal to W, and the other is the drag
force, D, that is parallel to W. These two forces can be expressed as coefficients of a
tangential force, F
0,
and an axial force, F
x
. In a irregular bi-directional airflow the
directions and the magnitudes of L and D change a lot, however the direction of F
0

remains the same. This factor gives to the Wells Turbine the property of being self-
rectifying, i.e. regardless of the direction of the air flow, the direction of rotation of the
turbine remains unchanged. What makes the Wells turbine an ideal turbine for the OWCs
plants.

Figure 3 Wells Turbine (Raghunathan, 1995)

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It is a good idea to scale down rig to improve the knowledge about the normal
size rig. There are many experiments that use scale down OWC plants to test turbines
(Thakker & Abdulhadi, 2007). In terms of project costs and simplicity a scaled down
project presents a big advantage compared with a normal size project. And for a
technology that have still not be stabilized, spend a lot of money and time in something
that is not 100% sure that will work is not a smart thing to do. For example, a study with
four kind of wells turbines, in scaled down size, airfoils (NACA0020; NACA0015; CA9
and HSIM 15-262123-1576) was made to compare the geometry of the rotor with the
turbine performance. The measure of the turbine performance was in relationship with
three parameters, the output torque, the flow rate, the total pressure drop across the
turbine and the turbine angular velocity. In this study was used two solidities for the
blades profiles (0,48 and 0,64). And the analysis proved that the NACA0020 presents the
best performance, also that in the initial (start) moment the turbine with the airfoil
NACA0020 can start only with it solidity equals 0,64.

Figure 4 Airfoil Drafts (Thakker & Abdulhadi, 2007)
Analysing this works and knowing my objectives I can predict what this project
will be. I will build a blast-box to simulate the OWC behaviour, and with that I will be
able to test a turbo-generator system and collecting data from it to check the rig
performance. And also I will be building a educational environment, that could help
people to understand the basics concepts of wave energy conversion and data acquisition
systems to increase the interest in these areas.

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Chapter 3 Materials and Methods
For a more efficient planning of the experiment rig the work was divided in four
parts, the design of the blast box, the design of the turbine, the choice of the generator
and the data acquisition system. In chapter it will be analyzed each one of these parts.
3.1 Blast-Box
The blast box, as previously stated in this report, will be responsible for the OWC
functions. It will generate an expansive and a compressive airflow that will drives a bi-
directional turbine.
3.1.1 Piston
In an OWC device, the waves oscillatory movement has the task of pump the air
in the chamber, however in the blast-box of the project this task will be done by a piston.
In some experiments with OWCs tests rigs (Nader & Sajadian, 2011) had been used a
motor to drive the piston, which is really useful to control the velocity of the airflow,
however it loses the idea of a bench-scale project and wouldnt be so educational as well.
In contrast, the project piston will work in and out by hand.
The minimum input mechanical power of the system should be 40W (from the
projects requirements). The mechanical power generated by the piston will be:

(3.1.1)
(3.1.2)
(3.1.3)

The value of 40W was chosen for the mechanical power to be a fair value for a
normal person to drive the piston. To test if this value was appropriate, a simple
experiment had been done in the mechatronics laboratory:
1. A person hold, with one arm, a weight of 40 N;
2. The person moved the arm up and down in a distance of approximated 50cm;
3. Another person used a chronometer to count how long it would take to perform
the entire movement (up and down).
- 9 -
The experiment had shown that a normal person could move a weight of 40N with
a speed higher than 1m/s. With these results, it would be possible to change the minimum
input mechanical power of the system for a higher value. Nevertheless, the value of 40W
was the right choice. It is necessary to consider the fault of precision of a hand driven
piston, and, the fatigue of a person who will have to drive the piston. It will be assumed
that the force and the velocity, which result in the mechanical power, are respectively
40N and 1m/s.
3.1.2 Geometry of the blast-box
The geometry of the blast box is important for the take advantage of pneumatic
power generated by the piston. There are already studies (Nader & Sajadian, 2011) that
show the best geometry for a rig. By following this best geometry model, it was possible
to design a new blast-box model, adapted for the use of a piston (instead of ocean waves).

Figure 5 Blast Box Model
The Figure 5 shows the design draft of the blast box. The piston will cover a
length of 50cm on the Piston Motion Area; the airflow generated will follow the way up
until find the turbine in a tube (which will be opened to the atmosphere). In this project,
the main attention is focused in the rig data acquisition; therefore, any complicated aspect
in the blast-box building would be discarded. The 30 inclination in the top part of the
blast-box will not be applied in the project (it would take too much of the project time to
build it). But the turbine tube in the top part of the blast-box will be maintained.
- 10 -

Figure 6 Project Blast-box model
To decide what would be the measurements of the blast box it was used a prediction of
the values of the wells turbine coefficients. This was made by using a spreadsheet that was given
for this project by its author, Professor Garret Brady(Brady, 2013). The spreadsheet does
automatic calculations considering the formulas from the section 8.05(Falco & Gato, 2012)
from the book Comprehensive Renewable Energy from Ali Sayigh.

