The present disclosure relates to a shrouded fluid turbine having a turbine shroud and an ejector shroud downstream of the turbine shroud and surrounding the rear end of the turbine shroud. It has been discovered that a shorter ejector shroud achieves higher efficiency and lower weight compared to previous shrouded wind turbines. The fluid turbines may be used to extract energy from fluids such as air (i.e. wind) or water. The aerodynamic principles of a mixer ejector wind turbine also apply to hydrodynamic principles of a mixer ejector water turbine.
Conventional horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) used for power generation have two to five open blades arranged like a propeller, the blades being mounted to a horizontal shaft that is engaged with a power generator. HAWTs will not exceed 59.3% efficiency in capturing the potential energy of the wind in the blades swept area. It would be desirable to increase the efficiency of a fluid turbine by collecting additional energy from the fluid.
The present disclosure relates to fluid turbines comprising a turbine shroud and an ejector shroud. The turbine shroud has mixing lobes along a trailing edge of the turbine shroud. The turbine shroud has an axial length LM, the ejector shroud has an axial length LE, and the ratio of LM to LE is greater than in prior shrouded wind turbines.
Disclosed in some embodiments is a fluid turbine comprising a turbine shroud and an ejector shroud. The turbine shroud has a front end and a rear end. The ejector shroud has an inlet end and an exhaust end. The rear end of the turbine shroud comprises a plurality of mixing lobes along a trailing edge, the mixing lobes extending into the inlet end of the ejector shroud. The turbine shroud has an axial length LM. The ejector shroud has an axial length LE. The ratio of LM to LE is from 0.05 to 2.5
In more specific embodiments, the ratio of LM to LE is from 0.16 to 2.1
The ejector shroud has an outer diameter DI at the inlet end, and the ratio of LE to DI may be from 0.05 to 3.0
The ejector shroud has an outer diameter DE at the exhaust end, and the ratio of LE to DE may be from 0.05 to 3.0
The turbine shroud has an outer diameter DF at the front end, and the ratio of LM to DF may be from 0.1 to 2.5
The turbine shroud has an outer diameter DRO at the rear end, and the ratio of LM to DRO may be from 0.1 to 1.25
The turbine shroud has an inner diameter DRI at the rear end, and the ratio of LM to DRI may be from 0.1 to 3.5
The ratio of DRO to DRI may be from 0.7 to 2
The wind turbine has a total axial length LT, and the ratio of LM to LT may be from 0.05 to 1.0, including from 0.1 to 0.9
The ratio of LE to LT may be from 0.05 to 0.9
In some desired embodiments, the ejector shroud has a ring airfoil shape and does not have mixing lobes. In other embodiments, the ejector shroud has mixing lobes.
In embodiments, the plurality of mixing lobes on the turbine shroud includes a set of high energy mixing lobes and a set of low energy mixing lobes, the high energy mixing lobes having an angle of about 10° to about 50° relative to a horizontal axis that is parallel to the central axis of the turbine shroud.
The fluid turbine may further comprise a nacelle body located within the turbine shroud. The nacelle body, turbine shroud, and ejector shroud are coaxial to each other. In some embodiments, the nacelle body includes a central passageway.
Also disclosed is a fluid turbine comprising a turbine shroud and an ejector shroud. The turbine shroud has a front end and a rear end. The ejector shroud has an inlet end and an exhaust end. The rear end of the turbine shroud comprises a plurality of mixing lobes along a trailing edge, the mixing lobes extending into the inlet end of the ejector shroud. The turbine shroud has an axial length LM. The ejector shroud has an axial length LE, an outer diameter D, at the inlet end, and an outer diameter DE at the exhaust end. The ratio of LM to LE is from 0.05 to 2.5; the ratio of LE to Di is from 0.05 to 3; and the ratio of LE to DE is from 0.05 to 3
These and other non-limiting features or characteristics of the present disclosure will be further described below.
The following is a brief description of the drawings, which are presented for the purposes of illustrating the disclosure set forth herein and not for the purposes of limiting the same.
A more complete understanding of the components, processes, and apparatuses disclosed herein can be obtained by reference to the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to demonstrate the present disclosure and are not intended to show relative sizes and dimensions or to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.
Although specific terms are used in the following description, these terms are intended to refer only to particular structures in the drawings and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that like numeric designations refer to components of like function.
The term “about” when used with a quantity includes the stated value and also has the meaning dictated by the context. For example, it includes at least the degree of error associated with the measurement of the particular quantity. When used in the context of a range, the term “about” should also be considered as disclosing the range defined by the absolute values of the two endpoints. For example, the range “from about 2 to about 4” also discloses the range “from 2 to 4.”
A Mixer-Ejector Fluid/Water Turbine (MEWT) provides an improved means of generating power from fluid currents. A primary shroud contains an impeller which extracts power from a primary fluid stream. A mixer-ejector pump is included that ingests flow from the primary fluid stream and secondary flow, and promotes turbulent mixing of the two fluid streams. This enhances the power system by increasing the amount of fluid flow through the system, increasing the velocity at the rotor for more power availability, and reducing back pressure on turbine blades. Additional benefits include, among others, the reduction of noise propagating from the system.
The term “impeller” is used herein to refer to any assembly in which blades are attached to a shaft and able to rotate, allowing for the generation of power or energy from fluid rotating the blades. Exemplary impellers include a propeller or a rotor (which may be part of a rotor/stator assembly). Any type of impeller may be enclosed within the turbine shroud in the fluid turbine of the present disclosure.
The leading edge of a turbine shroud may be considered the front of the fluid turbine, and the trailing edge of an ejector shroud may be considered the rear of the fluid turbine. A first component of the fluid turbine located closer to the front of the turbine may be considered “upstream” of a second component located closer to the rear of the turbine. Put another way, the second component is “downstream” of the first component.
