Wind energy has been used for long time since 1200s in Europe, where it was used as Postmills to grind grain between millstones, then was used as Drainage windmills by Dutch, Oil mills to press oil from seeds, Fulling mills, Paint mills, Hulling mills, and Glue mills.
The end of 20th century and the beginning of 21st century brought important advancement to wind turbines and wind becomes as a possible energy source, alternative to fossil fuel.
Sun radiation incident on the Earth every year is 5.6×1024 J. Sun energy dispersed in atmosphere layers and Earth surface where it warms the air and generates wind. Primary energy use for the whole world is estimated about 500 EJ that requires 16TW capacity generators. The total consumed energy is less than 0.01% from the solar radiation captured in Earth atmosphere and surface, and less than 0.1% of kinematic energy in wind. That means, wind is a vast source of alternative, sustainable and clean energy.
Current state of the art utility wind turbine industry uses giant turbines that have approximately 1 MW average generated electrical capacity, throughout the year. However, the inherent disadvantages of utility wind turbines, prevents the current technology from being a feasible alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear energies as it is explained hereafter. Some disadvantages are high fluctuation of output that means too low capacity credit, too large land requirements, loud noise that affects human memories and known as Wind Turbine Syndrome, and danger to birds and bats.
The Relevant Prior Arts is
The most relevant turbines to the WETSS is “method for collecting wind energy by using group composite unit” invented by Min Xiang et al. However, it is very different from WETSS because:
Current state of the arts is giant Wind Turbines that have three foil blades operate an approximately 100 m high hub, where they rotate in the foil vertical plane. These utility turbines have nominal (Max) capacities that are reached when wind speed is 12 to 14 m/s and keep this maximum energy output until cut off speed 25-30m/sec. The current state of the art wind turbines have some drawbacks such as:
Wind Energy Turbine Shell Station (WETSS) is a novel design combines, for the first time, the most advanced small or medium size wind turbines in a simple and large structure made to support wind turbines on large heights, where wind speeds are higher. Then generated electricity are stored temporarily in a chemical medium, so that it is regenerated again consistent with demand by fuel cells and most importantly, with stable characteristics of frequency, current and potential that are not affected by wind speed changes in short times of minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. In addition, the design overcomes the other disadvantages in the current state of the arts wind energy industry as explained herein.
A Wind Energy Turbine Shell Station (WETSS) is a multi level shell like frame structure reaches high altitude of 1000-2000 m and has a preferred circular horizontal section that might be diamond or square as well. Every level in the multi level structure is a typically 8-25 m strip or internal platform that goes around the horizontal section and every strip is connected to above and bottom level strip or internal platform by means of 4-5 m wide ramps that are adjacent to the internal side of the frame shell structure. Level typical height is 7-10 m. Typical diameter or width of the horizontal section is 200-500 m and typical heights are 1000-2000 m and typical number of levels is 100- 200 levels.
Every level or few levels are served by a truck mounted crane with accompanied team of professionals around 3-5 people in every shift, where there they perform continuous maintenance of the turbines in their levels. The whole structure is served by four or more elevators, two to carry people and 2 or more to carry equipments and wind turbines to the required levels. Washrooms are built in each floor under the ramps, one washroom under each ramp. All equipments for generating hydrogen, store it, transform, and convert electricity are installed in the ground floor, where additional space can be added to accommodate the required Hydrogen tanks and all other equipments other than wind turbines and truck mounted cranes that stay all the times in their levels.
Wind turbines are installed and distributed on external platforms that are connected to the main body from inside during construction process. The structure is built typically from high strength structural steel, while the floors are made from light steel floor sheets. Typical capacity of WETSS is 200-1000 MW of regular electricity and 750-3,750 MW of fluctuating capacity.
The frame structure supports pluralities of individual Horizontal Axis or Vertical Axis wind turbines, where said individual wind turbines harvest wind energy and generate electricity that is used to generate hydrogen that chemically stores large part of the harvested energy temporarily in a chemical medium such as Hydrogen using electrolyzers in the ground floor. Hydrogen is stored in highly pressurized or liquefied form in tanks in the ground floor, then the stored hydrogen is used in sufficient capacity fuel cells. Fuel cell capacity is the WETSS capacity for regular electricity. Fuel cells regenerated electricity with regular characteristic of current, frequency and potential and then WETSS transmits said regular electricity into a grid after it subjects to transformation to compatible voltage and current to that of a grid by using sufficient transformers in the ground floor.
WETSS uses any efficient small vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) or horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). The inventor however, proves theoretically that when available VAWT and HAWT have similar 30% efficiency, in a 6 msec (13.4 mph) average wind speed environment, and for 4 msec (8.95 mph) cut in speed for both turbines, and 12 msec (26.84 mph) HAWT rating wind speed for small HAWT, the VAWT will have larger pool of energy of about 11% more than HAWT and might be 11% more efficient.
