Improved Wind Turbine
A longstanding source of major inefficiency in a wind farm is wake effects from upstream turbines, which can slow down wind entering downstream turbines. To mitigate this problem, tethered kites placed between turbine rows in a wind farm have been proposed. These kites mix this slower air with faster air from higher up in the atmosphere to increase the speed of wind entering downstream turbines. However, because the kites are tethered to the ground separately from the turbines, they randomly mix air in the wind farm depending on the direction the wind is blowing. For this reason, they can’t be equally efficient for all wind directions. In this invention, an airfoil structure is directly attached to the turbine, allowing it to most efficiently interact with the wind regardless of its direction. Rather than attempting to mix air, this invention moves the lower speed air below the downstream turbine, displacing it with higher speed air from above. By eliminating the wake effects, this invention has the potential to improve wind farm efficiency by 15-20% and to allow for closer turbine spacing, both major drivers of cost. The invention also has beneficial applications in offshore wind, as the uplift force on the turbine from the airfoil provides much needed stabilization. TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION ADVANTAGES • Improves onshore wind farm efficiency by 15-20%• Can use inexpensive, off-the-shelf components for the airfoil and mounting• Reduces spacing between wind farm turbines• Appropriate for retrofits and new builds• Additional stabilization benefit to offshore wind farms PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES• Onshore wind farms• Offshore wind farms• New builds and retrofits ABOUT THE INVENTOR J. Blair Perot is the director of the Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research focuses on computer simulations of fluid flow and the study of fluid turbulence. Perot has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. AVAILABILITY: Available for Licensing and/or Sponsored Research DOCKET: UMA 17-023 PATENT STATUS: Patent Pending NON-CONFIDENTIAL INVENTION DISCLOSURE LEAD INVENTOR: Blair Perot, Ph.D. CONTACT: A longstanding source of major inefficiency in a wind farm is wake effects from upstream turbines, which can slow down wind entering downstream turbines. To mitigate this problem, tethered kites placed between turbine rows in a wind farm have been proposed. These kites mix this slower air with faster air from higher up in the atmosphere to increase the speed of wind entering downstream turbines. However, because the kites are tethered to the ground separately from the turbines, they randomly mix air in the wind farm depending on the direction the wind is blowing. For this reason, they can’t be equally efficient for all wind directions.In this invention, an airfoil structure is directly attached to the turbine, allowing it to most efficiently interact with the wind regardless of its direction. Rather than attempting to mix air, this invention moves the lower speed air below the downstream turbine, displacing it with higher speed air from above. By eliminating the wake effects, this invention has the potential to improve wind farm efficiency by 15-20% and to allow for closer turbine spacing, both major drivers of cost. The invention also has beneficial applications in offshore wind, as the uplift force on the turbine from the airfoil provides much needed stabilization.
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