Windmotor and method for its operating

Abstract

The invention relates to wind energy devices for converting kinetic energy of air into usable energy. A windmotor, including a rotor (3) having a shaft (4), at least one propeller blade (5) connected at one end to the rotor (3) shaft (4), wherein the propeller blade (5) has at least two surfaces — a leeward surface (6) and a windward surface (7) — which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade (5) and are made with the possibility of interacting with air in a wind flow. At least one leeward surface (6) of the at least one propeller blade (5) contains a cooling device (8), made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow; and at least one windward surface (7) of the at least one propeller blade (5) contains a heating device (9), also made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow. The design improves operation under low wind conditions.

Description

[0001] WINDMOTOR AND METHOD FOR ITS OPERATING

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of energetics, in particular to wind energetics, specifically to devices for converting the kinetic energy of air mass movement in the atmosphere into electrical, mechanical, thermal or any other form of energy suitable for use.

[0004] Background Art

[0005] The closest to the claimed technical solution in terms of technical essence and the resulting technical result is the method described in:

[0006] Turbine enhancement system (patent US20110048019A1 from 03.03.2011 , Int. Cl. F02C7 / 00), having a structure wherein a wind flow runs onto a windmotor rotor comprising a shaft, at least one propeller blade having at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are in contact with air in the wind flow.

[0007] This method has a number of significant disadvantages.

[0008] A major disadvantage is that in any of the variant embodiments described by the invention, introducing fluid medium into the air flow requires expenditure of kinetic energy. This energy will be used to overcome the air resistance in the wind flow as the injected fluid will replace the air in the wind flow displacing the air to the outer limits, also to overcome the viscous friction at the boundary of the flows and to overcome the gravitational forces.

[0009] Upon reaching the rotor propeller blades, the kinetic energy of the two streams, the atmospheric wind flow and the flow of the injected fluid medium, is converted into torque forces on the rotor shaft.

[0010] According to Betz's law, a windmotor can take no more than 59.3% of the power of the wind flow falling on it.

[0011] Thus, taking into account the above and the law of conservation of energy, the cost of kinetic energy of the injected fluid medium, when interacting with the surrounding wind flow, and taking into account that to return to the system, according to Betz's law, we can return no more than 59.3% of the energy expended to create the injected fluid medium in the wind flow, and reducing the area of interaction between the surrounding wind flow and the rotor, the increase in windmotor performance will be equal to zero or will have a negative effect.

[0012] The device is closest to the claimed technical solution in terms of its technical essence and resulting technical result:

[0013] Turbine enhancement system (patent US20110048019A1 from 03.03.2011 , Int. Cl. F02C7 / 00), including a rotor having a shaft, at least one propeller blade connected at one end to the shaft of the rotor, wherein the propeller blade has at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are made with the possibility of interacting with air in a wind flow.

[0014] This device has a number of significant disadvantages:

[0015] A major disadvantage is that in any of the variants of the described invention, introducing fluid medium into the air flow requires expenditure of kinetic energy.

[0016] This energy will be used to overcome the air resistance in the wind flow as the injected fluid will replace the air in the wind flow displacing the air, also to overcome the viscous friction at the boundary of the flows and to overcome the gravitational forces.

[0017] Upon reaching the rotor propeller blades, the kinetic energy of the two streams, the atmospheric flow and the injected fluid medium, is converted into torque forces on the rotor shaft. According to Betz's law, a wind turbine generator can withdraw no more than 59.3 % of the power of the wind flow falling on it. Thus, taking into account the above and the law of conservation of energy, the energy costs of introducing an additional flow of fluid medium into the oncoming wind flow, and the interaction of the injected fluid medium with the surrounding wind flow, as well as taking into account that to return the windmotor system, according to Betz's law, we can return no more than 59.3% of the energy spent to create a flow of injected fluid medium into the wind flow and reducing the interaction area of the surrounding wind flow and rotor, the increase in windmotor performance will be equal to zero or will have a negative effect.

[0018] Summary of Invention

[0019] Technical Problem

[0020] The present invention is based on the task to create a method and a device allowing to increase the productivity of a windmotor and to eliminate the identified disadvantages of known technical solutions.

[0021] Solution to Problem

[0022] This task is solved by the method of increasing the performance of a windmotor having a structure wherein a wind flow runs onto a windmotor rotor comprising a shaft, at least one propeller blade having at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are in contact with air in the wind flow, which, according to the invention it includes the steps of heating the air in the wind flow in the windward surface region of the propeller blade and cooling the air in the wind flow in the leeward surface region of the propeller blade.