Figure 7 Part of the Turbine Design Spreadsheet (Brady, 2013)
The wells turbine has three main coefficients, which can define its performance, the
pressure drop coefficient, the flow rate coefficient and the torque coefficient. It was predicted
(Brady, 2013) that the turbine would have stalls with a pressure drop coefficient above about 0.15
and for a flow rate coefficient about 0.23. The pressure coefficient and the flow rate coefficient
are directly connected with the blast-box flow rate. Considering that the minimum pneumatic
power must be 40W, it is correct to state that:
- 11 -

(3.1.4)

(3.1.5)

This would be the relation of the pressure drop in the turbine and the flow rate, to get a
pneumatic power of 40W. Using the turbine design spreadsheet a table was made to check what
value of the flow rate would suit the coefficient values to avoid the stalls conditions:
Flow Rate) m/s Pressure Drop Pa
Peak Pressure
Coefficient
Peak Flow Rate
Coefficient
0 0 - -
0.1 400 0.20 0.13
0.125 320 0.16 0.11
0.14 285.71 0.14 0.18
0.15 266.7 0.13 0.20
0.17 235.29 0.12 0.22
0.175 228.57 0.11 0.233
0.2 200 0.10 0.26
Table 1Allowed flow rate values
It is possible to determine that the flow rate value is between 0.14m/s and 0.17m/s. It is
possible to find the measures of the blast-box by considering the flow velocity equal to the piston
velocity (1m/s) and the flow area equals to the piston area:

(3.1.6)

(3.1.7)

Choosing the value of 0.16m/s for the flow rate, and selecting a square shape for the
piston:

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The blast box will have the same square area in its width and depth. The blast box length
will be equal to the piston motion area (0.5m) plus the turbine tube diameter (0.16m).

Figure 8 Blast-box draft and measures

Figure 9 Piston draft and measures
3.1.3 Building the Blast-Box
The blast box was made by using:
1. 1.3m of Perspex;
2. 20 bended screw brackets;
3. PVC pipe, with diameter of 0.16m and a height of 0.2m;
4. A tool-handler was adapted for the piston;
5. Paper and cardboard;
Building Process:
1. The Perspex was cut in the laboratory cutting press machine;
2. Bended Screws brackets with 3mm screws were used to hold the structure;
3. In the top part, the Perspex was cut and lathed to be able to suit the turbine pipe;
4. The pipe was cut just after the turbo-generator system was complete;
- 13 -
5. The piston was made by using less then 0,16m Perspex, and fulfilling the borders with
cardboard (by that way it would not causes interferences in the piston speed);
6. To hold the piston it was used a tool handler.

Figure 10 Blast-Box Material
3.2 Turbine
The turbine will be responsible to transform the pneumatic power generated by
the blast-box into rotational mechanical power.

3.2.1 Turbine Requirements
The requirements of the project affirm that the turbine should have an efficiency
at minimum 30%, different from a normal turbine which have a efficiency of 50%. In this
analyses there are some neglected factor, as viscosity, fluid flow behavior (analyses of
Reynolds number), turbulences, mechanical properties of the used material and also no
temperature analyses (which has some importance in a fluid analyze). That is why it is
not been considerate the value of 50% for the turbine efficiency.
- 14 -
For a minimum pneumatic power of 40W:

(3.2.1)
(3.2.2)
(3.2.3)

It was stated, in the requirements, that the minimum rotational speed of the
turbine must be 3000rpm or 314.16rads/s. With the values of the rotational power and the
angular velocity, it is possible to find out the value of the minimum torque generated by
the turbine by knowing that:

(3.2.4)
(3.2.5)

(3.2.6)
(3.2.7)

3.2.2 Turbine Draft
The wells turbine was the chosen turbine type for this project, because of its
property of spin in the same direction in bidirectional airflow, and because of its build
simplicity. Different than the impulse turbine, which works well in bidirectional airflow,
but is much more complicated and expensive to build (it would be necessary more project
time). The choice of the blade profile for the turbine was based in previous
works(Raghunathan, 1995)(Thakker & Abdulhadi, 2007). It was chosen the airfoil
NACA 0021, because it has already proved to be a good airfoil for small-scale
applications.
It is recommended the use of a hub-to-tip ratio of 0.6 (Raghunathan, 1995). The
turbine diameter would be 0.15m, that is a size capable to fit in a tube of 0,16m of
diameter (without touch the tube walls). The turbine would have eight blades. To find out
the blade width it is necessary to know the exactly hub perimeter and then divide it by the
number of blades:
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(3.2.8)
(3.2.9)
(3.2.10)
(3.2.11)

(3.2.12)
The blade width should be lower than 0.0353m, because it is good to have a
space, even with a very small size, between the blades. It was decided that the blade
width would be 0.034m. Therefore, the turbine has a distance of 0,001375m or 1.375mm
between each blade. Moreover, with the chosen hub-tip-ratio the blade length will be
0,03m. Now almost all the measurements of the turbine are described (Figure 11 Turbine
with its respective measures).

