Not Applicable.
Wind mills or wind motors on a vertical axis have been known for a long time, see GRACEY U.S. Pat. No. 1,352,952, and MOORE U.S. Pat. No. 1,915,689. Means moving vanes or paddles from a position substantially at right angles to the direction of the wind, to a position at which they are substantially parallel to the wind are well known; see MOORE, supra, and BAIR U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,835. The object in the various prior art references has been to provide continuous rotation of a shaft, see LINDHORN U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,921, even when the windmill itself is capable of being driven in a reverse direction, see OUELLET U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,584.
An excellent discussion of the prior art is set out in WO 2006/093790, published 8 Sep. 2006, incorporated by reference herein. “The windfin articulated wind-powered generator” of that applications uses as its driving force a lift force to produce a flapping motion. The present invention utilizes a drag force.
In the windmill of the present invention, the vanes, panels or paddles are designed to oscillate, going through on the order of 120° for a hinged type to 80° for a non-hinged type with flaps, and reversing, occupying a great deal less space than the conventional windmill. The windmill of this invention can be used in combination with the usual windmill of the lift type, which rotates on a horizontal axis, the sort of windmill now used extensively in windmill farms, for the generation of electricity. The latter windmills occupy a large amount of space. The panels or rotors of these windmills commonly describe a circle hundreds of feet in diameter, and the closest placement of adjacent windmills or turbines is recommended to be the length of at least five times the diameter of the wind turbine's rotor, so that the adjacent wind turbines in the array are often placed at a distance of a quarter of a mile to half a mile, so that the air stream has time to “recover”.
In accordance with this invention generally stated, an oscillating windmill is provided that, in its most elementary form, consists of vanes or paddles positioned at opposite ends of a horizontal rod connected at its center to a vertical shaft driven by the paddles alternately clockwise and counterclockwise, or, utilizing a one-way clutch and incremental segments, rotating in one direction. The paddle on one end of the rod is oriented to catch wind while the paddle in the other end is oriented to present the least surface to the wind, and means are provided for reversing the orientation of the paddles so that the rod is driven in the other direction when it has rotated through an arc sufficient to rotate the vertical shaft enough to accomplish useful work, but not through a full 180° if the windmill is to operate efficiently. Preferably, the vanes move the rod through no more than 120°, that is, 60° from a centerline.
For generating electricity, at least two pairs of paddles are preferably employed, one above the other but connected by one-way clutches to the vertical shaft. Preferably upper and lower pairs of paddles are oriented 180° apart, and oppositely disposed so that when a driving paddle of the upper assembly is engaging the shaft, the recovery paddle of the other paddle assembly is restoring the driving paddle with which it is associated to a beginning position.
In a preferred embodiment, the oscillating windmill just described, can be combined with a windmill of the lift type rotating on a horizontal axis, the shaft of the oscillating windmill being mechanically connected with a generator connected electrically to the generator of the lift type windmill.
In the accompanying drawings which form part of the specification:
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.
The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. The description clearly enables one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives, and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.
As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Referring to
Referring now to
In this embodiment, shaft 22 passes through and is connected to a yaw control 36, and into a gear box 32 and mounted in a casing 38 by means of support 34. The casing 38 is sunk into the earth 39. The gear box 32 houses gears that multiply the rotational speed of the shaft 22 transmitted to a generator drive shaft 37 connected to the rotor of generator 40. The generator is electrically connected to transmit energy to a cable 35, which is part of an electrical grid. The generator acts as a brake, aiding the stopping of the panels. The energy transferred can be regulated electronically. The amount of rotation of the rods 29 and 30 is limited by stops not here shown, or a mechanical brake which can be a part of the gear box arrangement.
Referring now to
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Various other arrangements of conventional windmills and wind turbines of this invention are illustrated in provisional application 60/947,049, incorporated herein by reference, see
Numerous variations in the construction and operating of the oscillating windmill of the invention in addition to those illustrated in and suggested by
The following discussion is intended to clarify the operation of the windmill of this invention as applied to the generation of electricity.
