Blade for a rotor of a wind energy turbine
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorLaurent Bonnet
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A blade for a rotor of a wind energy turbine includes opposite upper and lower faces, opposite leading and trailing edges connecting the upper and lower and at least one air outlet opening arranged on at least one of the upper face, the lower face and the trailing edge for discharging pressurized air into the air around at least one of the upper and lower faces and the leading and trailing edges.
Claims14
A blade for a rotor of a wind energy turbine, said blade comprising:
- opposite upper and lower faces;
- opposite leading and trailing edges connecting said upper and lower faces;
- means for generating pressurized air;
- and
- at least one air outlet opening in fluid communication with said pressurized air generation means and arranged on at least one of said upper face, said lower face and said trailing edge for discharging the pressurized air into the air around at least one of said upper and lower faces and said leading and trailing edges;
- wherein said means for generating pressurized air comprises at least one air intake opening defined at said leading edge radially inwardly from a tip of said blade and being in fluid communication with said at least one air outlet opening.
A method for influencing the flow of air around a rotor blade of a wind energy turbine, said method comprising discharging pressurized air out of at least one air outlet opening and into a boundary layer of an air stream flowing along the rotor blade wherein the pressurized air is generated from air flowing into an air intake opening that is defined at a leading edge radially inwardly from a tip of said blade and being in fluid communication with said at least one air outlet opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.