Overview
In this project, I independently developed a unique, low-cost, and small-scale wind turbine and worked to improve its efficiency. I designed, constructed, and tested various shrouds that yielded 65-74% increases in power versus the bare turbine.
This research expanded upon a prior project involving the bicycle wheel wind turbine. More information on that project can be found here: Maximizing Electrical Power Output of a Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine
Project introduction:
As time proceeds, the demand of energy continues to grow extensively. The earth is in quite a bit of a crisis when it comes to dependable energy sources and methods of harnessing energy. Fossil fuels, despite their increasing cost, dominate the means of obtaining energy and their usage will continue to grow if more efficient, affordable, and convenient ways of harnessing and converting mechanical energy into electricity are not brought to light. In this experiment, several variations of horizontal-axis wind turbine generators were tested to maximize the electrical power output of a wind turbine by interchanging different magnets and wire gauges. Permanent magnetic generators are an easy way to obtain energy and can range from simple to very complex and powerful. “These machines offer numerous desirable features, including light weight, small size, simple mechanical construction, easy maintenance, good reliability, and high efficiency” (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy). The generator in the experiment was in the form of a wind turbine and had a contrasting idea from a conventional turbine. The magnets were put on the outside diameter of the blades, and thus increased the velocity of the turning magnets. The Honeywell Wind Turbine was a basis for the design of the wind turbine in the project. Here, they claim, “the Honeywell Wind Turbine utilizes a system of magnets and stators surrounding its outer ring, capturing power at the blade tips where speed is greatest, practically eliminating mechanical resistance and drag” (“Honeywell Wind Turbine,” n.d.). This design eliminated the need for a hub, which can be “large, heavy, expensive, and difficult to maintain” (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). This design of turbine causes interest for homes, farms, and small businesses because of the greatly reduced volume factor and how quickly the turbine rotates in such low wind speeds (“Honeywell Wind Turbine,” n.d.). A bicycle wheel was chosen for the turbine because the rim allowed for an easy mounting of the magnets, the blades would be much more precise and simpler to create, and the turbine would be balanced while turning very easily. In this project, the coils were mounted beneath the rotor; however, shrouds can be added around the outside diameter of the turbine to increase the airflow velocity, and thus the efficiency of the generator (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). In this concept, many stators are simply mounted to the interior of the shroud, where the magnets sweep by the stators, the same as in the experiment (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). A generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy (Livingston, 1996). The rotor inside the generator can be turned by numerous sources. It could be rotated by attaching it to a turbine that is being turned by falling water, by expanding steam heated by burning coal, oil, gas, nuclear reaction, or, of course, wind power (Livingston, 1996). According to Faraday’s Law of Induction, potential difference (V) is created when a conductor is exposed to a varying magnetic field (McCaig, 1977). “Turning within the magnetic fields of the stator, the rotor coil experiences changing fields that induce or ‘generate’ electrical current” (Livingston, 1996). “The flow of current through a wire produces lines of magnetic flux around the wire just like the lines of magnetic flux produced by a magnet” (Swithenbank, 2008). The copper wire is wrapped into stators and put around the edges of the generator; the greater number of coils a generator has and the more turns in the stator, the more powerful the generator will be (Swithenbank, 2008). In this project, the objective was to test the feasibility of the turbine design, so the design was stripped-down and the number and size of coils and magnets were limited. Blade design was not considered nor was the concept of surrounding the turbine in a shroud to hold more coils and increase the air velocity. More magnets and coils could be added or the magnets and coils could be larger, so there would be a substantial increase in electric power. The generator in the experiment was a single-phase, AC turbine, however there are multiple phase generators can produce more electrical power. This project was chosen because of the experimenter’s interest in magnetism and ways to create and collect cleaner energy. The experimenter has a large curiosity about magnets and their many applications and extremely useful utilities and the things that can be created because of magnets. Their applications range from Maglev trains for transportation, to MRIs and many more medical applications, to things as simple as compasses (McCaig, 1977). Additionally, the United States is one of the world’s leading users of fossil fuels. The EIA estimates that the total demand for electricity in the United States will increase by 39% from 2005 to 2030, reaching 5.8 billion MW-hrs by 2030 ("20% wind energy by 2030," 2008). This demonstrates how vitally important it is to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuels, and to have convenient, efficient, and more affordable energy sources and energy converters