Oscillating windmills are similar to the conventional windmills in the sequential steps in which they extract the energy from wind and than convert it sequentially to different forms of mechanical energy. The final energy conversion is always from the rotational energy carried by high RPM shaft into the electrical energy.
There are corresponding losses associated with each energy conversion.
Wind power is a measure of the energy available in the wind. It is a function of the cube (third power) of the wind speed. If the wind speed is doubled, power in the wind increases by a factor of eight. This relationship means that small differences in wind speed lead to large differences in power.
The amount of power available in the wind is determined by the equation P=½ rAv3
Where: P=power, r=air density, A=cross-section of the measured wind stream, v=wind speed.
This equation states that the power is equal to one-half, times the air density, times the rotor area, times the cube of the wind speed. Air density varies according to elevation and temperature.
For the purposes of calculating wind power, the formula for air density is: p=(1.325×P)/T where T is the temperature in Fahrenheit+459.69 and P is the pressure in inches of Mercury adjusted for elevation.
Note: For comparison purposes, A=working paddle area whenever calculating the max wind power “available” to us to determine the Oscillating wind mill efficiency.
Whenever we talk about any comparison with a conventional windmill, we assume A to be the area swept by its rotor blades.
Energy Extraction from Wind Stream—Theory and General Case Betz' Law
Maximum wind energy extraction possible is limited by the Betz law which says that you can only convert less convert less than 16/27 (or 59%) of the kinetic energy in the wind to mechanical energy using a wind turbine.
The calculations below will show that Oscillating Windmills' efficiency would typically be in the range of 20 to 24% but stay constant, regardless of wind speed (for a given Oscillating wind mill).
This is very different from the conventional wind mills where the efficiency is almost the same for any modern wind mill but is not constant for any given wind mill.
For example the efficiency of the GE 3.6 MegaWatt Wind Mill is about 18% at its rated wind speed of 16 meters/sec but fluctuates between 15% to 32% in the lower wind speeds.
The wind stream contains a linear kinetic energy well defined by physics equation above. The power harvested or extracted by Oscillating windmill by the square area of its working paddles determines its efficiency. The power harvested and converted into electricity (in Watts) is divided by the power available in wind (also in Watts).
Power extracted & converted, divided by Power available=Energy extraction efficiency
Case of Oscillating Windmills—Energy Extraction from Wind Stream
The Oscillating windmills “insert” their paddle(s) into a windstream and move and operate essentially in the same direction, albeit much more slowly than the wind.
The Oscillating windmills are thus driven by the wind drag force. The kinetic energy of wind molecules hitting the leveraged paddle(s) or panel surface(s) is translated into the movement of the paddles in the downwind direction.
These paddles thus “semi-rotate” in the horizontal plane. This semi-rotation is reversed back and forth to form a steady oscillation with preset amplitude value.
The amplitude never exceeds 180 degrees and is typically preset at approximately 90 degrees, depending on the size or scale of the windmill.
After starting the windmill operation the computer control can adjust this oscillating amplitude to values significantly larger or smaller to optimize the operation for the constantly changing wind speed conditions.
Oscillating Wind Mills with hinged paddle implementation also tend to have larger oscillation amplitude than the non-hinged ones.
It is shown below that the ideal paddle speed is exactly one third of the wind speed. The maximum electricity is always generated at that speed. (The paddle speed is controlled by the increasing and decreasing the electricity generating load).
Energy Conversion Steps with Corresponding Energy Conversion Losses
Just as in the case of the conventional windmills, the oscillating windmills first extract the linear kinetic mechanical energy of the linear wind stream into the rotationally oscillating mechanical energy with small RPM and high torque. Another mechanical energy conversion process converts this oscillating energy into the fully rotating mechanical energy with high RPM and lower torque rotation, the last energy conversion step is from mechanical to electrical energy. This step is based on Faraday law of induction and is essentially identical to the electricity generation of the conventional windmills described elsewhere in this patent.
The losses of the first energy conversion are not shown. This is really an efficiency of energy extraction from wind. This energy extraction efficiency is approximately 22% and the calculations are shown below.