The proof is illustrated in the graphs in
Most possible harvested energy in one year period=1.69×E6x0.30=0.507E6 VAWT,
Most possible harvested energy in one year period=1.88×E6x0.30=0.564E6
VAWT speed and generated power can be proportional, all the time, to wind speed until cut off speed. However, HAWT generates constant energy for wind speed equals or grater than the turbine rating speed.
According to WVIC in Germany, when total wind turbine penetration capacities in a grid exceed 49 GW, the states of the arts wind turbines have only 4% capacity credit. Most of countries in the world consume more than 49 GW in one hour, then 4% is applicable to all those countries, (Canada, USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, England . . . )
Space required by utility wind turbine averages between 8.5-33 hectare/MW, in Europe and The USA respectively and for 0.3 efficiency factor. Where fluctuating electricity is assumed to be completely useful where it's mixed with fossil fuel based electricity. While for total capacities exceed 49 GW (capacity credit is 4% the required space becomes 53-206 hectare/MW, where wind energy is used without being mixed with other existing fossil fuel, hydro, nuclear or other electricity that has standard constant characteristics.
However, for a WETSS, required space for fluctuating electricity is 0.03-0.08 hectare/MW, and the required space for regular electricity and proportional with demand is 0.10-0.25 hectare/MW.
Function of a WETSS described herein is to transform kinematical energy in wind to electrical energy has constant current, potential and frequency, and consistent with demand. Then output electricity, doesn't fluctuate with wind speed fluctuation over short periods of time, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. However, average possible output is relevant and proportional to annual average wind speed in a region.
None filtered or highly fluctuated generated electricity by installed wind turbines is used to generate hydrogen from water and store it temporarily. Then stored hydrogen feeds fuel cells to generate electricity has constant current and frequency and consistent with demand and connect it to a public grid after transform it to compatible voltage and current.
WETSS encompasses large numbers of wind turbines, around the perimeter of its frame structure, and connects the output of the turbines to electrolyzers that generate Hydrogen. To speed up electrolysis process and avoid wasting of energy, supplied potential to electrolyzers should be around 2.06 v, while supplied current should be as high as possible. Current might range 500,000-1000,000 Ampere.
The used small wind turbines in WETSS can be any efficient small or medium size horizontal axis (HAWT) or vertical axis (VAWT) wind turbine. However, similar size VAWT might generate less noise and is slightly less dangerous to birds. One half of the installed wind turbines that face wind, works at a time, while the other half on leeward is at halt at the time, until wind direction changes and triggers other half of the total wind turbines in the windward side to start up and generate electricity.
Furthermore, operating velocity range for WETSS is relevant to that of used HAWT or VAWT that usually range from 3-40 m/s.
Cut out speed for small and medium size HAWT and VAWT are close and range from 25-50m/s. Nonetheless, cut out speed in VAWT should be limited to lowest possible speed that minimizes KWH costs of fabrication. For example, in 6 m/sec environment, the difference between increase in generator costs and additional generated electricity, determines whether cut out wind speed 25 msec or cut out 20 m/sec is recommended. Cut out speed 25m/sec leaves out 10−5 E6 J, while considering cut out wind speed 20 msec leaves out 0.0011 E6 , where E6 is available energy for average annual wind speed 6 m/sec, assuming that wind speed is constant continuously throughout the year. In other words, the decision about cut out wind speed in a VAWT is a trade off between additional costs of the generators, and the additional gained harvested energy throughout the life cycle of generators, that is known usually as 20-25 years.
Rather than the frame structure, and consistency with demand, what is considerably important and unique in WETSS is that maintenance process is on going continuous process, since installation, the whole year around, and 24/7. In other words, more than 99.0% of operated turbines, at a time, (half of total wind turbines) are expected to work 365 days. That because maintenance staff observes continuously turbines using monitors and computers in each platform. Monitoring tells when turbines need maintenance and what they need, while all others are operating. Most probably 99.33% of turbines will be operating the whole year around, assuming every one turbine is maintained once a year.
As a result, average annual operation hours for each turbine is 0.9933×8760=8701 hours/year.
In cost analysis, the total number of all turbines is considered, while in energy calculation, only half number of the turbines is considered, because the other half is at halt, at a time.
In addition, the additional covered space in ground level provides more space for additional hydrogen units installation, so that the total hydrogen production and storage capacities are enough to make the electricity generated by fuel cells consistent with demand.
Fluctuation in wind energy generated electricity and supplied to electrolyzers, affects the generated quantities of Hydrogen that is pumped to Hydrogen tank storages, either pressurized, liquefied, or temporarily combined with other solid or liquid materials.
