Information overload

[brian2034]

My first post didn't make it, for some reason it vanished.

I have been watching the site for the past year and decided it's time to jump in and build a wind turbine. I would like to build a turbine to produce enough energy to power a electric heater during the winter months. This is the main goal as the winter is approaching this area quick!! Is it possible to wire a wind turbine directly to a A/C heater with no batteries.

 I'm thinking the neo magnets 1"x2"x1/2" would be the best value and also will use a automotive stub axle but will make magnet rotors from 1/4" steel plate. I have experience with fiberglass so I will make the blades out of fiberglass and foam for the core they should be super lite and strong.

Objective: Build wind turbine to produce 1500-2500 watts A/c for heating

Question 1: What diameter does the turbine blade's need to be (I live on the coast   of newfoundland canada)

Question 2: How many magnets in a dual rotor system what size rotors.

Question 3: How many coils what size wire and how many turns in the coils.

I have a full shop so building the turbine should be no problem. There is a huge amount of information and opinion's on the sites and if I could get a general idea of what I need to start it would be Great!!

Brian Parsons

[wdyasq]

Brian,

answered you last post - try using the everything tab -

Ron

[brian2034]

Ron,Thanks for the heads up on finding my post

on the comment of using real stuff for blades

you can build fiberglass blades 10 times stronger than a wood blades and they would be a 1/4 of the weight. If a fiberglass composite blade can propel a aircraft through the sky it can turn a wind turbine!

[Flux]

Yes it is possible to wire a wind turbine to a heater without a battery but you will need some form of control system.

If you really mean one heater then you will almost certainly need some form of PWM or phase control. The simple schemes usually switch in various heaters.

How often do you want heat? Wind will never supply it all the time.

I suspect you may be in a windy area but even so you will need a big machine to produce useful heat many days a week.

As a rough guide these are a few figures for about the best 15ft machine you are likely to build so you can get some idea what you are likely to achieve. Remember that the power increases with the square of the rotor diameter if you want to work it for other sizes.

15 mph - 500W    20 mph - 1400W   24 mph - 2500W     27mph - 3500W  30 mph - 4600W

This is an ambitious first project and don't under estimate the problems.

For a start have a look at something Hugh Piggott has done but you will have to do some changes for your needs.

http://www.scoraigwind.com/nirvana/

Have another think and perhaps come back when you have some firm ideas.

Flux

[wdyasq]

You can go back through comment I have posted and learn a bit about my thoughts on real  materials.  FPR/Fiberglass/Composit blade on an airplane have little relationship to turbines blades except the medium they run in.  

An airplane in heavy use gets used 2,000 hours a year, a wind-turbine 8760. Mst propeller airplanes get a thurough 100 hour check.  

The 'elliptically furling' windmills commonly seen here get 2-3 flexes a revolution in a partially furled load.  The first large windturbines using 'plastics' were failures.  Eventually, enough engineering and money was thrown in to make Variable Pitch mills reliable enough to run plastic blades (I am using the term plastic to refer to all the managrie of crap that everyone claims is better than the original carbon-fiber building material, wood.) If you care you can pour through the thousands of pages of fatigues studies on windturbine blased out there, I have.

I could be pursuaded to embrace a properly designed plastic blade.  In fact, I have worked on building such blades and their molds.  First, prototypes will need to be made to assure the design is good.  Then, engineering studies must be done for the layup schedule. From there a cost can be determined and blades be properly made from the mold.  The engineering and mold costs for a 12' turbine have been quoted in excess of $10,000.

I doubt there is anyone who will claim to understand the aerodybamics of an elliptically furling HAWT.  It is complex for only the power producing segment of the envelope.  Few have ventured beyond that point.

Good luck,

Ron