# Low Wind turbine Aerofoil

**URL:** <https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551>\
**Category:** Airfoils\
**Created:** [July 30, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551 "2012-07-30T16:42:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Suni.Kar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Suni.Kar](https://forums.nlr.gov/u/Suni.Kar)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551/1 "2012-07-30T16:42:02Z")

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Dear Friends,  
I want to know about "what are the factors should be consider while selecting the aerofoil for low Reynold number and small wind turbine blades.Kindly share your opinion

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**Author:** ![Irfan.Zafar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@Irfan.Zafar](https://forums.nlr.gov/u/Irfan.Zafar)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551/2 "2012-08-01T09:21:36Z")

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Suni,  
Desired airfoil characteristics depend on the type of wind turbine (stall regulated or pitch regulated, fixed speed or variable speed). But the general characteristics includes insensitive to roughness, high lift to drag ratio in the outboard part, smooth stall etc. Airfoils designed for high Reynolds number can suffer from performance loss (loss of lift and increase in drag) when used at low Reynolds numbers. So, for small wind turbines especially look at the performance of airfoils at low Reynolds number.

Regards,

Irfan

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**Author:** ![Suni.Kar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Suni.Kar](https://forums.nlr.gov/u/Suni.Kar)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551/3 "2012-08-02T17:46:25Z")

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Dear Zafar,  
For low wind turbine have to consider BEM theory and momentum, tip losses or not?. Can you tell me low reynolds number aerofoils.

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**Author:** ![Irfan.Zafar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@Irfan.Zafar](https://forums.nlr.gov/u/Irfan.Zafar)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551/4 "2012-08-02T18:52:24Z")

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Suni,  
The design approach for small wind turbines is same as for large wind turbines. BEM theory does not pose any restriction on the size of wind turbine so there is no difference in my opinion between small and large HAWTs.  
For low Reynolds number airfoils you can look at University of Illinois website. Here is the link: [ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/pd.html](http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/pd.html)

Regards,

Irfan

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**Author:** ![Suni.Kar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Suni.Kar](https://forums.nlr.gov/u/Suni.Kar)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://forums.nlr.gov/t/low-wind-turbine-aerofoil/551/5 "2012-08-26T18:22:09Z")

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I want to know the latest list of aerofoils for small wind turbine blades. Above links having the aerofoils, which are formulated before the year of 2000