However, the total quantities of generated hydrogen are affected mainly by annual average wind speed in the region. While total capacity of hydrogen storages, depends on wind fluctuation over months, consumer demand fluctuation and capacity of used WETSS. Capacity of Hydrogen storage is estimated by calculating Ei/Eave, relative monthly need and excess, where Ei(KWH) is monthly consumed energy depending on actual standard existing or predicted consumption charts, Eave(KWH) is monthly average demand that equals monthly average generated electricity by fuel cells. Then calculate relative cumulative energy need ratio, and excess ratio relative to average monthly demand or need. Then total energy required to be stored in Hydrogen is the difference between largest positive excess and largest absolute negative number in cumulative chart.
That can be converted to volume capacity according to used pressure in storage or if liquefying technique is used. In addition, monthly average consumption of energy equals to, Eave=Eavew×0.61, Where Eavew is monthly average energy generated by WETSS turbines according to estimated average annual wind speed, and 0.61 is efficiency of electrolysis process. Moreover, using WETSS technology will not only reduce electricity price sharply, but will provide for production of Hydrogen for industrial purposes, and for transportation.
In addition, using WETSS reduces heavy burdens of managing wind electricity balance that became very difficult and costly with the state of the arts current wind turbines.
Typical level height is 7-10 m, and typical distance between columns and between mean beams is 8-12 m, total width of a platform 8-20 m.
The way to build this high structure is to use several truck mounted cranes in ground floor to build the fist platform and install maintenance elevators and staff elevators simultaneously.
Then lifting the cranes to the first floor by maintenance elevators or by building ramps that connect ground floor to the first floor. Each floor in WETSS has two ramps. Ramps to be built to connect the first level to the second level. Then when first level is done, truck mounted cranes move to the second floor using the new ramp, and elevators that are installed simultaneously with the shell frame construction. Construction materials are lifted to the first floor by maintenance and construction elevators. External platform are pre-made or are built on site, four lifting rings are welded to an external prefabricated platform. Then by using cranes, the external platforms are welded to the shell frame by welding four or more steel plates between the flanges of the shell frame beams and the external platform beams.
When external platforms and a whole level are ready, cranes and staff move to a higher level. Wind turbine installation can be started after cranes move two or three levels ahead and by using other several truck mounted cranes.
Hydrogen units are to be installed after finishing construction of ground floor and first floor. However, the passages to elevators should be clear all the time of construction in the shell frame for frame workers until construction of last floor is done. Electrical work might be started when part of electrolyzers, and hydrogen storage tanks, proportional to installed wind turbines, are ready to use. Electricity might start to be generated from this stage, including generating hydrogen, store it under pressure and starting a fuel cell generator to work and supply electricity to grid and for installation and construction processes. The required time to finish a 2,000 m structure might take 9-24 months depending on financing, material supply, and availability of construction workers.
By using this technique, of building from inside, building high shell frame structure becomes as easy and cheap as building a mid-rise.
WETSS, typical material is steel that is ductile material. WETTS is very light structure in comparison with other totally built steel structures and with concrete structures. This light weight makes reaching the height of atmosphere boundary layer, 2000m, possible.
WETSS sustain high seismic and wind design forces, where it sustains more to 1.25 g max acceleration earthquakes and any wind design forces in the world or more than 300 km/h wind speed. However for some rare great earthquakes, using seismic isolation might reduce WETSS costs. Seismic isolation for continuous serviceability and immediate use of WETSS structures can be done by means of the combination of:
A friction pendulum bearing is typically installed under a column and over a footing where each column requires one bearing.
Nonetheless, required number of seismic controllers is less than required number of friction pendulum bearings, typically 5-15% number of columns (that is equal to number of bearings), where seismic controller attenuates bearing responses during an earthquake to sufficient limits, while it dissipates sufficient wind energy under design wind loads and makes the structure stable under any wind load.
To avoid incidental crashes, aircraft flashing warning lights are installed all around shell frame and along the height on regular standard interval as required by existing, in force regulations or/and laws. Warning flashing lights function usually at nights.
If potential airplane crash is high, a truss hat on top roof might be build so that loads transferred to truss hat and then to adjacent intact columns.
Truss hat should is designed to transfer the whole vertical loads of potentially crushed columns, to horizontal distance about 60-80 m depending on considered airplane wing span in the design for potential crash. As a result cross sections of truss hat, along shell frame diagonal, are identical in all directions, because a possible crash can be at any point of the shell frame.
FIG. 4—Maintenance Tracks and Support Elements Hold VAWT or HAWT on External Platform in Operational Setting, Plan. (VAWT can be replaced with HAWT).
FIG. 5—Maintenance Tracks and Element Supports Hold VAWT External Platform in Operational Setting, Side View. VAWT can be replaced with HAWT.
FIG. 6—Maintenance Tracks, Rods and their Supports, Section A-A
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2755849 | Oct 2011 | CA | national |