Study of Blades Number Influence on the Rotation of the Turbine Shaft on a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Wind energy is one of the energy sources that began to be developed to convert mechanical energy into an electrical need for the community. Indonesia is considered very worth developing wind turbines as power plants. The potential of wind energy in Indonesia reaches 9286 MW at an average wind speed of 5 m/s, based on data from the Indonesia Energy Outlook and Statistics 2004. In this study, what was discussed was related to the influence of the number of horizontal axis wind turbine blades on the rotation of the shaft. The model of the turbine used is a propeller-type wind turbine with variations in the number of blades 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 made of meranti wood material (Shorea multiflora). Data collection on a wind turbine is carried out without using the load from the generator, then the data taken on measurements is only in the form of data on wind speed (m/s) and rotational speed (rpm). Data collection for 10 days, in the test of the wind turbine, was measured at an average wind speed of 1–6 m/s. The more blades on the wind turbine, the more rotation of the shaft will increase due to a large amount of wind that crosses the cross-sectional area of the blade. Horizontal axis wind turbine the number of 3–7 blades, getting the optimal number of blades, namely at the number of 5 blades produces a maximum shaft rotation of 1751 rpm when the wind speed is 6 m/s. In the wind turbine, the number of 5 blades obtained the optimal characteristic value of the wind turbine with a tip speed ratio of 6, and the power of the wind turbine (P \(\lambda\) out) is 166.78 watts.