Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades

Re:Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades by jccalhoun on Friday May 06, 2016 @04:17PM (#11646455)

cool. I thought I had read in an issue of Popular Science or Discover magazine that one blade was theoretically the best but I don't know enough about it to say for sure.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades by sathackr on Friday May 06, 2016 @06:05PM (#11647028)

you're probably thinking about a propeller - as in the type on an airplane or boat that puts energy into a fluid.

I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure there is a big difference from a device trying to pull energy out of the fluid.

A quick google didn't lead me to an authoritative source, but I know I have read many times that a one-bladed propeller is the most efficient.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades by cellularmitosis on Saturday May 07, 2016 @12:19AM (#11648377)

Oh, I had thought an infinite number of infinitely thin blades got you the closest to Betz's limit?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades by tasnent on Sunday May 08, 2016 @11:46PM (#11657484)

Wouldn't that just be a disk?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Wind Turbines Have Three Blades by e12e on Friday May 06, 2016 @11:00PM (#11648192)

Interesting. Isn't a fish fin (as in the fins on the side etc) essentially a one-bladed propeller?

[ Parent | on HN ]