for logical and practical applications. This design of wind turbine could potentially help simple households or businesses bring down their energy costs and reduce their emissions. In addition, advancements in certain machines with generators could potentially help either increase the efficiency of, or even power, vehicles, military weapons, or naval vessels (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy). The Navy is proposing to implement high-powered generators onto naval vessels (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy) and NASA also considered using these generators on spacecraft to convert energy (Cooper & Kuhns, 1966). These generators are becoming more and more significant and intelligent and cause such interest because of their convenience and good efficiency. In this project, varied combinations of magnets and stators in a horizontal-axis wind turbine generator were used to determine the configuration that generates the most electrical power. One wind turbine was created while interchanging the independent variables. The turbine was composed of a bicycle wheel rim, eight disc magnets, either neodymium or ceramic, a stator composed of either 30-gauge or 22-gauge gauge copper wire, a fan for the source of wind, and the turbine base constructed out of wood. Three trials of each configuration were conducted. Logger Pro Software and Vernier sensors were used to record the voltage (V) produced, the current (A) produced, and the wind speed (m/s) in each trial. Each trial lasted for 15 seconds and 1000 samples were measured per second. This resulted in 15000 pieces of data per trial per sensor. Because the generator produced an alternating current, the data followed a sine wave with both positive and negative values. The absolute value of the voltage and current was calculated. The 15,000 voltage, current, and wind speed data points were averaged for each of the trials. The numbers for the three trials of each magnet and wire configuration were then averaged to produce a mean voltage, current, and wind speed for a given configuration. Finally, the voltage and current were multiplied to calculate the electrical power generated by each of the magnet and coil configurations. Neodymium and ceramic magnets were tested opposite of one another and 30-gauge and 22-gauge copper wire gauges were also compared in the generators. The dependent variable was the total amount of power created. The design of the turbine, the size, number and spacing of the magnets, the number of turns in the coils, the distance from the coil to the magnets, the speed of the wind source and the distance of the turbine to the wind source are all constants of the project. If neodymium and ceramic permanent magnets and 30-gauge and 22-gauge copper wire are paired in different configurations in a wind turbine generator, then the generator using the configuration of neodymium magnets and 30-gauge copper wire will produce the largest amount of electrical power. *References available upon request
This research expanded upon a prior project involving the bicycle wheel wind turbine. More information on that project can be found here: Maximizing Electrical Power Output of a Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine
Project introduction:
As time proceeds, the demand of energy continues to grow extensively. The earth is in quite a bit of a crisis when it comes to dependable energy sources and methods of harnessing energy. Fossil fuels, despite their increasing cost, dominate the means of obtaining energy and their usage will continue to grow if more efficient, affordable, and convenient ways of harnessing and converting mechanical energy into electricity are not brought to light. In this experiment, several variations of horizontal-axis wind turbine generators were tested to maximize the electrical power output of a wind turbine by interchanging different magnets and wire gauges. Permanent magnetic generators are an easy way to obtain energy and can range from simple to very complex and powerful. “These machines offer numerous desirable features, including light weight, small size, simple mechanical construction, easy maintenance, good reliability, and high efficiency” (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy). The generator in the experiment was in the form of a wind turbine and had a contrasting idea from a conventional turbine. The magnets were put on the outside diameter of the blades, and thus increased the velocity of the turning magnets. The Honeywell Wind Turbine was a basis for the design of the wind turbine in the project. Here, they claim, “the Honeywell Wind Turbine utilizes a system of magnets and stators surrounding its outer ring, capturing power at the blade tips where speed is greatest, practically eliminating mechanical resistance and drag” (“Honeywell Wind Turbine,” n.d.). This design eliminated the need for a hub, which can be “large, heavy, expensive, and difficult to maintain” (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). This design of turbine causes interest for homes, farms, and small businesses because of the greatly reduced volume factor and how quickly the turbine rotates in such low wind speeds (“Honeywell Wind Turbine,” n.d.). A bicycle wheel was chosen for the turbine because the rim allowed for an easy mounting of the magnets, the blades would be much more precise and simpler to create, and the turbine would be balanced while turning very easily. In this project, the coils were mounted beneath the rotor; however, shrouds can be added around the outside diameter of the turbine to increase the airflow velocity, and thus the efficiency of the generator (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). In