For the subsequent loss approximations, the starting point is the kinetic energy of the paddles which we call 100%. The 10% loss due to the oscillation is caused by the loss of leverage as the paddles move away from their “zero” positions.
The last energy conversion step generating electricity will have additional energy loss of 2% (heat loss) consistent with the industry standards.
Oscillating Wind mill concept presents several areas which lend themselves to the optimization of the mechanical Power and Energy extracted from the Power of the wind stream available to it.
These areas area:
1) Various Shapes of the paddles in working and non-working positions and Cd=drag coefficients associated with it. The goal is to use a cost-effective paddle with maximum Cd when in “working position” and the minimum Cd when in the non-working position.
For our calculation below we chose Cd=1.42 which is a drag coefficient for paddles in working positions made as:
a) Flat rigid rectangular paddles with aspect ratio of 4:1 (laminar flat in non-working position)
b) Parachute-like circular sail “paddle” (will fold flat in non-working position)
Paddle speed is controlled by increasing and decreasing the Electricity generating Load for different Wind velocities. Power extracted (in Watts)=Fd times Vp
Where: Fd=drag force (in Newtons) pushing the paddle and Vp=Velocity of the paddle (in meters/s) Fd in turn is defined by Drag equation as: Fd=½rAv2
Where: P=power, r=air density, A=cross-section of the measured wind stream and v=velocity of the object relative to the fluid (wind). e.g. v=VT−Vp
Fd=½rA(VT−Vp)2
The electricity generation produces a proportional “mechanical breaking” action which in turn determines to produce the optimal Paddle velocity.
This is essentially a mechanical breaking load on the paddles. This mechanical load is derived from the electrical load of generating a particular amount of electricity at any given time.
This is essentially the same as braking a hybrid car (extracting electrical energy from car's kinetic energy)
Our calculation below show how the Load determines the paddle speed for various wind speeds.
Optimum Paddle speed relative to the wind speed is crucial for the optimal electricity generation.
The maximum speed of the paddle is when there is no electricity generating load present. The only “load” on the paddle would be the frictional forces of its pivot and the paddle would move with the speed close to the current speed of wind. But such paddle movement would not be very useful, since no electricity could be generated without a mechanical load “felt” by the paddle.
The minimal speed of the paddle would be with very large loads. Such loads would bring the paddle to a complete stop and again no electricity could be generated without a movement.
The optimal speed of the paddle is somewhere between the max and min speeds described above. This speed can be determined by increasing or decreasing the load or counter-torque on the paddles by increasing or decreasing the electricity production. For example, such “Load increase” will effectively apply a braking action on the paddle movement thus slowing it down.
All this is related to the electricity generating load as shown in the calculations tabled below:
The highlighted column in Tables below shows the Power P (in Watts) generated by Paddle's Drag force Fd=Load (in Newtons) multiplied by Paddle velocity Vp (in meters/sec). Power=Energy per second
The highlighted row in the Tables below show the optimal (ideal) values of Load Fd (drag force) and Paddle velocity Vp resulting in the maximum Power P.
P=*Vp (1 Watt=1 Newton*1 Meter/sec) Calculation of Load values to show the ideal loading e.g. optimal electricity generation
First the Fd values will be calculated for fixed (constant) VT wind speeds; while varying the paddle Vp speed.
Using the Drag equation: Fd=½rACd(VT−Vp)2
where cd=1.42; r=the density of air=1.225 kg/m3; A=1 m2
For constant Wind Velocity=10 meters/second
70.45
55.66
42.62
31.31
21.74
13.92
7.83
3.48
0.87
0.00
For constant Wind Velocity=15 meters/second
170.47
146.99
125.24
105.24
86.98
70.45
55.66
42.62
31.31
21.74
13.92
7.83
3.48
0.87
0.00
For constant Wind Velocity=17 meters/second
222.66
195.69
170.47
146.99
125.24
105.24
86.98
70.45
55.66
42.62
31.31
21.74
13.92
7.83
3.48
0.87
0.00
For constant Wind Velocity=19 meters/second
281.80
251.36
222.66
195.69
170.47
146.99
125.24
105.24
86.98
70.45
55.66
42.62
31.31
21.74
13.92
7.83
3.48
0.87
0.00
The Tables above clearly show that the optimal load is when the paddle speed stabilizes at exactly one third of the current wind speed.
