Airfoil Design for Wakeless Wind Turbine Tower Structures

摘要

A novel wind turbine is provided that reduces or eliminates aerodynamic wake downwind of the tower to allow for the wind turbine to face away from the direction of the wind. The wind turbine comprises a tower and a rotor rotatably mounted to a nacelle which is mounted to the tower in stationary relationship therewith. The tower has a yaw bearing at its base so that it is rotatable about a vertical axis. In one embodiment the tower comprises a single airfoil symmetric about its major chord. In another embodiment the tower comprises a pair of spaced apart asymmetric airfoils defining a nozzle-like space there between through which a relatively high speed jet of air can travel to fill the aerodynamic wake zone behind the tower.