this concept, many stators are simply mounted to the interior of the shroud, where the magnets sweep by the stators, the same as in the experiment (Shoemaker-Trejo, 2012). A generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy (Livingston, 1996). The rotor inside the generator can be turned by numerous sources. It could be rotated by attaching it to a turbine that is being turned by falling water, by expanding steam heated by burning coal, oil, gas, nuclear reaction, or, of course, wind power (Livingston, 1996). According to Faraday’s Law of Induction, potential difference (V) is created when a conductor is exposed to a varying magnetic field (McCaig, 1977). “Turning within the magnetic fields of the stator, the rotor coil experiences changing fields that induce or ‘generate’ electrical current” (Livingston, 1996). “The flow of current through a wire produces lines of magnetic flux around the wire just like the lines of magnetic flux produced by a magnet” (Swithenbank, 2008). The copper wire is wrapped into stators and put around the edges of the generator; the greater number of coils a generator has and the more turns in the stator, the more powerful the generator will be (Swithenbank, 2008). In this project, the objective was to test the feasibility of the turbine design, so the design was stripped-down and the number and size of coils and magnets were limited. Blade design was not considered nor was the concept of surrounding the turbine in a shroud to hold more coils and increase the air velocity. More magnets and coils could be added or the magnets and coils could be larger, so there would be a substantial increase in electric power. The generator in the experiment was a single-phase, AC turbine, however there are multiple phase generators can produce more electrical power. This project was chosen because of the experimenter’s interest in magnetism and ways to create and collect cleaner energy. The experimenter has a large curiosity about magnets and their many applications and extremely useful utilities and the things that can be created because of magnets. Their applications range from Maglev trains for transportation, to MRIs and many more medical applications, to things as simple as compasses (McCaig, 1977). Additionally, the United States is one of the world’s leading users of fossil fuels. The EIA estimates that the total demand for electricity in the United States will increase by 39% from 2005 to 2030, reaching 5.8 billion MW-hrs by 2030 ("20% wind energy by 2030," 2008). This demonstrates how vitally important it is to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuels, and to have convenient, efficient, and more affordable energy sources and energy converters for logical and practical applications. This design of wind turbine could potentially help simple households or businesses bring down their energy costs and reduce their emissions. In addition, advancements in certain machines with generators could potentially help either increase the efficiency of, or even power, vehicles, military weapons, or naval vessels (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy). The Navy is proposing to implement high-powered generators onto naval vessels (Rucker, Kirtley & McCoy) and NASA also considered using these generators on spacecraft to convert energy (Cooper & Kuhns, 1966). These generators are becoming more and more significant and intelligent and cause such interest because of their convenience and good efficiency. In this project, varied combinations of magnets and stators in a horizontal-axis wind turbine generator were used to determine the configuration that generates the most electrical power. One wind turbine was created while interchanging the independent variables. The turbine was composed of a bicycle wheel rim, eight disc magnets, either neodymium or ceramic, a stator composed of either 30-gauge or 22-gauge gauge copper wire, a fan for the source of wind, and the turbine base constructed out of wood. Three trials of each configuration were conducted. Logger Pro Software and Vernier sensors were used to record the voltage (V) produced, the current (A) produced, and the wind speed (m/s) in each trial. Each trial lasted for 15 seconds and 1000 samples were measured per second. This resulted in 15000 pieces of data per trial per sensor. Because the generator produced an alternating current, the data followed a sine wave with both positive and negative values. The absolute value of the voltage and current was calculated. The 15,000 voltage, current, and wind speed data points were averaged for each of the trials. The numbers for the three trials of each magnet and wire configuration were then averaged to produce a mean voltage, current, and wind speed for a given configuration. Finally, the voltage and current were multiplied to calculate the electrical power generated by each of the magnet and coil configurations. Neodymium and ceramic magnets were tested opposite of one another and 30-gauge and 22-gauge copper wire gauges were also compared in the generators. The dependent variable was the total amount of power created. The design of the turbine, the size, number and spacing of the magnets, the number of turns in the coils, the distance from the coil to the magnets, the speed of the wind source and the distance of the turbine to the wind source are all constants of the project. If neodymium and ceramic permanent magnets and 30-gauge and 22-gauge copper wire are paired in different configurations in a wind turbine generator, then the generator using the configuration of neodymium magnets and 30-gauge copper wire will produce the largest amount of electrical power. *References available upon request