 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Windmills : Airblenda 500W VAWT
  Page 2 of 3   |
|||||
| Author | Message | ||||
| smithy Regular Member  Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
I'm going to buy a Lotto ticket.... Western Power (the local Power Company) has granted my application to connect my AirBlenda (or AirBlenda's) to the grid... No need for details of the Wind Turbine, just that the GTI is the one stated in the application. A win for the common man. 
Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
vawtwindy Newbie  Joined: 23/10/2010 Location: IndiaPosts: 31 |
hyurray congrats, hope u will send your county officials to other members region too |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
I am currently half way through the adjustments to my VAWT Aim is to make it lighter so the torque required to start the VAWT is less Secondly I am attaching 2m Philm blades (thanks Phil). The unit that is going to be grid tied is the lighter version 2m high VAWT, sitting on my Ginlong 1000 PMA linked into the Ginlong grid tie inverter. Both the 1000 PMA and the inverter are high voltage output. The 1000 PMA could just as easily be a F&P motor. The old AirBlenda has laser cut 6mm Aluminium plate for the wing supports and all up the upper and lower wing supports weighted around 15-20kg's. Quite a bit of extra weight to push around. What I'm doing now is using carbon fibre rods, end result is the rods weigh in at 116 grams per meter, so I will loose nearly all the weight in the wing supports. The carbon support rods, are supposedly stronger than steel. Will be interesting to see how it goes with extra blade area, and lower weight. I have come across one problem (the bearings NSK 3C closed bearings) on the Ginlong 500A have failed (Ginlong say they only handle 600N of radial force). I back calculated the wind speed likely to create this radial force and its around 80-90km/h winds, which to be honest I have had over the last few months. The 1000 PMA also uses the same bearings. Can anyone suggest a higher spec bearing I should replace the original ones with? Ceramic bearings maybe .... i'm up for suggestions. Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
| Air Bender Senior Member  Joined: 25/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 206 |
Hi smithy, It sounds good. I am looking forward to seeing how it goes. You could take your bearings to a bearing shop and they should have some beter quality bearing to go into it, there are plenty of bearing specialist shops around. The bearings were proberly poor quality to start with. All the best Dean. |
||||
fillm Guru  Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi Smithy, Glad to here those blades finally got there , the freight was a good price but the service leaves a bit to be desired , just had the same delima with 2 x 2m blades to Syd Metro that took 8 working days to get there . With your bearings I would be putting C4 rated bearings in of good quality , Timken or similar of good quality , I would be suspect of any bearing fitted from China as it could be a el chepo even if it does have NSK made in Japan on . Also check the bearing housings do not have to much crush or are oval which will destroy a bearing quickly. Those carbon fiber supports sound good . I sold 10 x 1.5m blades to a person here in Bris the other day who is building a big VAWT , He is having all the supports Laser cut Alu and seems to spending some serious coin on the design , hopfully he will keep me posted and send some pics to post. PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
||||
BobMann Senior Member Joined: 30/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 134 |
Good job Did you get and wind speed to watts for the Ginlong logged? This is whey I build the Mann Smart Drive bearing that will not fail and simplty of design with a low cost. I would love for you to test one of my units and post the out come. 
Bob Mann |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
Thanks for the offer Bob, but I'm still working on my VAWT and you are on the other side of the globe. Postage would need me to take out another loan on the house. I have another update to the Airblenda now that its grid connected. Latest update is HERE I have added another set of blades on top of the existing set to increase the wind swept area, and the start up is pretty good, and all seems to be OK. I have also reprogrammed the power curve for the Ginlong inverter to kick in at 30V DC. the way it works is that as soon as the output voltage reaches 30V then the GTI starts feeding into the grid. The load change at this point seems to change the dynamics of the Airblenda and creates some thing that sets up a wobble or sets the wind turbine out of balance. I say this as when I disconnect the GTI from the turbine, it spins up obviously a lot faster and reaches lift but does not seem to wobble. The GTI kick in voltage is lower than speed required to generate lift in the VAWT, and it doesn't seem to have enough torque to overcome the drag set by the GTI. Next step is to increase the torque and reduce the central stem height but also increase the wind swept area. Yeh tough gig but the carbon fiber rodss should assist with strength. they look really impressive and are very light. As always comments appreciated. Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
| govertical Guru Joined: 11/12/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 383 |
Hi, very nice improvement. Is it possible to extended the PMA mast higher and lower the center of gravity of the blades? The blades could be the same length, the blade struts would be closer together and the bottom of the blades would extend below the PMA. 