[0023] Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0024] This difference will increase the air pressure difference between the air pressure on the windward side of the blade and the leeward side of the blade, which will lead to an increase in the lift force generated by the propeller blade, which in turn will lead to an increase in the torque of the forces on the shaft of the rotor, which will lead to an increase in windmotor performance. Also, this difference will reduce the rotor diameter and / or increase the rotational speed while maintaining the performance of the windmotor, which will avoid the occurrence of supersonic speed of the outer ends of the propeller blade, which will have a positive impact on the environment and prevent premature destruction of rotor blades due to high loads.

[0025] Advantageously, the variant of the method is an embodiment of the method, wherein the heat pump is used to transfer thermal energy from the area adjacent to the leeward surface of the propeller blade to the area adjacent to the windward surface of the propeller blade.

[0026] This difference will allow for an energy efficient system, where the thermal energy used to increase the performance of the windmotor after performing a given work is returned to the initial step of the process, and reused, which also leads to increased windmotor performance and reduced energy costs.

[0027] Also, the task at hand is solved with a windmotor including a rotor having a shaft, at least one propeller blade connected at one end to the shaft of the rotor, wherein the propeller blade has at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are made with the possibility of interacting with air in a wind flow, wherein, according to the invention, at least one leeward surface of the at least one propeller blade, contains a cooling device made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow, at least one windward surface of the at least one propeller blade, contains a heating device made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow.

[0028] Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0029] The technical solution according to the invention will increase the air pressure difference between the air pressure on the windward side of the blade and the leeward side of the blade, which will lead to an increase in the lift force generated by the propeller blade, which in turn will lead to an increase in the torque of the forces on the shaft of the rotor, which will lead to an increase in the performance of the windmotor.

[0030] Also, this technical solution, according to the invention, will reduce the rotor diameter and / or increase the rotor speed while maintaining the performance of the windmotor, which will avoid the occurrence of supersonic speed of the outer ends of the propeller blade, which will have a positive effect on the environment and prevent premature destruction of the rotor blades due to high loads.

[0031] Advantageously, a variant embodiment of the invention is provided it comprises at least one heat pump, wherein the at least one heating device and / or the at least one cooling device is made with the possibility of interacting with the at least one heat pump.

[0032] This difference will allow for an energy efficient system, where the thermal energy used to increase the performance of the windmotor after performing a given work is returned to the initial step of the process, and reused, which also leads to increased windmotor performance and reduced energy costs.

[0033] A variant embodiment of the invention is possible, wherein the at least one heating device and / or cooling device is in the form of at least one heat pump.

[0034] This difference will allow for an energy efficient system, where the thermal energy used to increase the performance of the windmotor after performing a given work is returned to the initial step of the process, and reused, which also leads to increased windmotor performance and reduced energy costs.

[0035] Also, it is possible to have a variant implementation in which at least one surface of the at least one propeller blade of the at least one rotor has ribbing made with the possibility of increasing the contact area of the blade surface with the wind flow.

[0036] Such a difference, will increase the cooling efficiency of the wind flow or part of it, which in turn will increase the performance of the windmotor as a whole. A variant implementation is possible, whereby at least one propeller blade of the at least one rotor is made with the possibility of changing the angle of attack to the wind flow.

[0037] This distinction will achieve the highest possible windmotor performance when external weather conditions change, wind flow velocity changes, air humidity changes, etc.

[0038] Brief Description of Drawings

[0039] Fig. 1 Schematic representation of a windmotor, showing a support 1 , a nacelle 2, a rotor 3, a rotor shaft 4, and a propeller blade 5, right side view.

[0040] Fig. 2 Schematic representation of a windmotor, showing a support 1 , a nacelle 2, a rotor 3, a propeller blade 5, showing a cross-section A-A of the propeller blade 5, front view.

[0041] Fig. 3 Schematically depicts a cross-section A-A of the propeller blade 5, top view.

[0042] Description of Embodiments

[0043] The term “windmotor” should be understood as a machine that converts the kinetic energy of wind flow into mechanical energy.

[0044] The working body of the windmotor is a propeller-type rotor, which takes the wind flow head and converts it into mechanical energy of rotation of the windmotor shaft.

[0045] For a propeller-type windmotor with a horizontal axis of rotation, air is the working body, and the rotor is a shaft, the axis of rotation of which is made in a horizontal plane parallel to the wind flow, and one or a plurality of wingshaped propeller blades fixed at one end to the shaft and equidistant from each other in a circle relative to the axis of rotation of the shaft.

[0046] The aerodynamic profile of the blade can have any shape.

[0047] The term “rotor” should be understood as the rotating part of a windmotor on which the organs that receive energy from the working body are located.

[0048] For a propeller-type windmotor with a horizontal axis of rotation, air is the working fluid. The rotor is a shaft, the axis of rotation of which is made in a horizontal plane, and one or a plurality of wing-shaped blades, fixed at one end to the shaft and equidistant from each other along the circumference relative to the axis of rotation of the shaft.

