Wind turbine having airfoils for blocking and directing wind and rotors with or without a central gap
OwnerRonald J. Taylor, Scott J. Taylorinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wind turbine device of increased efficiency is comprised of a set of fixed airfoils that direct wind into a rotor having a plurality of blades. The fixed airfoils may extend to the ground to increase the amount of wind directed into the rotor and may be manufactured from concrete. The rotor blades have a vented portion near the axis of rotation that has been found to increase efficiency for certain blade geometries. For other blade geometries, increased efficiency is observed with no gap at the axis of rotation. The rotor may also be manufactured from composite materials to increase strength while decreasing the moment of inertia for the rotor.
Claims16
A crossflow wind turbine that generates mechanical energy from wind comprising:
- a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades that are symmetrically disposed around an axis, said rotor blades disposed in said rotor so that a gap is formed between leading edges of said rotor blades;
- a rotor space formed in a volume that is swept out by said rotor blades, said rotor space having a drive portion in which said rotor blades are driven by said wind and a return portion in which said rotor blades return to said drive portion;
- a plurality of airfoils that direct wind into said drive portion and direct wind away from said return portion to cause said rotor to turn and generate said mechanical energy, said airfoils being placed non-symmetrically around said rotor to provide a substantially bidirectional crossflow turbine.
A method of generating mechanical energy from wind comprising:
- providing a crossflow wind turbine having airfoils and a rotor that sweeps out a rotor space, said rotor space having a drive portion and a return portion;
- symmetrically placing a plurality of rotor blades in said rotor that form a gap between leading edges of said rotor blades;
- placing said airfoils non-symmetrically around said rotor to provide a substantially bidirectional crossflow turbine by substantially directing said wind into said drive portion of said rotor space so that said wind drives said rotor blades in said drive portion, and by substantially blocking said wind from entering said return portion of said rotor space so that said rotor blades return to said drive portion to generate said mechanical energy.
A crossflow wind turbine that generates mechanical energy from wind comprising:
- a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades that are symmetrically disposed around an axis, said rotor blades disposed in said rotor so that a gap is not formed between leading edges of said rotor blades;
- a rotor space formed in a volume that is swept out by said rotor blades, said rotor space having a drive portion in which said rotor blades are driven by said wind and a return portion in which said rotor blades return to said drive portion;
- a plurality of airfoils that direct wind into said drive portion and direct wind away from said return portion to cause said rotor to turn and generate said
- mechanical energy, said airfoils being placed nonsymmetrically around said rotor to provide a substantially bidirectional crossflow turbine.
A method of generating mechanical energy from wind comprising:
- providing a crossflow wind turbine having airfoils and a rotor that sweeps out a rotor space, said rotor space having a drive portion and a return portion;
- symmetrically placing a plurality of rotor blades in said rotor that do not form a gap between leading edges of said rotor blades;
- placing said airfoils nonsymmetrically around said rotor to provide a substantially bidirectional crossflow turbine by substantially directing said wind into said drive portion of said rotor space so that said wind drives said rotor blades in said drive portion, and by substantially blocking said wind from entering said return portion of said rotor space so that said rotor blades return to said drive portion to generate said mechanical energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.