The present disclosure relates to shrouded fluid turbines having an ejector shroud downstream of a turbine shroud. The axial length of the ejector shroud is much shorter than in prior versions, which provides an unexpected increase in the efficiency of the fluid turbine.
The rotor 146 surrounds the nacelle body 150. Here, the impeller 140 is a rotor/stator assembly comprising a stator 142 and a rotor 146. The rotor 146 is downstream and co-axial with the stator 142. The rotor 146 comprises a central hub 141 at the proximal end of the rotor blades. The central hub 141 is rotationally engaged with the nacelle body 150. The nacelle body 150 is connected to the turbine shroud 110 through the stator 142, or by other aerodynamically neutral support structures. A central passageway 152 extends through the nacelle body 150.
The turbine shroud has the cross-sectional shape of an airfoil with the suction side (i.e. low pressure side) on the interior of the shroud. The rear end 114 of the turbine shroud also has mixing lobes 116. The mixing lobes extend downstream beyond the rotor blades. Put another way, the trailing edge 118 of the turbine shroud is formed from a plurality of mixing lobes. The rear or downstream end of the turbine shroud is shaped to form two different sets of mixing lobes. High energy mixing lobes 117 extend inwardly towards the central axis 105 of the mixer shroud. Low energy mixing lobes 119 extend outwardly away from the central axis 105. These mixing lobes are more easily seen in
A mixer-ejector pump (indicated by reference numeral 101,
Referring now to
The ejector shroud 120 also has a throat diameter DI. This throat diameter DI is measured as the smallest diameter of the ejector shroud, and is generally located near the inlet end 122. The ejector shroud 120 also has an outer diameter DE at the exhaust end 124. This outer diameter is measured as the diameter of a circle formed by the trailing edge 128 of the ejector shroud 120.
Due to the overlap of the turbine shroud and the ejector shroud, LT>LM+LE. In embodiments, the ratio of LM to LE is from 0.05 to 2.5, including from 0.16 to 2.1
The ratio of LM to LT may be from 0.1 to 1.0
The ratio or LE to LT may be from 0.05 to 0.9
The ratio of the ejector shroud length LE to throat diameter DI may be from 0.05 to 3
The ratio of the ejector shroud length LE to outer diameter DE may be from 0.05 to 3
The ratio of the turbine shroud length LM to throat diameter DF may be from 0.1 to 2.5
The ratio of the turbine shroud length LM to the rear end outer diameter DRO may be from 0.1 to 1.25
The ratio of the turbine shroud length LM to the rear end inner diameter DRI may be from 0.1 to 3.5
The ratio of DRO to DRI may be from 0.7 to 2
The nacelle body 150 plug trailing edge included angle A
The turbine shroud's entrance area and exit area will be equal to or greater than that of the annulus occupied by the rotor. The internal flow path cross-sectional area formed by the annulus between the nacelle body and the interior surface of the turbine shroud is aerodynamically shaped to have a minimum cross-sectional area at the plane of the turbine and to otherwise vary smoothly from their respective entrance planes to their exit planes. The ejector shroud entrance area is greater than the exit plane area of the turbine shroud.
Referring to
The turbine shroud 110 has a set of high energy mixing lobes 117 that extend inwards toward the central axis 105 of the turbine. The turbine shroud also has a set of low energy mixing lobes 119 that extend outwards away from the central axis. The high energy mixing lobes alternate with the low energy mixing lobes around the trailing edge 118 of the turbine shroud. The impeller 140, turbine shroud 110, and ejector shroud 120 are coaxial with each other, i.e. they share a common central axis 105.
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In
Mixing lobes are present on the turbine shroud. As shown in
Referring now to
The turbine shroud 210 has an axial length LM. The ejector shroud 220 has an axial length LE2. The entire turbine itself has an axial length LT2. The turbine shroud 210 has a throat diameter DF. This throat diameter DF is measured as the smallest diameter of the turbine shroud, and is generally located near the rotor 246. The rear end 214 of the turbine shroud has an inner diameter DRI and an outer diameter DRO. The inner diameter DRI is measured as the diameter of a circle formed by the high energy mixing lobes 217. Similarly, the outer diameter DRO is measured as the diameter of a circle formed by the low energy mixing lobes 219.
The ejector shroud 220 also has a throat diameter DI. This throat diameter DI is measured as the smallest diameter of the ejector shroud, and is generally located near the inlet end 222. The ejector shroud 220 also has an outer diameter DE at the exhaust end 224. This outer diameter is measured as the diameter of a circle formed by the trailing edge 228 of the ejector shroud 220.
The notations LE2 and LT2 are used to indicate that the lengths of the ejector shroud 220 and the overall turbine 200 differ from the lengths LE and LT shown in the embodiment depicted in
Comparative calculations were performed on the two embodiments depicted in
For the comparative calculations, the throat diameter DF was kept constant between both embodiments, as was the ejector shroud outer diameter DE. The axial length LM was also kept constant. In addition, the length of overlap between the turbine shroud and the ejector shroud LME was kept constant. LE is greater than LE2.
The second set of values (circles) were generated from a wind turbine having the relatively shorter ejector shroud axial length LE2. The ratio of LE2/DE was 0.12. As seen in
The present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the present disclosure be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/332,722, filed May 7, 2010 and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/415,592, filed Nov. 19, 2010. This application is also a continuation-in-part from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/054,050, filed Mar. 24, 2008, which claimed priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/919,588, filed Mar. 23, 2007. The disclosures of these applications are hereby fully incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61332722 | May 2010 | US | |
61415592 | Nov 2010 | US | |
60919588 | Mar 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12054050 | Mar 2008 | US |
Child | 12983066 | US |