Figure 11 Turbine with its respective measures
The only thing that is missing is the thickness distribution across the blade width,
and this is possible to know thanks to the NACA airfoil series number (in this case
NACA 0021). For the NACA four-digit series the first digit specifies the maximum
camber, the second indicates the position of the maximum camber and the last two digits
are the maximum thickness of the airfoil, all this number are in percentage to the blade
- 16 -
width or the airfoil length. For the NACA0021 it is possible to see that there will be no
camber and that the thickness distribution in the blades width will be of 21%. It is
possible to calculate the thickness in each point of the blade width by using the following
formula, giver by the http://www.aerospaceweb.org/ (Scott, 2001):

(3.2.13)

This equation considers a blade width position from 0 to 1. For this interval of the
position and with the thickness ratio of 21% it was found the following draft for the
blade:

Position 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Thickness 0 0,0819 0,1004 0,1050 0,1016 0,0926 0,0799 0,0641 0,0459 0,0253 0
Table 2 NACA021 Thickness Distribution

Figure 12 NACA021 Thickness X Position graph
It is necessary to multiply the entire table by 0.034 to find the thickness of the
blade with the current blade width (0.034m):
Position 0 0,0034 0,0068 0,0102 0,0136 0,017 0,0204 0,0238 0,0272 0,0306 0,034
Thickness 0 0,0028 0,0034 0,0036 0,0035 0,0031 0,0027 0,0022 0,0016 0,0009 0
Table 3 Thickness Distribution in the project blade width
0
0,05
0,1
0,15
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
T
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s

Position
Blade Draft
- 17 -

Figure 13 Thickness X Position graph for the project blade width
With the measurements and the airfoil draft, it is possible to draw the turbine in
3D software. The software used for this application was Blender, a free open source 3D
software that is useful for high number of applications, including modeling, rigging,
animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing
and game creation. In the software, a cylinder object was used to build the turbine blade.
In Figure 14 it is possible to see the 3d-view and the top-view of the cylinder. 32 vertices
can be seen from the top-view in the circular area of the cylinder. The position of each of
those 32 vertices were reorganized in a new position to fit the airfoil draft (Figure 15).

Figure 14 Cylinder object: 3d view (left) and top view (right).
0
0,002
0,004
0 0,005 0,01 0,015 0,02 0,025 0,03
T
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s

Position
Blade Draft for the project blade width
- 18 -

Figure 15 Airfoil NACA0021 Blade made in Blender
3.2.3 3D Printing Process
After finish the design of one blade, the same design was copied 8 times. The 8
blades were adjusted in the turbine hub. The 3D turbine was exported to a .stl file format,
and then the turbine could be printed in the 3D-Printer.

Figure 16 Printed turbines in the 3-D Printer
In Figure 16 two turbines were printed in the InVision si 3-D PRINTER. It was
known that the printer could present some problems in the printing process, so 2 copies of
- 19 -
the turbine would have a higher chance to got at least one good turbine. The two turbines
should then be put in the printer oven to remove the protective wax (Figure 17).

Figure 17 Printed turbines in the 3D Printer Oven
3.3 Generator:
The turbine will be connected in a generator shaft. With the spinning movement
of the turbine, the generator will produce an output electrical power. From the
eletromechanics conversion properties (Kosow, 1991) it is known that the relation
between the mechanical properties (torque and angular velocity) and the electrical
properties (voltage and current) is given by a known constant from the motor, or
generator. This constant can be called torque constant (when relates toque and current)
and back-Emf constant (when relates the Emf voltage with the angular velocity. The
following relations can be considerate:

(3.3.1)
(3.3.2)
(3.3.3)

From section 3.2.1 is known the minimum angular velocity and the minimum
torque generated by the turbine. It is possible to state that:

(3.3.4)
- 20 -

(3.3.5)

Figure 18 Basic generator circuit
In the circuit in Figure 18 Basic generator circuit is possible to find a relation
between the terminal voltage and the eletromotriz force, which is:
(3.3.6)
(3.3.7)

From the project requirements is known that the minimum electrical power output
from the system must be 8 W. Considering that 12W of rotational power will arrive in a
generator with 70% of efficiency. By multiplying each side of equation 3.3.7 by the
current turns possible to see that the output power will be equal to:

(3.3.8)
(3.3.9)

(3.3.10)

(3.3.11)

(3.3.12)
(3.3.13)
- 21 -

(3.3.14)

(3.3.15)
According these values it is possible to choose the generator that will fit in the
project, by just looking the values of its armature resistance and its back-emf constant.
No generator was bought for this project. In the begging of the tests there were
found just two motors available in the mechatronics laboratory and unfortunately there
was not any information about them there. The armature resistance of the motors was
found with a multimeter plugged in the motors terminals. The back-emf constant was
found by doing the following experiment with the motors:
1. The motor shaft was fixed in a lathe machine;
2. The motor was fixed to stop any movement;
3. The lathe machine was capable to produce velocities from 25rpm until
2500rpm;
4. The multimeter reader was plugged in the motor terminal (Figure 19):
a. With only the multimeter and none load resistor the measured
voltage in the motors terminal would be equal to its Emf voltage.
- 22 -

Figure 19 Multimeter plugged in the motor that is fixed in the lathe machine
5. A table was created to save the information;
(rpm|rads/s) Ea(V) (rpm|rads/s) Ea(V)
0 0 0 0 0 0
25 2,617994 0,04 40 4,18879 0,04
45 4,712389 0,08 80 8,37758 0,09
80 8,37758 0,14 125 13,08997 0,14
140 14,66077 0,25 260 27,22714 0,28
470 49,21828 0,83 540 56,54867 0,58
840 87,96459 1,50 1200 125,6637 1,26
1500 157,0796 2,69 1700 178,0236 1,85
2000 209,4395

3,55 2500 261,7994 2,57
Table 4 Results of the generators attributes experiment.
6. By knowing that the would be the angular coefficient
of the line from the graph
7. Used Microsoft Office Excel to create the graph and to find the angular
coefficient of the line:
a. Created a simple scatter graph;
b. Choose the line option Add Trendline;
- 23 -
c. Select the linear and the display equation options;
d. The coefficient that is multiplying in the equation will be the
angular coefficient.

Figure 20 Getting the angular coefficient with the Excel
From these experiment was possible to extract the following information about
the motor:
Characteristics Motor 1 Motor 2
Armature Resistance 12 15
Back-Emf Constant 0.017V/rads/s 0,0108V/rads/s
Table 5 Calculated information about the motors
Using the equation 3.3.15 to check if the motor would fit in the project:
Motor 1:

(3.3.16)

Motor 2:
- 24 -

(3.3.17)

None of the motors would fit with project requirements. Therefore, in the last
building week a third motor was found in the mechatronics laboratory. The experiment to
find out the emf-back constant was not necessary in this motor because with the model
name (Figure 21 DC motor found in the mechatronics laboratoryFigure 21) it was possible to
find the datasheet in the fabricator seller website.

Figure 21 DC motor found in the mechatronics laboratory
Properties Units Motor C
Max. Continuous Current A 0.22
Max. Recommended
speed
rpm 12000
Max. Output Power W 3.8
Back-EMF constant V/rads/s 2.6e-2
Terminal Resistance ohm 61
Table 6 Motor main properties
The motor would not fit in the project as well, and this is possible to realize just
by looking for the value of the maximum output power (3.8W), which it is not even a half
of the desired value (8W). By this stage of the project, it was noticed that the output
electrical power from the requirements would be reached.
- 25 -
Motor C was the chosen one because it has the best performance and it has a
datasheet that can be helpful in the result analyses. A multimeter proved that the armature
resistance in motor C was 57.8 ohms instead of 61 ohms.
3.3.1 Mounting the turbo-generator system
A screw hub was created to fix the motor shaft in the turbine. It was made from a
small aluminum piece with a hollow in the centre.

Figure 22 Screw hub piece with measures
As it is possible to see in Figure 22 the length of the screw hub is 8cm, which was
perfect to fit in the turbine hub (9cm). Two 6mm screws were used to fix the screw hub
in the turbine, and two 1mm grub screws were used to fix the motor shaft in the middle of
the screw hub hollow (without touching the turbine).
- 26 -

Figure 23 Turbo-Generator system.
3.3.2 Turbo-generator system into the turbine pipe
It was necessary to guarantee that the turbine would stay right in the center of the
pipe, in that way, the turbine would no hit the pipes walls while it spins. It was build a
structure that would go above the pipe and it would hold the turbine by squeezing the
generator (without damage its interior). It was used two bended metal plates and two
8mm screws with two nuts to create the structure. In Figure 25 it is possible to see that
there are no turbine blades touching the pipe.

Figure 24 Metal structure to hold the turbo-generator system.
- 27 -

Figure 25 Turbine inside the tube
3.3.3 Rig Test
The first rig test was made by just plugging a multimeter in the motors terminal
wires and by pumping the blast-box with the hand-piston.