The Maximum Power is generated at that ratio Paddle vs Wind speed as calculated separately below:
38.66
128.852
86.98
434.875
111.71
633.049
139.55
883.795
These calculations are independently confirmed by several tables of calculations on the following pages.
These extensive calculations in the tables below were done by using the Drag Machine calculator publicly available on the Danish government site www.windpower.org; Specifically: http://www.windpower.orq/en/tour/wtrb/dragrace.htm
The Drag machine analogy is valid only up to the first energy conversion e.g. wind energy into the mechanical energy “harvested” by the Oscillating wind mill paddles.
The further energy conversion will be essentially losses and will be calculated below by different methods.
It is also useful to plot the Power as a function of loading which is shown below:
The Wind speed of 17 meters/sec was chosen but the graph would look similar for all other speeds.
Optimal Load=140 Newtons resulting in maximum power P=883.79 Watts
Optimal electricity generating load results in Optimal Paddle speed of 6.31 meter/sec
!! Operational paddle speed for optimal load is always ⅓ of wind speed=λ=0.333 !!
880.66
881.28
881.84
882.32
882.74
883.09
883.36
883.57
883.71
883.78
140.00
1.42
19.00
6.31
0.33
883.79
0.21
883.72
883.59
883.39
883.12
882.79
882.39
881.92
881.39
880.79
880.12
Power P in Watts as a Function of Increasing Load Force F in Newtons.
Optimal Load=39 Newtons resulting in maximum power P=128.84 Watts
Optimal electricity generating load results in Optimal Paddle speed of 3.30 meter/sec
!! Operational paddle speed for optimal load is always ⅓ of wind speed=λ=0.333 !!
627.73
628.61
629.41
630.12
630.76
631.32
631.80
632.20
632.52
632.77
632.94
633.03
112.00
1.42
17.00
5.65
0.33
633.05
0.21
632.99
632.85
632.64
632.35
631.99
631.56
631.05
630.47
629.81
629.08
628.28
627.41
626.46
Power P in Watts as a Function of Increasing Load Force F in Newtons.
Optimal Load=87 Newtons resulting in maximum power P=434.87 Watts
Optimal electricity generating load results in Optimal Paddle speed of 5.00 meter/sec
Operational paddle speed for optimal load is always ⅓ of wind speed=−0.333
432.09
432.75
433.32
433.80
434.19
434.49
434.71
434.83
87.00
1.42
15.00
5.00
0.33
434.87
0.21
434.83
434.70
434.48
434.18
433.80
433.33
432.78
432.14
Power P in Watts as a Function of Increasing Load Force F in Newtons.
Optimal Load=39 Newtons resulting in maximum power P=128.84 Watts
Optimal electricity generating load results in Optimal Paddle speed of 3.30 meter/sec
Operational paddle speed for optimal load is always ⅓ of wind speed=λ=0.333
125.90
126.73
127.42
127.97
128.39
128.67
128.82
39.00
1.42
10.00
3.30
0.33
128.84
0.21
128.74
128.50
128.14
127.65
127.05
126.32
125.47
124.50
123.41
Power is energy transfer per unit of time. Power may be measured at any point in time, whereas energy has to be measured during a certain period, e.g. a second, an hour, or a year.
If a wind turbine has a rated power or nameplate power of 1000 kW, that tells you that the wind turbine will produce 1000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy per hour of operation, when running at its maximum performance (i.e. at high winds above, say, 15 metres per second (m/s)).