[0049] The term “leeward surface” shall be understood to mean a surface that is downwind, sheltered from the wind, and facing in the direction of wind flow. The term “windward surface” shall be understood to mean the surface facing the wind flow or facing where the wind blows from.

[0050] The term “wind flow” should be understood as the directional movement of air masses in the planet's atmosphere.

[0051] The term “heating device” should be understood to mean a device designed to raise the temperature of fluid and / or air by converting other forms of energy, for example, electrical energy into heat energy by means of an electric heating element, chemical reactions with the release of heat, for example, combustion reactions, etc. or heat exchanger using external heat sources such as solar collectors, thermal underground sources of heat energy, as an external source of heat energy can also be a heat pump, etc...

[0052] The term “cooling device” should be understood to mean a device designed to extract thermal energy from fluid and / or air.

[0053] The cooling device may be a heat pump, Peltier elements, or a heat exchange device, for example a radiator, through which a coolant flows, for example lower temperature artesian water or lower temperature seawater, and the like....

[0054] The term “heat pump” should be understood as a device designed to transfer heat energy from a source to a consumer located at a distance from each other. In this case, the transfer requires energy input from outside to realize the transfer of thermal energy.

[0055] The most common types of heat pumps, compressor heat machines and absorption, non-compressor, heat machines.

[0056] As a heat pump, Peltier elements can also be considered.

[0057] The windmotor has a support 1 (fig. 1 , 2). The support 1 may have any shape that satisfies the technical requirements of the selected windmotor design, and may be in the form of a vertical column or a column made at an angle to a vertical plane.

[0058] The support 1 may be made fixed on the ground or in the form of a movable support made on a vehicle with the possibility of movement, or in the form of a floating support on the surface of a body of water, ocean, lake, sea, etc.

[0059] The support 1 may be made of any structural material meeting the technical requirements of the selected windmotor design, for example, building structural materials, such as concrete, reinforced concrete, composite concrete; or technical structural materials, metals, such as steel, aluminum; wood, such as oak, pine; polymeric materials; composite materials; or include a combination of several types of materials.

[0060] Windmotor also has a nacelle 2 (fig. 1 , 2) mounted on a support with the possibility of rotation relative to the support 1 and wind flow in the horizontal or vertical plane that will allow you to set the nacelle in the direction of the changing wind flow.

[0061] Also, the nacelle 2 may contain windmotor controls, an electric generator or any other external rotor 3 rotation energy consumer, a braking device that regulates the rotor 3 rotation speed, navigational instruments, cooling devices, rotary devices that allow positioning the nacelle 2 relative to the wind flow, etc.

[0062] The nacelle 2 may have any geometric shape, for example: rectangular, spherical, conical, drop-shaped, etc., and may be made of any structural material meeting the technical requirements of the selected windmotor design, for example, building structural materials, such as: concrete, reinforced concrete, composite concrete; or technical structural materials, metals, such as: steel, aluminum; wood, such as: oak, pine; polymeric materials; composite materials; or comprise a combination of several materials.

[0063] The windmotor includes a rotor 3 (fig.1 ,2) which has a shaft 4, at least one propeller blade 5, kinematically connected at one end to the shaft 4 of the rotor 3, wherein the propeller blade 5 (fig.3) has at least two surfaces, leeward surface 6 and windward surface 7 which form the aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade 5 and are made with the possibility of interacting with the air in the wind flow.

[0064] At least one leeward surface 6 of the at least one propeller blade 5, or a portion thereof, of the at least one propeller blade 5 has a cooling device 8 that interacts with air in the wind flow, wherein the windward surface 7 of the propeller blade 5, or a portion thereof, has a heating device 9 that interacts with air in the wind flow.

[0065] The cooling device 8 (Fig. 3) may be designed as a heat exchanging radiator, designed as a leeward surface 6, or designed within the propeller blade 5 as a device that cooperates with the leeward surface 6.

[0066] As a coolant for cooling the air in the wind flow, a gas or fluid having a temperature lower than the temperature of the air in the wind flow may be used, for example artesian water, glacier melt water, cold ocean current water, etc. Also, the cooling device may be in the form of Peltier elements or any other devices allowing to reduce the temperature of the wind flow air in the area of the leeward surface 6 of the propeller blade 5.

[0067] The heating device 9 (fig. 3) may be designed as a leeward surface 6, or it may be designed inside the propeller blade 5 as a device that interacts with the leeward surface 6.

[0068] The heating device 6 may be in the form of an electric heating device, for example an electric tan or Peltier element, or a heat exchanging radiator using as a heat transfer medium a gas or fluids having a temperature higher than the air temperature in the wind flow.

[0069] The heat energy source can be solar collectors, thermal groundwater, or electric heaters, etc.