Figure 26 Blast-box prepared for the first test
- 28 -
The maximum voltage output from this test was 10V, which it is not a bad result.
But it was possible to realize that a large amount of airflow was being lost by the small
spaces left in the construction of the blast-box, and that the piston was not so efficient (it
was dropping the airflow by its sides).
The efficiency of the blast-box was increased more than 150% by fulfilling all the
spaces with adhesive tape and by putting a normal flexible paper around the piston
(which would guarantee no airflow looses, and at the same time, it would not impose any
difficult in the piston movement). With these new changes in the blast-box, the maximum
voltage measured in the multimeter was around 25V.

Figure 27 Piston Movement in the blast-box - with the added paper in the structure
After these tests, the rig was finished. Now it would be necessary to take the data
from the rig.

Figure 28 Finished Rig
- 29 -
3.4 Data acquisition System
3.4.1 Equipment Description
The NI USB 6008 was used to collect the data. This USB device can read
measurements from a variety of sensor, reading from analog or digital inputs, and can
generate signals outputs. The 6008 is a device from the National Instruments, and it
works with the NI LabView software. The LabView is a graphic programming language
created by National Instruments, and specially used for automation and measurements.
The VIs, the programs in Labview, are composed by the front panel (interface) and the
block diagram (the graphic code of the program). For the NI-USB 6008 and the NI
LabView work together, the software driver NI-DAQmx must be installed in the
computer. The DAQmx turn available the communication between hardware and
software and add to the LabView new block diagrams corresponding to the NI-USB
measures devices.
The NI-USB 6008 can only measure voltages between -10V and 10V;
It can only measure current between -10mA and 10mA;
3.4.2 Data acquisition Experiments
In the first moment the only available resistor for the project were ones with a
great resistance value (R1 = 10K ohms and R2 = 82K). Knowing that, the armature
resistance in Motor C is 57.8 ohms it is possible to realize that just a small percentage of
the total emf voltage would be dropped in the armature resistance. And that would be
necessary to put the resistors in series to measure the voltage from the lower one (R1) and
then multiplying the value of the relation between the resistances. This first data
acquisition would be called Data Experiment 1 (DA1).
Two lower resistance resistors (R1 = R2 = 120 ohms) were acquired for the
project, with the help of the other mechatronics students. The Data Experiment 2 (DA2)
was made using these two new resistors.
3.4.2.1 Data Experiment 1
3.4.2.2.3 Estimated Values
- 30 -
Considering the follow circuit from Figure 29, for the experiment 1:

Figure 29 DA1 test circuit
It is correct to state that:

(3.4.1)

However, considering the maximum Emf voltage as 25 V, the load voltage V
would probably be more than 10V, and the USB 6008 would not be capable to measure
it. In that case, the load voltage V will be measured in relation of its lower component
R2.

(3.4.2)
It is correct to affirm that:
(3.4.3)

(3.4.4)
By following the previous equations from section 3.3 and the equation 3.4.4, it is
possible to create a table predicting the results of this data collection:
Ea (V) Ia (A) V2(V) V(V) Pl(W)
0 0 0 0 0
5 5,43E-05 0,543137 4,996661 0,000271
10 0,000109 1,086274 9,993322 0,001086
15 0,000163 1,629411 14,98998 0,002442
20 0,000217 2,172548 19,98664 0,004342
25 0,000272 2,715685 24,9833 0,006785
Table 7 Estimated Values for DA1
- 31 -
3.4.2.2.3 Data Collection
Figure 30 shows the block diagram that was built to make acquire and manipulate
the data from the NI-USB 6008.

Figure 30 DA1 LabView block diagram
The DAQ Assistant box guarantee the communication with the NI-USB
6008 to measure the current (Ia) and the voltage in the 10k ohms resistor
(V2).
Configuring the DAQ Assistant:
o Setting the voltage measure properties:

Figure 31 Voltage Input Setup of DAQ Assistant (From NI LabView Software)
- 32 -
Figure 31 shows the DAQ assistant window. There it is
possible to configure what would be measured ( the voltage
in the first case) and where it would make the
communication with the NI-USB 6008 (Physical channel
ai0);
In the time settings, in Figure 31, the acquisition mode
defines how the measure will be capture in relation to the
time. The continuous samples mode was selected with the
intention of capture data until the user decide to stop. In
this same setting it is possible to choose the number of
samples to read and the rate of samples per second;
The terminal configuration defines how the measuring
wires will be set (FIGURA Y):

Figure 32 Input Voltage Electric Diagram (From the NI LabView software)
In this case, the maximum predict voltage for V2 is
2.715V, so it is not necessary to make any changes in the
signal input range.

