vertical axis wind turbine

i'm working on a wind turbine design and am planning the rotor right now. i think i will be going with a vertical axis design.

i need to a new DC motor as the one i was planning to use simply does not cut it. if i can't find a good one i will be making my own alternator from handwound copper and neodymium magnets. ebay offers a good selection of these at a decent price and i found 6 cylindrical magnets of a usable size for $10. two orders of these will be enough for a suitable 3 phase design.

below is the rotor design i've settled on, which can be used on a vertical or horizontal axis and is not particularly direction dependent.

Canid - What in the world are you using 3 phase for? Are you running your own transporter or time machine? :rolleyes:

We ran 3 phase DC where I worked and the backup batteries were monsters. Every building had one room dedicated to the battery bank. That's going to up your overall cost considerably isn't it?

3 phase into the rectifier makes for a smother current out to the batteries. wth that and a capacitor smoothing circuit, you could probably run most electronics directly from it. i have a feeling it's easier on the batters in the bank anyway.

All true and adds longer life to whatever you are running I was just thinking of the overall cost for setup and maintenance as well as the cost of equipment downstream. You could run a 12V military alternator into deep cycle batteries a whole lot cheaper.

What are the dimensions on the turbine? I'm just curious, ball park size is fine.

looking like 6' high by about 4' wide, greatest dimension on the rotor.

i'm currently looking at winding my own alternator and picking up a 100v DC motor, whichever turns out to be next to free.

the difference in cost for the three phase will only be the couple of dollars difference in the rectifier.

i've concluded i can build the rotor for about $15

Well, I have to tell you, that's pretty cool. Let us know how it turns out.

Canid: "Foolish earthlings. Once I have completed the atomicatomica I will rule their world. Muhahahahahah."

i thought i might add-though it is obvious-that it would be easy to make a smaller rotor like this from a 55 or 35gal drum and an axle rod of some [read: almost any] type.

for bearings, i plan to use 7ball skate bearings on an 8mm axle. this makes them easy and cheap to replace when needed and gives the system a clean rotation.

well; i haven't put anything into this project in a while, so i figured i'd get back to it.

i'm building a small-scale model for the Savonius rotor, but with 3 blades instead of two. i'll probably have to adjust the pitch on the blades before it is even remotely efficient.

i'm also working on a 3 blade rotor for a giromill type Darrieus turbine. i'm using coffee can walls for the rotors in buth turbines. i have not sourced bearings or rotor shafts yet, and am waiting on the motors i plan to use as alternators.

ideally, they will both drive small 2phase steppers from old 5.25" disk drives, with bridge diode rectifiers to smooth the output.

http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...h/IMG_0386.jpg
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...h/IMG_0385.jpg

http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...h/IMG_0388.jpg
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...h/IMG_0387.jpg

it is even harder than i expected to form an airfoil from currogated metal sheeting, and i am not done with the forming on the darrieus rotor yet, and have still to for a rotor frame for them anyway. i need to flatten and elongate them a fair bit, but still having such a high chord length to thickness ratio, i don't think tuning the pitch [angle of attack] will be all that critical.

i have not done anything about designing the stators yet either. they will probably be very simple.

Canid have a look at this site. Not to buy or anything, but it may give you some design ideas etc.
http://www.secretenergyturbine.com/index.htm

thank you.

for design ideas, i've basically been brushing up on basic fluid dynamics and analog electronics, researching performance for known models in various turbine types, reading and talking with amature designers online, etc.

for airfoil rotor types, i've found a few particularly handy resources, like this one.

Canid, Do you have a schematic for your three phase circuit you would be willing to share? I just picked up three alternators to experiment with and was planning on a vertical axis turbine as well.

no, because it will depend on the generator i end up using. for the models, i think it'll end up being disk drive steppers. for a full size unit, it'll be whatever i can scrounge or build.

3 phase:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/OtherImages/3-...er-circuit.jpg

1 phase:
http://www.play-hookey.com/ac_theory...ier_bridge.gif

wikipedia's diode bridge entry also illustrates and explains single and three phase bridges.

the entry for VDCs looks interesting too.

btw: automotive alternators have diode bridges in them, which i think are usually full wave.

these are examples of what the rectifier assemblies look like:
http://www.freewtc.com/images/produc...1/35/13565.jpg
i don't know why this first one [from a motorcycle alternator i think] looks to have only 3 diodes.
http://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/f2im...diode_pack.jpg

There's an auto parts store in town that is using three vertical axis turbines. Next time I'm near it, I'll snap a few pics and see what info I can get from them.

do keep in mind that while i have only electrocuted myself a handful of times, and have never caused anybody else to come to harm, i have no formal background in electrical engineering...

http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...l_engineer.jpg

Thanks Canid. That gives me enough info to keep looking at three phase. I wasn't familiar with that option.

You guys might want to check out this web site, at least for the turbine design
www.aerotecture.com

i like the crazy darrieus designs. i don't think i could easily and cheaply build something like that from scrap.

228Watt/Hour average is pretty darned good though.

Phases for weight, yea. 1000 piece puzzle, no thanks.