just because your a GURU or forum administer does not mean your always correct :) |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
The plan is something similar except slightly different as I will still be using the end mount design that I have (gives me flexibility in angle of attack and facing of the airfoils), but will be using spars moving out from the central pole. The spars will be made out of 6mm thick bent Aluminium plate reinforced by carbon fibe to make them more rigid and strengthen it. The existing aluminum plate (5mm) still moves a lot, and may be responsible for the wobble. The spars will push up at around 70 degrees from the central pole, and also push down as well. The central pole is approx 700mm per section (so the recent video VAWT was 1.4-1.5 meters high). The new unit will consist of one of the existing 700mm central poles and 3 wings plus the addition of 3 extra wings (2 meters in length) that will utilise the spars from the central pole. I hope that makes cense as I don't have a CAD diagram yet to represent it. Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Smithy, I assume you know that the carbon fibre must be completely insulated from the aluminium or electrolysis will eat the alu. Klaus |
||||
| BobMann Senior Member Joined: 30/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 134 |
Hello What is happening is the turbine is tying to cork screw up at the top. When the Ginlong ( I have the same 2K unit) is loading up the PMA you are very light on the design for stress. I would put the PMA in the center as fast as you can so the wind do,s not start to bend stuff up. The other way is to build a 2 flat 3/8 plate by 15 inch round with a 3 inch inside tube 5 inch high install a 3 inch round by 4 ft tall tube in between and bolt it to gether. than run out spokes to the top and bottom of you wings. You will be much safer to go heigher on design I know first hand I did lose my 8 ft Lenz in a wind storm some of my blades survied it. but the failed turbine was because I did not beef up the motor support for the added 4 ft of wing load. I think we are better stay at the 4 ft marker is just safer. Bob Mann |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
Tinker, no I didn't know of the electrolysis. Being a non metal I thought they would be OK.. Oh well the end of another cunning plan. :-( Re corkscrew. Yeh that makes a bit of sense for tall structures, and the Alumin does flex a bit. mmmmm back to the drawing board. Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
The attached video is how the Airblenda goes when not linked into the grid tie inverter GTI, wind speed is approx 15-20km/hr (i guess thats around 12-15mph). DC voltage is around 190V Without GTI Smithy "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
| BobMann Senior Member Joined: 30/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 134 |
|
||||
| Air Bender Senior Member Joined: 25/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 206 |
Hi Smithy, Your Mill looks to be running at very similar speeds as mine. Once the alt starts producing current it does slow things down a bit. What I am planing to do to mine shortly is to reduce the diameter of the three smaller wings. The smaller wings can produce a lot of torque and the angles can be easly adjusted. So hopfully by reducing the diameter of these smaller wings they will help push the big wings up to lift speed. I will have a go at this soon and will post the results. All the best Dean |
||||
| Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Smithy, carbon fiber is conductive - its a type of carbon after all as is carbon in carbon brushes. *anything* that conducts electricity is subject to corrosion with the less noble of two different materials in contact with each other being corroded in the right conditions. There is a table on the net somewhere - search for electrolytic corrosion table - and the farther two conductors are listed apart the bigger the corrosion potential. You *can* use carbon fiber BTW, just make very sure its not in direct contact with the aluminium. Epoxy resin & a layerof glass fiber cloth would insulate it. Klaus |
||||
| govertical Guru Joined: 11/12/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 383 |
Hi, would a sacrificial anode help prevent corrosion, like the ones used on a boat keel? just because your a GURU or forum administer does not mean your always correct :) |
||||
MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Smithy Picking up were Tinker left off, magnesium has the lowest reduction potential of any metal and therefor, if you incorporate it into your system such that it is in electrical contact with the other metals, by definition, corrosion will take place there first. That's not to say it will last forever, but if you see it turning to a white powder, just replace it. The anode rods in water heaters are made of an aluminum-magnesioum alloy and as goverteical eluded to in his reply, electrolysis is a common problem with boats, especially in salt water. The metal used most commonly on boats is zink. When I was in the US Coast Guard during the Viet Nam War, I was stationed on a boat that used an electronic "pay back" system. This was originally designed to prevent corrosion on buried pipelines, but in our case, it worked essentially the same. The system would detect the amount of galvanic decay and pump in a counter current to zero the charge. It worked well, but was somewhat conplicated. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
||||
| smithy Regular Member Joined: 30/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 52 |
I had a bit of wind (maybe 10-12m/s)the other day, so I reprogrammed the Inverter to start generating power just as the VAWT was hitting lift speed (when torque is greatest), and this seems to sort out wobble problem, although not entirely. I ended up getting 75W pretty continuously with it sneeking upto around 100W every now and then. Not quite the 500W I am chasing but moving in the right direction. A snapshot of the screen is below. 
Yes the system is high voltage low amps, so its not charging batteries but instead going into the grid. I will however be strengthening the central shaft by replacing the Aluminium with Stainless and increasing the wind swept area. "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind" Bob Dylan |
||||
mac46 Guru Joined: 07/02/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 412 |
Hello smithy, Its good to here that the problem with the wobble is under control and that you are continuing to make good progress. Was the orriginal problem with the wobble caused by the load being applied at to low an rpm or were other factors involved as well? Low rpm loading is my main problem at this time. Regards, Mac46 I'm just a farmer |
||||
| Page 2 of 3 |
|||||
 Print this page |
