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US 11,746,742 B1Granted
Thrust-optimized blade design for wind turbines
AssigneeNational Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
InventorBrandon Lee Ennis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wind rotor is disclosed that produces energy optimally for a given thrust overturning moment. By designing rotors with suboptimal aerodynamic efficiency, they can have optimal thrust performance, which will reduce the substructure cost and/or enable greater energy capture for a given substructure.
Claims24
A wind turbine comprising:
- a plurality of wind turbine blades attached to a hub, each blade having an inboard region and an outboard region, each blade having a first configuration of geometry, the first configuration including a geometry of the inboard region that provides an induction factor of between 0.1-0.25 and a geometry of the outboard region that provides an induction factor of between 0.15-0.33;
- and
- a tower extending from the hub to a tower base;
- wherein a first thrust overturning moment is applied to the tower base from the first configuration that is less or equal to a second thrust overturning moment corresponding to a second configuration of wind turbine blades having a geometry of the inboard region that provides an induction factor of 0.33 and a geometry of the outboard region that provides an induction factor of 0.33.
1 more element
A method of making a wind turbine comprising:
- forming a wind turbine blade having an inboard region and an outboard region, configuring the geometry of the inboard region to provide an induction factor of between 0.1-0.25 and configuring the geometry of the outboard region to provide an induction factor of between 0.15-0.33;
- and
- providing the wind turbine blade to a hub, the hub being attached to a tower, which is attached to a tower base;
- wherein a first thrust overturning moment is applied to the tower base from a first configuration of the geometry of the inboard region and the geometry of the outboard region, the first thrust overturning moment being less than or equal to a second thrust overturning moment corresponding to a second configuration of wind turbine blades having a geometry of the inboard region that provides an induction factor of 0.33 and a geometry of the outboard region that provides an induction factor of 0.33.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.