For Cd=1.42 which is a drag coeff of hollow semi-sphere or
A flat plate rectangle=1 meter square with approx 4:1 aspect ratio
Wind speed=3 meters per second
Max Power=3.48 Watts/1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=4 meters per second
Max Power=8.24 Watts//1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=5 meters per second
Max Power=16.09 Watts/1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=6 meters per second
Max Power=27.83 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=7 meters per second
Max Power=44.20 Watts/1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=8 meters per second
Max Power=65.97 Watts/1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=9 meters per second
Max Power=93.93 Watts/1 meter sq of working area
Wind speed=10 meters per second
Max Power=128.84 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=11 meters per second
Max Power=171.50 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=12 meters per second
Max Power=222.65 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=13 meters per second
Max Power=283.08 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=14 meters per second
Max Power=353.57 Wafts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=15 meters per second
Max Power=434.87 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=16 meters per second
Max Power=527.78 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=17 meters per second
Max Power=633.05 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=18 meters per second
Max Power=751.46 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=19 meters per second
Max Power=883.79 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=20 meters per second
Max Power=1,030.81 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=21 meters per second
Max Power=1193.29 Wafts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=22 meters per second
Max Power=1,372.01 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=23 meters per second
Max Power=1567.73 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=24 meters per second
Max Power=1,781.24 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=25 meters per second
Max Power=2013.31 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=26 meters per second
Max Power=2264.70 Watts/1 meter sq
Wind speed=27 meters per second
Max Power=2536.19 Watts/1 meter sq
The summary of maximum numbers for various speeds shown on the preceding page above could be plotted to form a power curve for the Oscillating Wind Mill with the working surface of only 1 meter square.
Multiplying these Watt numbers by 1,000 would result in numbers in Kilowatts.
These would correspond to the Oscillating wind mill with thousand times greater paddle work surface.
Instead of 1 meter square, it would be 1,000 meter square corresponding for example to the wind mill with 10 working paddles on each side stacked in the “horizontal architecture”.
Each paddle would be a rectangle with horizontal side=5 meters and vertical side of 20 meters.
The surface of each paddle would be 100 meters square. 10 paddles=1,000 meter sq. working total.
Such Oscillating Wind mill would be rated at 633 KiloWatt at wind speed of 17 meters/sec
The power curve of such Oscillating wind mill would not include the losses from the subsequent energy conversions described below and estimated at about 13%.
Neither it would include the small counter-torque losses caused by paddles in non-working positions.
Since such non-working positions are highly aerodynamic with additional small profile, these counter-torque losses should not approach 2%.
So the total losses are estimated not to exceed 15% from the calculations above.
But these calculations would automatically increase by 15% if we increase the paddle drag coefficient used in these calculations by 15%. Such increase from Cd=1.41 to lets say Cd=1.6 would enable us to make the fair comparison of numbers above with the industry power curves for the conventional wind mills.
Energy Conversion Losses Associated with Each Conversion Step.
Just as in the case of the conventional windmills, the oscillating windmills first extract the linear kinetic mechanical energy of the linear wind stream into the rotationally oscillating mechanical energy with small RPM and high torque.
The loss here is due to physics e.g. loss of leverage as the paddle rotates away from the plane perpendicular to the wind stream. Such loss is a function of the pre-set Amplitude.
Our calculations show it to be around 9% for the Oscillations of −45 to +45 degrees from the mid-position where the paddle is also perpendicular to the wind stream regardless of whether it is or it is not “hinged”.
For non-hinged paddles there is an additional loss during the oscillation due to the sinusoidal loss of the drag force, as paddles become more and more angled to the wind direction.
2) Loss from Low RPM Oscillation to High RPM Rotations
Another mechanical energy conversion process converts this oscillating energy into the fully rotating mechanical energy with high RPM and lower torque rotation.
Loss here is estimated to be approximately 3% depending on the actual conversion mechanism used.
3) Loss from Mechanical to Electrical Energy Generation
The last energy conversion step is from mechanical to electrical energy. This step is based on Faraday law of induction and is essentially identical to the electricity generation of the conventional windmills described elsewhere in this patent. We estimate 2% loss consistent with the industry generators.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Applications No. 60/947,049 filed Jun. 29, 2007 and No. 60/866,127 filed Nov. 16, 2006, the disclosures of which patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60947049 | Jun 2007 | US | |
60866127 | Nov 2006 | US |