- 33 -
o Setting the Current measures properties:

Figure 33 Current Input Setup of DAQ Assistant (From NI LabView Software)
There are only two small differences from the current
measures properties and the voltage measures properties.
In the current properties is necessary to give the value of
the resistance. The current will be measured in the load
resistor (Rl=92k ohms).
The current will be measured using the physical channel
ai2 (Figure 34)
- 34 -

Figure 34 Figure 25 Input Current Electric Diagram (From the NI LabView software)
In each 0.05 (rate of 20Hz) seconds the DAQ assistant will collect the two
data signals and send them in one wire to be used in the VI.
The Split Signal block diagram divides the signals that are coming from
the Daq Assistant wire (voltage V2 and current Ia). Therefore, its turn
possible to manipulate this two signals separately.
Voltage Signal:
o The signal that goes to the upper part is the voltage signal. It is
possible to see that the first thing that happens with this signal is
the division by 0.1087 (%V), which will transform the voltage V2
in the load voltage V.
o The first ramification (the one that goes down) is to make the
multiplication with the current (Ia), and find the output power.
o The output power signal:
This signal is a new one that comes from a multiplication
of two signals. If this signal was send directly to the Write
to measurement file box it would take a name as Voltage 2
or Current 2, thats happens because this new signal doesnt
have any name yet. The Set dynamic data Attributes box
allows it to give a name for the signal (LOAD POWER)
- 35 -
o The second ramification (the one that goes up) is to make the
division by the motor back-emf constant to obtain the angular
velocity.
o The angular velocity ramification:
From the result of the angular velocity, there are two wires;
one displays the value of the angular velocity in the front
panel. The other makes the multiplication with 60/2 to
obtain the frequency of rotation (N), which is also
displayed in the front panel;
o The third ramification (second one that goes down) is sum with the
voltage drop in the armature resistance to obtain the EMF voltage.
The EMF voltage will pass throw the Set Dynamic Data
Attributes (to define its signal name).
o The lasts ramifications from the voltage signal are to display in the
front panel a waveform graph (Voltage x Time) and a numeric
indicator given the exact measured voltage.
o Current Signal:
o The signal that goes down, from the split signal box, is the current
signal.
o The first ramification (the one that goes up) is to make the
multiplication with the load voltage (V), to find the output power.
o The second ramification (the one that down up) is to make the
multiplication with the motor back-emf constant to obtain the
torque.
o The toque ramification will display the torque in the front panel in
a tank numeric indicator.
o The third ramification (second one that goes up) is to multiply the
current (Ia) with the armature resistance (Ra) to obtain the voltage
drop in the armature resistance. After calculated this value will
sum with the load voltage (V) to calculate the EMF voltage.
- 36 -
o The lasts ramifications from the current signal are to display in the
front panel a waveform graph (Current x Time) and a numeric
indicator given the exact measured current.
The merge signal box will be responsible to take the voltage, the emf
voltage, the load power and the current signal signals and put them in just
one wire.
The output wire from the merge signal box will go to the Write to
measurement file box. This box write the data received in a TDMS
binary file format. The TDMS is a NI low size file format, which can be
opened using the Microsoft Office Excel Ad-In TDM Importer.
VI Front panel:
Figure 35 shows the front panel created for the block diagram. It is possible to see
that the measured electric properties are in the right side of the panel. In this side, there
are two graph panels for the load voltage and the current. In the left side, it was put some
information about the turbine and the generator. It was also put the estimation for the
torque, the rotational velocity and the angular velocity generated by the turbine.

Figure 35 VI Front Panel

- 37 -
3.4.2.2.3 The physic circuit:

Figure 36 Physic Circuit for DA1
In Figure 36 is possible to see the physic circuit for the data acquisition system.
The red and the black wires in the vertical part of the protoboard are the motor terminal
wires. From that part, two purple wires are sending the energy to the horizontal part of
the protoboard. In this part, the two resistors are linked in series. There is a white cable
connected with the left leg of the 82k resistor, which is directly connected in the ai2 port
in the NI-USB 6008. Its correspondent negative port (ai6) is connected in the right leg of
the 10k resistor (taking the current of the 92k ohm load resistance). From the 10k resistor
there are another 2 cables that are directly connected in the ai0(+) and the ai4(-) ports.