[0070] The windmotor may also comprise at least one heat pump 10 (fig. 3), wherein the at least one heating device 9 and / or the at least one cooling device 8, cooperate with the at least one heat pump 10.

[0071] Also, the heat pump 10 may be used as a heating 9 and / or cooling 8 device. And also, to increase the interaction area of the heating device 9 and the cooling device 8, the leeward surface 6 and the windward surface 7, may be finned.

[0072] To select the optimal performance of the windmotor in changing weather conditions, the propeller blade 5 may have a pivoting device allowing the angle of attack of the propeller blade 5 relative to the wind flow to be changed.

[0073] Principle of action

[0074] The present invention is based on the idea of utilizing the physical property of air to increase in volume when heated and decrease in volume when cooled, and utilizing this property to increase the performance of a windmotor by taking heat energy from the air in the wind flow after the rotor in the leeward surface area 6 of the propeller blade 5 and transferring it to the air in the wind flow before the rotor in the windward surface area 7 of the propeller blade 5 using the heat pump 10.

[0075] Wind flow, comes from the front, (fig.1 ) on the rotor 3, while interacting with the windward surface 7 of the propeller blade 5 creating a zone of increased pressure. At the same time, part of the wind flow envelopes the propeller blade 5 and interacts with the leeward surface 6 creating a zone of reduced pressure.

[0076] The pressure difference between the leeward surface 6 and the windward surface 7 creates a lifting force of the propeller blade 5, under the influence of which the rotor 3 performs rotational motion, and thus the kinetic energy of the wind flow is converted into a rotational torque of forces on the shaft of the rotor 4.

[0077] To increase the performance of the windmotor, it is necessary to increase the pressure difference before and after the rotor 3 at a constant wind flow velocity.

[0078] Wind flow (fig. 3) has an atmospheric pressure Pi and temperature ti faces the windward surface 7 of the blade 5 of the propeller creating a zone of increased pressure and is heated to a temperature t using a heating device 9. As a result, the air in the windward surface region 7 expands, creating a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure Pi. Thus, the pressure created by wind flow and the pressure created resulting from thermal expansion are summed up and equal P2 (Fig. 3).

[0079] At the same time, the wind flow envelopes the propeller blade 5 along the leeward surface 6 creating a zone of reduced pressure and is cooled, using a cooling device 8 (fig. 3) to a temperature ts, with t2> ti> ts.

[0080] As a result, the air in the wind flow in the leeward surface area 6 will decrease in volume thereby reducing the pressure below atmospheric pressure creating a low-pressure zone P3, with P2> Pi> P3.

[0081] Thus, we will increase the difference in air pressure in the wind flow before the rotor 3 and after the rotor 3, which will lead to an increase in the lifting force Fp(fig. 3), and hence to an increase in the torque of the forces on the shaft of the rotor 4 and increase the performance of windmotor.

[0082] The use of the heat pump 10 will allow heat energy to be pumped from wind flow air located in the windward surface region 6 to wind flow air in contact with the windward surface 7.

[0083] Considering that the heat pump 10 for transferring thermal energy, spends several times less energy than the amount of energy transferred, the energy expenditure for heating and cooling will be minimized, which will increase the energy efficiency of the windmotor as a whole.

Claims

Claims1 . A method of increasing the performance of a windmotor having a structure wherein a wind flow runs onto a windmotor rotor comprising a shaft, at least one propeller blade having at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are in contact with air in the wind flow, characterized in that it includes the steps of heating the air in the wind flow in the windward surface region of the propeller blade and cooling the air in the wind flow in the leeward surface region of the propeller blade.

2. The method of increasing the performance of the windmotor according to claim 1 , characterized in that the heat pump is used to transfer thermal energy from the area adjacent to the leeward surface of the propeller blade to the area adjacent to the windward surface of the propeller blade.

3. A windmotor including a rotor having a shaft, at least one propeller blade connected at one end to the shaft of the rotor, wherein the propeller blade has at least two surfaces, a leeward surface and a windward surface which form an aerodynamic profile of the propeller blade and are made with the possibility of interacting with air in a wind flow, characterized in that at least one leeward surface of the at least one propeller blade, contains a cooling device made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow, at least one windward surface of the at least one propeller blade, contains a heating device made with the possibility of interacting with air in the wind flow.

4. The windmotor according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises at least one heat pump, wherein the at least one heating device and / or the at least one cooling device is made with the possibility of interacting with the at least one heat pump.

5. The windmotor according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one heating device and / or cooling device is in the form of at least one heat pump.

6. The windmotor according to claim 3, characterized in that at least one surface of the at least one propeller blade of the at least one rotor has ribbing made with the possibility of increasing the contact area of the blade surface with the wind flow.

7. The windmotor according to claim 3, characterized in that at least one propeller blade of the at least one rotor is made with the possibility of changing the angle of attack to the wind flow.

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