Wind turbine kits in Ireland

Posted on 24/11/2013 by hugh

Posted in construction, People | 4 Comments

Wind tunnel test compared with theory in Portugal

Posted on 22/11/2013 by hugh

João P. Monteiro has done some interesting studies of the performance of a 1200 diameter Recipe blade set in a wind tunnel and compared the results with theoretical predictions of a couple of simulation progams.  The results are close.  It’s unusual to see real world data for the Cp (performance) versus tip-speed-ratio.  This can help us design wind turbines to avoid stall and maximise efficiency.

The full article in Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics is for sale here.

 

Posted in construction, People, power curve data | 1 Comment

Rural Electrification Research Group Survey Results

Posted on 17/11/2013 by hugh

See this page for details of the results so far from this survey.  Why not join in and contribute to the survey?

Here are a couple of the many charts on the results page:

survey1survey2

See all the results here

 

Posted in construction, courses, People | Leave a comment

LOCALLY MANUFACTURED SMALL WIND TURBINES – HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO COMMERCIAL MACHINES?

Posted on 12/11/2013 by hugh

PhD_Seminar_2013_FullPaper_Sumanik-Leary FINAL

Above is a link to a paper by Jon Sumanik-Leary in which he uses a study of a Scoraig power system (with 3 metre diameter recipe turbine) to compare with a Bergey wind turbine.  Annual energy production is very close to my predictions although it drops off slightly in stronger winds because this site had a tower that leaned very slightly to the east, causing the turbine to furl prematurely in westerly winds.

compared

Jon discovered that the higher peak power  produced by the Bergey is strong winds was worth less than the shortfall in low winds.  “When comparing between the locally manufactured and commercial SWTs, the simulation reveals that the increased energy yield generated by the Bergey XL.1 is largely wasted, as most of the extra power is generated when the batteries are already full.”  The 3 metre recipe turbine actually does a better job of keeping the household supplied with electricity.

See also Jon’s blog

Posted in People, power curve data, Scoraig | Leave a comment

Test report for Recipe 3.6 metre turbine

Posted on 11/11/2013 by hugh

Rapport SEPEN 32.6 – Eolienne autoconstruite Piggot – 1.7 kW – Reseau

Above is a link to the full test report in French of a Recipe style 3.6 metre diameter grid connected wind turbine, built by Tripalium.

I can understand a bit of French, but I mostly look at the pictures, which I like because they show it producing a bit more energy than my predictions in the Recipe Book.

annual energy

I put this international chart in for your info… it’s not part of the test report! (Hugh)

This is a high budget test site, and it is a privilege to have had such a test conducted on one of my designs.  Thanks to Jay Hudnall of Ti’eole for doing this!

front page

Here is a link to a video I made with Jay and a similar wind turbine in France.

Posted in Books, construction, France, People, power curve data | Leave a comment

Logic Energy Loggers available cheap

Posted on 02/11/2013 by hugh

I have been using a logic energy mobile logger for monitoring Scoraig wind turbines.  We have produced some good power curve data for the homebrew machines on Scoraig and it’s also great for live monitoring of installations during the teething period.  It’s great to go online and see what is happening in real time.

Logic Energy have a few pre-production LeNETmobile loggers of the latest type to sell. All working fine, but they need to get rid of them.
These are full advanced systems and the hardware (the LeNETmobile unit) would cost £300 each.  The full cost including one year’s GSM (SIM card) and the portal website contract is £490.  These prices include VAT.Overview

  • These are Energy loggers (for energy meters and analogue sensors).  Sensors are not included.
  • It’s a small production batch that they usually run before full production to test for any early issues.  These are ok so nothing to worry about, the only noticeable thing is that the box as an extra hole for 2nd antenna that never was used.
  • There’re a limited number of these and no plans for more – pretty much one off.
  • These loggers have all 14 channels enabled.
  • specifications

For details or to buy one contact Eduardo at [email protected]

Universal MonitoringLOGICENERGY

Posted in products/technical | Leave a comment

Big alternator for sale in Canada

Posted on 14/10/2013 by hugh

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ALTERNATOR IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR SALE.  CHARLES HAS DECIDED TO USE IT, AFTER ALL.  (Hugh, January 2014)

Charles Haynes has built a large ferrite alternator for a project that no longer needs it.  The alternator can produce 3kW at 75 rpm with 90% efficiency.  He is looking for a home for it.  It’s pretty heavy though!  At present it is in Vancouver, Canada.

Here are some photos.  Leave a comment if you are interested in this alternator.  Magnet rotors are 40 inches in diameter.
Oct 8 -- 40 - 2 by 1 by 1 inch Ferrite Magnets on 40 inch Rotor

Oct 8 -- Coils on Stator Ring Oct 8 -- 107 Volts from 22 RPM

)ct 8 -- 103 Volts from A-F Alternator

Posted in construction, ferrite magnets, products/technical | 11 Comments

Research work published in Germany and Greece

Posted on 14/10/2013 by hugh

Here are some links to research work that has gone on recently in Berlin and Athens toward further development/documentation of the designs in the Recipe Book.  Mostly it’s bench testing of alternators.

If anyone wants me to put notices of other work on this blog then just let me know!  You can also find a lot of stuff at windempowerment.

Posted in construction, People | Leave a comment

A chance to work with Adriaan Kragten on a pumping application for small wind

Posted on 22/09/2013 by hugh

Here is an invitation from Adriann Kragten to test his design ideas and develop a pumping wind turbine project.  Please note that Adriaan has never built an axial flux generator, so these instructions are not like my Recipes which are based on decades of experience, but the document is very rigorous and mathematical, and covers every theoretical detail.  Adriaan has a designed many successful wind turbines based on induction motors as can be seen on his site.  This is a great opportunity to work with an expert.

Adriann writes:

“Up to now, 17 public KD reports about different aspects of small windmills can be copied for free from my page on the website of Bidnetwork: http://www.bidnetwork.org/en/member/adriaankragten. The most recent report is KD 531: “Ideas about a 16-pole, 3-phase axial flux permanent magnet generator for the VIRYA-3D2 windmill using 16 neodymium magnets size 50 * 15 * 15 mm”.

In KD 531, a new idea is described how water can be pumped by a windmill. The windmill has a multi pole direct drive axial flux PM-generator and a fast running steel rotor with only two blades. The pump has a standard 3-phase asynchronous motor. For the VIRYA-3D2, the windmill has a 16-pole generator and the pump has a 0.75 kW motor. The same idea is described in report KD 529 for the bigger VIRYA-3.9 windmill which has a 22-pole generator and is meant for a pump with a 1.1 kW pump motor.

Although the multi pole generator is specially designed for connection to the 3-phase motor of a centrifugal pump, it can also be used for battery charging if it is provided with a low voltage winding and if the 3-phase current is rectified.

Public report KD 490: “Water pumping with a windmill” has been modified such that this new idea is now incorporated in chapter 5.

At this moment I have no intention to build and test a windmill with a multi-pole axial flux generator but I will support someone who is willing to test this new idea of water pumping.

Adriaan Kragten

kd531

Posted in Adriaan Kragten, Books, construction, People, pumping water | 5 Comments

Another successful workshop in France

Posted on 05/09/2013 by hugh

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More photos here of this workshop by Ti’eole in France.

Posted in construction, courses, France | 1 Comment