Project
Summary
Build
and Test a 3 KW Prototype of a Co-Axial, Multi-Rotor Wind Turbine
Douglas Selsam, Principal
Investigator
Purpose: To prove the co-axial, multi-rotor wind
turbine technology as disclosed by the inventor, Douglas Spriggs Selsam, in
U.S. Pat. Application numbers 09/881511, filed 06/14/01 and 09/997499, filed
11/23/01, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) filing of June 14, 2002, by
building and testing a reliable prototype, in a 3-kilowatt size.
Proposed effort for this
project: Build a three kilowatt prototype that is durable enough for 6 months
of continuous testing, then field test the prototype for 6 months of power
generation:
1. We
will first develop and build a prototype in a size of 3 kilowatts. This work will be carried out by the
principal investigator, Douglas Selsam.
The parts will be obtained from various manufacturers, and assembled by
the principal investigator.
2. We
will carry out initial testing at the facilities of Windtesting.com in Tehachapi, CA, in conjunction with Brent
Scheibel, and make any adjustments deemed necessary for long term testing.
3. We
will then subject this prototype to six months of long-term testing. The testing will be carried out by Brent
Scheibel at his WindTesting.com test
range in Tehachapi, CA. Brent Scheibel
is a world recognized expert in the field of wind power. He has headed the Anemometry Department at General
Electric Wind Energy for North and
South America, and has many years of experience erecting towers, acquiring
and recording power measurement data, and conducting anemometry calibrations
and comparative tests of wind turbines. His test range in Tehachapi is fully
equipped with towers, electrical cables, banks of batteries, testing and
recording equipment. Brent has agreed
to subject a prototype to six months of testing, and will measure power output
at various wind speeds (power curve), long-term energy output, and overall
behavior and reliability. Brent will
then provide a report on his findings.
Power and energy production data will be generated in spreadsheet form
and in graphical form as scatter plots and power curves.
4. We will determine how the behavior of this
prototype compares to existing turbines of a similar diameter and turbines of a
similar power rating, on the basis of cost and performance, and determine
whether it looks promising to construct still larger prototypes. This research will pave the way for more
advanced turbines utilizing this new co-axial, multi-rotor technology.
Current
single-rotor wind turbines are a refined version of a 1000-year-old
design. These wind turbines suffer from
the following problems, challenges, and drawbacks:
1.
Inordinately
heavy rotor weight since larger rotors become disproportionately heavy. As blade length is increased, power
generated per unit blade mass declines.
2.
Inordinately
slow blade rotation since larger rotors turn more slowly; A gearbox, or special
low-speed generator is required, since a conventional generator needs to turn
faster.
3.
Not well-suited
to areas with moderate wind resources: Single rotor turbines do not capture
enough energy in class 4 wind regimes to be economical.
Our Multi-Rotor
technology neatly solves all of these classic problems in wind turbine
design. Several small prototypes have
now been tested, generating up to 1400 watts.
Progress to date may be seen at http://www.selsam.com.
Our new design,
now proven in small models, combines the power of multiple smaller rotors
mounted to a single elongate driveshaft, to give the same power as a single
larger rotor, with less cost, weight, and complexity. Smaller rotors weigh less for the swept area, and turn faster,
thereby delivering the same power at less torque, dispensing of the need for a
gearbox, or special low-speed generator.
Our new design is self-aiming, requiring no dedicated apparatus to
achieve this. We expect to validate
this revolutionary California design as being able to harvest more wind energy
at less cost than current models, which use only a single rotor.