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Last Site Update: 6/27/10

Home brewed small turbine blade rotors showing surprising promise (to be offered soon):





More material, including document downloads in .pdf format, has been added to the Wind Theory section of the home page on the right. Here is a good source of detailed analysis of wind turbine blade interaction with the wind, with references included to aviation and fluid dynamics textbooks, a specialty of IntegEner-W and not often seen elsewhere.

An item in the "Things Under Review" section provides a math derivation of a factor (equal to less than one) to be applied to verticals wind turbine (aka VAWT) blade swept areas in equilibrating them properly to horizontals blade swept areas.

Some thought given to:
* Multiple Turbine Boxed Rotor *


* Sleeve & Spindle
Blade Offset Hub *

See the dozens of new links now provided on the Home Links and Projects page to discussion threads on energy topics involving small wind, a continuing story of development at the grass roots level!

IntegEner-W
Copy Graphic

"MicroRotator 07 Blades" reducible copy graphic available for Internet use. Generous commission for blades sales as presented on the
Home Links & Projects
page.

For opening .pdf files, a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat reader may be downloaded by clicking on the image below:

See the Tehachapi Wind Turbines, on a featured web page herein. With all new electronics and electrical generation systems and completely refurbished structural and rotating components, these four wind turbines lend power to Tehachapi's Services District not far from the center of town. Hundreds of similar turbines dot the hills nearby providing electrical power at contracted rates to the power utilities in California. Units are being made similarly available for resale. Click on the image to the right....

Latest New Items

Check here for what's new!
(Also see the left hand margin)
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Mold makers and fiber composites fabricators
who can scale up current metal
multi-element "power gap" rotor blades as
pictured on right during tests to 25 to 30 feet
in length. Contact us here in Tehachapi for
exciting opportunities.

The Current Story as of June 11, 2010 is "It's True: Airfoil High Lift Devices Used On Wind
Turbine Blades Inherently Have No Induced Drag". A link is provided to an announcement
of a DOD and DOE multimillion dollar award for one type of such airfoil lift control
enhancement. Click on the "Aerodynamics Stories" image to the left.

The last story was "The Amazing Results Found From Variations In Small Wind Turbine Blade Thickness-To-Chord
Ratios". Contact us if you missed it. (These stories consist of a brief series of email messages as sent and in reverse
chronological order.)

Email messages generated during the course of communications related to some of the topics covered
herein may be of interest. A location has been added to the Wind Theory section on the page below for
them. Item 1, in .pdf format, covers some discussion of the STAR (Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor) passive
pitch concept and the contemplated DOD ARPA-E active boundary layer control blade surface jets to be
studied. A few thoughts and suggestions are added strictly of our own. Click on the image.


Classical Fluid Dynamics Including Kinematic Flow Theory As Applied To Wind Energy If these engineering textbooks by Abbott and von Doenhoff, G. K. Batchelor, and Reddick and Miller are familiar to you, refer to footnote 1 at the bottom of this page. Efforts are being applied to convert the analyses more directly to wind energy while retaining their rigor, detailing and extending treatment that is otherwise more aviation-based. Such studies of the basics are compelling and lend weight to the use of computer methods. Note that the aircraft wing lift force alone continues to draw strong interest and comment as is evident on popular encyclopedia and "Wiki" pedia websites.


"In conformance with the latest aerodynamic ideas (NASA momentum-based aerodynamics), puts the basic forces acting on wings and blades - and their wonder - to rest!" This caption on the cover says it all. The IntegEner-W 30 page "Aerodynamic Lift as it applies to Birds, Aircraft, Wind Turbines" booklet is a contributor to theories based on readily comprehended averaged-flow momentum conservation concepts and will quickly bring up to date those who have not yet been exposed to them. The booklet is available as an immediately downloadable document in both PDF and HTML format, including cover pages and in full color. Just click on either image.




Software programs that draw images such as this airfoil and these stream function y(x,y) line patterns (with cross stream function f(x,y) lines), which are examples from three airfoil drawing (using the Joukowski math model) and ten simplified, progressive Computational Fluid Dynamics (using classical circulation theory as presented in Chapters 2 and 3 of Abbott and von Doenhoff) of such programs in BASIC, are now available. A BASIC compiler is also included (normally supplied in MS Windows). The price is $14.95 and payment may be made by clicking on the PayPal button below. This help is invaluable for the teaching and learning of material in fluid dynamics textbooks as applied to wind energy problems. Contact IntegEner-W using the link above for any questions.

Hello. I am "Dutchy" the Windmill. In the U.S. a well-known fast food restaurant offers a "quarter pounder" hamburger. How is this described in the metric system around the world? Metrics uses kilograms for most weights and so it might be called the "hundred grammerburger". This mass has the weight force in metrics of about one newton and so this "McMeal in a bun" could also be called the "newtonburger" or "newtonianburger". When eating one, be careful to observe Newton's Laws! (Just kidding.) Air is the same way. A quarter pound of air occupies just a little over 3 cubic feet. What we breathe has mass and weight and, when taken in large enough volumes, can be more massive and heavier than even the largest ships and longest railroad trains many times over........

TEST SERIES VIDEO ONE This is the same 51 inch diameter blade rotor under test as seen in video two just below mounted on the wooden tower and powering a much larger generator now than the one previously used. It is a Baldor one horsepower 90 volt DC motor used as a generator. The rotor consists of 36 inch diameter metal blades plus blade sheet metal doubles connected with struts designed to give the rotor more airflow deflection capability. The load is now much greater, a string of 12 volt auto lights, including several 50 watt halogens, connected in series, about 250 watts. Just click on the image for a fast download of the 530 kb video of the blade rotor powering the lights.


TEST SERIES VIDEO TWO This is the 51 inch diameter blade rotor described above during an earlier test mounted on the wooden tower and powering an AMETEK-type 30 volt DC motor available as a generator. Normally such a blade rotor diameter would be compatible with a generator of this rating but the "doubled blades" design feature created a runaway problem that was corrected with the larger generator. The load here consisted of about 17 small 12 volt lights, about 50 to 100 watts total. Just click on the image for a fast download of the 380 kb video.



TEST SERIES VIDEO THREE This is the H-MicroRotator - the horizontal axis small wind rotor. Plenty of rotational speed. Even a friction drive speed converter. Plenty of torque. Watch the generator spin and the lights light up. Just click on the image for a fast download - about 510 kb.

Also see the VIDEO of the V-MicroRotator ("V" for "Vertical" axis) running in the wind on the Special Offers page.