3.4.2.2 Data Experiment 2
The DA2 was made following the same structure of the DA1. First it was
estimated the values that could be collected for the EMF voltage, the Load Power, the
Load Voltage and the Current. After the DA1s VI was adjusted to collect the data in the
DA2. In this experiment it was noticed that 57.8 ohms was the best value for the load
resistor, or the value that will guarantee the maximum output power from the motor. With
this load resistor value the Emf voltage would be divided equally in the armature
- 38 -
resistance and the load. In addition, the current would be high. There is no resistor of this
value in the project equipment, but putting the two 120 ohms resistor in parallel in the
circuit would be equivalent than use a 60 ohms resistor, which is close from the desired
value.
3.4.2.2.3 Estimated Values
Considering the follow circuit from Figure 37, for the experiment 1:

Figure 37 DA2 Test Circuit
It is correct to state that:
(3.4.5)
(3.4.6)

(3.4.7)

Considering the maximum current supported by motor C is 22mA, by equation
BADERE:

(3.4.8)
(3.4.9)

The current would be probably more than 10m, and the USB 6008 would not be
capable to measure it. In that case, the current Ia will be measured in relation of one of
the 120 ohms resistors.
(3.4.10)

- 39 -
It is possible to create a table predicting the results of this data collection:
Ea (V) Ia (A) i(V2) V(V) Pl(W)
0 0 0 0 0
0,5 0,00424 0,00212 0,25467 0,00108
1 0,00849 0,00424 0,50934 0,00432
1,5 0,01273 0,00637 0,76401 0,00973
2 0,01698 0,00849 1,01868 0,0173
2,5 0,02122 0,01061 1,27334 0,02702
Table 8 Estimated Results For DA2
3.4.2.2.3 Data Collection

Figure 38 DA2 LabView Block Diagram
From Figure 38 it is possible to see that the DA2 block diagram will be the almost
equal from the block diagram of DA1. The only differences:
The value of %V that will divide the voltage V2 to find the load voltage V
would not be necessary;
A multiplication with 2 is needed in the current signal to obtain the Ia
current;
The value of the resistance, to measure current, will be 120 ohms;
The front panel will be just the same as in the DA1.

- 40 -

3.4.3 Execution of the experiments
Both experiments were executed by running the VI to start the data acquisition.
And by pressing the STOP button to finish the data acquisition. DA1 was executed in 80
seconds, in each second 20 samples were acquired. DA2 was executed in 50 seconds,
also with 20 samples per second. The data from both experiments were saved in a TDMS
file type and after they were converted to a spreadsheet file.

- 41 -
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion
4.1 DA1 Results and Discussion
From the DA1 experiment, it was obtained the following results:
Right Time Time (s) Load Voltage (V) Power Load(W) EMF Voltage (V) Current (A)
03:18:17,255 0 0 0 0 0
03:18:23,305 6.05 5,06443435 0,000260839 5,06741128 5,1504E-05
03:18:28,705 11.45 10,17351316 0,001059178 10,17953079 0,000104111
03:18:38,155 20.9 15,04823055 0,00231334 15,05711605 0,000153728
03:18:48,105 30.85 20,01669251 0,004079169 20,02847147 0,000203788
03:19:13,505 56.25 25,07889903 0,005688518 25,09200951 0,000226825
03:19:32,155 74.9 0 0 0 0
Table 9 Results From DA1

Figure 39 Voltages Chart from DA1
By comparing these results with the estimated values in the Table 7 Estimated Values for
DA1, it is correct to affirm that the experiment work as it was predicted.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)

Time (s)
Voltages Graph
Load Voltage (V)
EMF Voltage (V)
- 42 -
Around of 99.94% of the EMF voltage was directly transferred for the load resistance. In
Figure 39 it is possible two see that the two lines have been represented in the graph. The load
voltage line was behind the EMF voltage line.
To generate this EMF voltage the motor should receive a high value of angular speed.

(4.1.1)

(4.1.2)

Figure 40 Power Load graph in the left and Current Graph in the right from DA1
The load power in this case was low either, even that the voltage in the load was
considerable high. That happens because of the low current in the circuit.
The high load resistance value was responsible for a low value of the generated current
and consequently a low torque.

(4.1.3)

(4.1.4)

Considering the 70% of efficiency of the motor c, the mechanical rotational power would
have a low value in this case:

(4.1.5)
0
0,001
0,002
0,003
0,004
0,005
0,006
0 20 40 60 80
P
O
W
E
R

(
W
)

Time (s)
Power Load Graph
Power Load(W)
0
0,00005
0,0001
0,00015
0,0002
0,00025
0,0003
0 20 40 60 80
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
A
)

Times (s)
Current
Current (A)
- 43 -

4.2 DA2 Results and Discussion
From the DA2 experiment, it was obtained the following results:
Right Time Time (s) Load Voltage (V) Power Load(W) EMF Voltage (V) Current (A)
03:35:15,4 0 0 0 0 0
03:35:17,7 2,3 0,329699 0,001812 0,647309 0,005495
03:35:19,3 3,9 0,489038 0,003986 0,960145 0,008151
03:35:32,0 16,6 0,746798 0,009295 1,466213 0,012447
03:35:47,6 31,6 1,060374 0,01874 2,081868 0,017673
03:35:56,4 41 1,117466 0,020812 2,193959 0,018624
03:35:58,7 43,3 0 0 0 0
Table 10 Results from DA2

