Wind turbine with increased efficiency

[Recycler]

Wind turbines apparently now produce electricity only at some minimum wind speed.In my conception,the wind pressure of a lower wind speed is used to exert a force on a diaphragm or vane which stores torque in a spring or other mechanism,This torque could be used to help overcome the initial friction when the blade begins to move again in a sufficient incident wind velocity,Could this improve efficiency marginally?The torque coupling could disengage with a preset rotational speed.

 

[Aleena786]

You mean storing excess wind energy? yes definitely. The maximum theoretical efficiency C=60% but in reality wind turbines operate at 10-30% efficiency. The wind energy can be stored by other ways which includes e.g. hydrogen conversion. But i suppose your right about that; others means to increase efficiency would be diameter of these systems, air density or to avoid excessive heat dissipation with the idea you recommended

 

[Bystander]

"Stores torque?" Friction is friction.

 

[Aleena786]

Torsional spring perhaps? And yeah its friction but your providing an additional push or kinetic energy when we know some is dissipated as heat/friction

 

[CWatters]

On days when the wind is low it can fluctuate a lot. What they do at present is use an anemometer to detect when the wind speed has risen far enough to make it worth running the turbine. Then they use the generator as a motor to accelerate the rotor up to speed. In short they store the energy in the grid in the form of unburnt coal or oil then borrow it back when needed to spin up the rotor.

 

[Cranford Ducain]

I am wondering , if a system which will generate a constant flow of air could be utilized with a wind turbine to produce electricity?
I have done some preliminary design work on such a system and would like some feedback about its possible utility and / or desirability.
It could be used in a more urban area than those which are currently in use.

[Mod Note: personal contact details not permitted in forum posts]

 

[CWatters]

Can you tell us more? Presumably the "flow of air" is the by product of something as it wouldn't make much sense to create a flow of air specifically to power a wind turbine?

 

[Cranford Ducain]

Actually, creating the "flow of air" to power a turbine is the purpose of the system which I have designed. After some thought, I find the system could be incorporated into other design elements for various reasons. All-n-all it is quite simple, even natural, in plan and design.
As I have little knowledge of how to protect the value of any intellectual property involved, I really can't say much more.
I had thought of building a "proof of concept" structure but the lack of funds precludes this. I had even thought of a possible "crowd funding" project, but there again my lack of knowledge of such things has held me back. I first need to learn of its overall need and desirability before proceeding further.

 

[David Lewis]

Usually in this situation a preliminary technical feasibility study is conducted prior to building a working model. Then overall need and desirability (economic feasibility) is investigated later after you've demonstrated that what you want to do can actually be done.

 

[Tom Rauji]

I would first investigate if the blade speed change delay was a significant problem. Then I would determine where the various response lags occurred, if correction was necessary.

It might be easiest to start by seeing if a real problem exists.

 

[Rerry]

You mean storing excess wind energy? yes definitely. The maximum theoretical efficiency C=60% but in reality wind turbines operate at 10-30% efficiency. The wind energy can be stored by other ways which includes e.g. hydrogen conversion. But i suppose your right about that; others means to increase efficiency would be diameter of these systems, air density or to avoid excessive heat dissipation with the idea you recommended

Hello, I recently read that Japanese scientist are researching ways to store wind energy. Building these turbines with battery's used for storing wind energy included in the design. Making these turbines bigger, propose a problem. They overheat, sometimes catch fire, as we all seen in that video where the two engineers were trapped on top of one. When it overheated and caught fire. Do you think we can increase the efficiency of storing more than 30% of that energy, if we develop solutions such as the batteries, instead of building these machines bigger? In some cases bigger is not always better !

 

[Recycler]

In a city,there is a great deal of turbulence and varying wind directions around large buildings.I think that collector inlets at diferent sides and heights could duct wind energy to a common wind vane.That way,some variation could be averaged out,and energetic velocity better maintained.Analysis might also pinpoint structure locations with a more constant wind under all conditions.

