Compact Wind Turbine with Air Feedback Loop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wind turbines are too bulky and inefficient for installation on vessels or in compact spaces, requiring significant space and effort for installation, and existing modular designs do not effectively address the need for compactness and high energy generation.
Innovation Solution
A compact wind turbine design featuring an air intake nozzle, a hollow air tube with spiral ribs, and an air outtake nozzle, which creates a feedback loop to increase air flow and speed, allowing for a reduction in rotor blade radius and overall turbine size while maintaining energy generation efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional wind turbine designs are used, then energy generation capability is maintained, but turbine size and bulkiness increase making vessel installation impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested structure where the hollow air tube is positioned inside the rotor assembly, and the generator is mounted on the hollow air tube. This nesting arrangement allows multiple functional components to occupy overlapping spatial volumes, significantly reducing the overall turbine footprint while preserving energy generation capability through the feedback loop mechanism that recirculates air through the rotor blades.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a feedback mechanism where air exiting through the air outtake nozzle is redirected back to the air intake nozzle through the hollow air tube. This feedback loop creates a recirculating air flow that increases the effective wind speed through the rotor blades, enabling compact turbine design without sacrificing energy generation. The spiral ribs inside the hollow air tube enhance this effect by creating rotational motion in the recirculated air.
2Volume of moving object
If turbine size is reduced for compact installation, then vessel compatibility improves, but air flow and energy generation efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback loop recirculates air from the outtake nozzle back to the intake nozzle, creating multiple passes through the rotor blades. This effectively multiplies the energy extraction from each volume of air, compensating for the reduced air intake volume in compact designs. The spiral ribs inside the hollow air tube add rotational momentum to the recirculated air, further enhancing the air flow efficiency despite the smaller turbine size.
Solution Approach 2:
The recirculating air flow creates a periodic action where air passes through the rotor blades multiple times in succession. Each pass through the rotor extracts energy, and the rapid recirculation creates a continuous periodic flow pattern that maintains high energy generation rates despite the compact size. The spiral ribs enhance this periodic action by inducing rotational motion that persists through multiple cycles.
3Ease of operation
If conventional turbine designs are used, then structural stability is ensured, but installation complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the turbine into modular components: a supporting structure, air intake nozzle, rotor assembly with hollow air tube, air outtake nozzle, and generator. This segmentation allows each component to be independently manufactured and assembled, simplifying installation on vessels. The compact nested arrangement of these segmented components minimizes the total installation footprint while maintaining structural stability through the integrated supporting structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves a significant reduction in turbine size while maintaining or enhancing energy generation capabilities, making it suitable for installation on vessels and in compact spaces, with the potential to decrease fossil fuel consumption and carbon footprint.
Implementation Method 1
a hollow air tube with spiral ribs, and an air outtake nozzle, which creates a feedback loop to increase air flow and speed
Implementation Method 2
which creates a feedback loop to increase air flow and speed
Implementation Method 3
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy
Implementation Method 4
a rotor comprising the blades for converting wind energy to low-speed rotational energy
Implementation Method 5
a generator comprising an electrical generator
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a
AI summary
The invention belongs to the field of wind motors. The wind turbine according to the invention comprises: - an air intake nozzle arranged to allow entry of air into the turbine and flow of the air towards rotor blades, - a hollow air tube on which rotor blades of the wind turbine are installed, said hollow air tube being placed between the air intake nozzle and an air outtake nozzle, and - the air outtake nozzle arranged to allow at least partial release of air to the exterior of the wind turbine as well as at least partial return of the air via the hollow air tube towards the intake nozzle. The hollow air tube thus allows that air entering the wind turbine is returned in a feedback loop, which in addition to newly incoming air ensures higher flows and speeds that enable decrease of wind turbine dimensions.