LEBOST WIND TURBINE: LABORATORY TESTS AND DATA ANALYSIS.

Preliminary aerodynamic torque and power measurements and data analysis are presented for the Lebost Wind Turbine - a recently patented vertical-axis wind energy machine incorporating flow-focusing inlets fixed to a housing shroud surrounding blades rotating normal to the flow. At all U// infinity the shaft rotation rate decreased nearly linearly with applied load. However, the (no-load tip speed)/(U// infinity ) ratio X//0 and the torque coefficient at zero rotation were found to be Re//D-dependent, with X//0 first decreasing for Re//D less than 2 multiplied by 10**5 and then increasing (presumably, X//0 levels off at about 1. 0 at the end of the transitional regime). These results are consistent with the modified impulse turbine theory presented.