 

[David Lewis]

Do you think we can increase the efficiency of storing more than 30% of that energy, if we develop solutions such as the batteries, instead of building these machines bigger?

A big problem with batteries is finite lifespan. You have to figure in the cost of replacing the batteries periodically. Whereas if you restrict energy consumption only to times when the wind is blowing then you will get more efficiency and lower cost.

 

[anorlunda]

In a city,there is a great deal of turbulence and varying wind directions around large buildings.I think that collector inlets at diferent sides and heights could duct wind energy to a common wind vane.That way,some variation could be averaged out,and energetic velocity better maintained.Analysis might also pinpoint structure locations with a more constant wind under all conditions.

1. Talk to people who own sailboats. They have 20,000 years of experience trying to get the most out of wind in many circumstances.
2. Go to a rooftop with binoculars in the city. Look for flags on flagposts. How many are moving? How many in different directions? You can test your hypothesis with actual visual data.
3. Take an inexpensive hand held anamomiter to locations you think would be good and record your observations. Again, you can test your own hypothesis with your own data.

 

[CWatters]

It's just daft putting turbines in cites. Most have good grid connections so put the turbines outside cities where the wind is stronger. Better still put them offshore. Use roof spaces for solar.

 

[Recycler]

1. Talk to people who own sailboats. They have 20,000 years of experience trying to get the most out of wind in many circumstances.
2. Go to a rooftop with binoculars in the city. Look for flags on flagposts. How many are moving? How many in different directions? You can test your hypothesis with actual visual data.
3. Take an inexpensive hand held anamomiter to locations you think would be good and record your observations. Again, you can test your own hypothesis with your own data.

Yes.I was thinking of walking on a particular side of a tall building and having my raincoat stripped off by the wind,while elsewhere it was calmer.Many of the people who are already experts in utilizing the wind are employed in commercial organizations.If I wish to experiment,I am able,but don't expect to be welcome experimenting at someone's real estate location.These concepts I throw out are in the hopes of stimulating more rapid advancement by the experts.Please see my post about increased efficiency in this thread.I specifically thought a mechanical arrangement would utilize wind energy at very low wind speeds to marginally increase overall utilization,friction being a loss in the process.I could build a model myself,but after checking the innovation and patenting environment,I would expect great difficulty in gaining wide exposure of the idea.Perhaps this is a better way here.

 

[Recycler]

A big problem with batteries is finite lifespan. You have to figure in the cost of replacing the batteries periodically. Whereas if you restrict energy consumption only to times when the wind is blowing then you will get more efficiency and lower cost.

From the recent reports I have seen on popular science sites,I have come to expect very significant new developments in battery tech that will overcome many of the problems in storing electricity.Among those are flow batteries and nano carbon batteries.Also,going to the grid allows utilities to deal with the storage problem.We've already seen a revolution in batteries with the introduction of Lithium-ion batteries in consumer products.Expect more soon.

 

[CWatters]

As I understand it there is plenty of scope to double or triple typical energy densities. The problem appears to be making the electrodes robust enough to give the cells a long enough life. What happens is that in order to improve density you need electrodes with a large surface area eg porous/textured. This makes them fragile and they can degrade as the cells are physically stressed during the charge/discharge cycle. The trick will be to find a way to solve this problem and I think that's where a lot of research is being done.

 

[Baluncore]

Wind turbines apparently now produce electricity only at some minimum wind speed.In my conception,the wind pressure of a lower wind speed is used to exert a force on a diaphragm or vane which stores torque in a spring or other mechanism,This torque could be used to help overcome the initial friction when the blade begins to move again in a sufficient incident wind velocity,Could this improve efficiency marginally?The torque coupling could disengage with a preset rotational speed.

The fundamental problem is that available energy is proportional to the square of the wind speed. There is so little energy available at low wind speeds that it is simply not worth increasing the complexity of the turbine. Increased complexity increases construction and maintenance costs, while reducing reliability.