Figure 41Voltages graph from DA2

By comparing these results with the estimated values in the Table 8 Estimated Results
For DA2 it is correct to affirm that the experiment doesnt work perfectly as it was predicted.
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
0 10 20 30 40 50
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)

Time (s)
Voltages Graph
load voltage
Emf voltage
- 44 -
Even that the piston were pumped with a lot of strength (much more from the DA1) the turbine
has not spun faster. In addition, the desired Emf voltage of 2.59 V was not acquired. The most
reasonable cause for this particular problem can be related to the maximum current that the motor
used could support. In the datasheet of the motor is stated that it can holds 22mA, but maybe the
way that this motor has been stored could change some of its electrical properties.
Around of 50.09% of the EMF voltage was transferred for the load resistance. In Figure
41, it is possible to see that the two lines have been represented in the graph.
To generate this EMF voltage the motor should receive a low value of angular speed.

(4.2.1)

(4.2.2)

Figure 42 Power Load graph in the left and Current Graph in the right from DA2
The load power in this case was low, compared with project requirements, but it was
really high compared with load power from DA1. That happens because of the choice of an load
resistor with almost the same value of the armature resistance in the circuit.
The load resistance value was responsible for current value close from the maximum
current allowed in the motor and consequently a higher torque.

(4.1.3)

(4.1.4)
(4.1.4)
0
0,005
0,01
0,015
0,02
0,025
0 20 40 60
P
O
W
E
R

(
W
)

TIME (s)
load power
0
0,005
0,01
0,015
0,02
0,025
0 20 40 60
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
A
)

TIME (s)
Current
- 45 -
Considering that the motor/ generator has an efficiency of 70%, it is possible to deduce
the mechanical rotational power:

(4.2.5)

- 46 -
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Conclusion
5.1.1 In relation to the project itself
To conclude the project has not met with most of its requirements. Apart of the
power output, there was no precise way to measure the others types of power in the rig.
Ending up with a poor data acquisition system (just two measures were read). To
complete, the only requirement that was fulfilled (the measure of the output electrical
power) it was not capable to get not even 1% of the required value. Therefore, in further
researches it would be necessary to get all the necessary sensors before.
Despite of the requirements, the rig was capable to simulate very well the working
principles of an OWC device. It turns to be a very educational rig, with the possibility of
reuse to other studies in the area. For example, it is possible to use the rig as a test
ambient for turbines or generator for OWCs applications; the rig can be adapted to work
in a real wave generator.
5.1.2 In relation to the area of study
The wave energy converter is an emerging area in the renewable energy field. And for
engineering studies is an area that can be highly explored. In this small data acquisition project
almost all the fields in engineering studies can be found (pneumatics, mechanical, electronic,
computational and even more), which means that the WEC technologies can accept researchers of
a variety of areas.
The data acquisition part of the project had given a new view of the National Instruments
hardware and software. The NI-USB 6008, one of simplest hardwares from NI, prove to have a
good capacity to deal with analog and digital inputs. In addition, the NI LabView proves to be
one of the most powerful softwares in the data acquisition and manipulation area. With many
functions a simple interface, it turns to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the project.

- 47 -
Chapter 6 Bibliography
Brady, G. (2013). Turbine Design.
Falco, A., & Gato, L. (2012). Air Turbines. In S. A., Comprehensive Renewable Energy, Vol 8.
(p. 111). Oxford: Elsevier.
Halliday, & Resnick. (2011). Fundamentals of Phisics 9th Edition.
Kosow, I. L. (1991). Eletric Machinery and Transformers. Prentice Hall.
Nader, D., & Sajadian, S. (2011). Modeling and optimization of the chamber of OWC system.
Energy .
Raghunathan, S. (1995). THE WELLS AIR TURBINE FOR WAVE ENERGY CONVERSION.
Scott, J. A. (2001, August 26). Aerospaceweb.org. Retrieved march 3, 2014, from
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/airfoils/q0041.shtml
Setoguchi, T., & Takao, M. (2012). Air Turbines for Wave Energy Conversion. Internacional
Journal of Rotating Machinery .
Thakker, A., & Abdulhadi, R. (2007). Effect of Blade Profile on the Performance of Wells
Turbine under Unidirectional Sinusoidal and Real Sea Flow Conditions. Rotating Machinery .

- 48 -
Appendix A Other material
MOTOR C DATASHEET:

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Available Formats

SCHOOL OF INFORMATICS AND ENGINEERING

A BENCH-SCALE BLAST-BOX DEMONSTRATOR FOR DATA ACQUISITION

Mechanical Rotational Power

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