Folding Wind Turbine Blades Using Centrifugal-Assisted Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wind turbines face challenges in efficiently transitioning blades between deployed and retracted positions, particularly in high wind environments, which affect storage, transport, and operational safety.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine system that utilizes a combination of electrically induced rotation and wind-induced rotation to deploy and retract blades, leveraging centrifugal force and controlled current flow to manage blade positioning, ensuring stable deployment and retraction through a controller and generator interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If blades are deployed in high wind environments, then wind capture efficiency is improved, but structural stress and safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The blade system transitions from static to dynamic configuration by enabling folding between deployed and retracted positions. The controller dynamically adjusts blade configuration based on wind conditions, allowing the blades to be deployed in high winds at an angle rather than fully perpendicular, thus capturing wind energy while reducing structural stress through adaptive positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of blade deployment by introducing variable angular positioning. Instead of fixed perpendicular deployment, the blades can be positioned at different angles relative to the wind direction, with the controller adjusting the deployment angle as a variable parameter to optimize both energy capture and stress reduction in high wind conditions.
2Ease of operation
If electric current is applied to rotate folded blades, then deployment is initiated, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic or pulsed electrical current rather than continuous power to rotate the blades. The controller applies current in controlled intervals to initiate and maintain blade rotation, allowing the blades to utilize wind forces and centrifugal effects to complete the deployment process, thereby reducing overall energy consumption compared to continuous electrical actuation.
Solution Approach 2:
Once electrical current initiates blade rotation, the system transitions to self-service mode where wind forces and centrifugal effects generated by the rotating blades themselves provide the remaining force needed for full deployment. The blades harness their own motion and environmental wind energy to complete the deployment without requiring continuous external electrical energy input.
3Volume of moving object
If blades are fully retracted for storage and transport, then compactness is improved, but deployment time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces purely mechanical manual deployment with an electromechanical system. Electrical current applied to the generator motor provides rotational force to unfold the blades, significantly reducing deployment time compared to manual operations while maintaining full retraction capability for compact storage and transport when not in use.
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
Enables efficient and safe deployment and retraction of blades, optimizing wind capture and reducing stress on the system by balancing centrifugal and wind forces, enhancing operational stability and safety.
Implementation Method 1
the provision of electricity to the generator motor rotates the blades
Implementation Method 2
The flow of current induces rotation of the blades in the direction induced by wind, which creates a centrifugal force that moves the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position
Implementation Method 3
rotation of the blades in a direction induced by wind causes the generator to produce electricity
Data Source
AI summary
A wind turbine is provided. The turbine includes a support having an axis of rotation, a generator, a plurality of blades rotatably mounted on the support about the axis of rotation, the blades being moveable between a retracted position generally parallel with the axis of rotation and a fully deployed position generally perpendicular with the axis of rotation, the blades being connected to the generator such that rotation of the blades in a direction induced by wind causes the generator to produce electricity, and the provision of electricity to the generator rotates the blades, and a controller connected to the generator and configured to deliver a flow of current to the generator that is sufficient to move the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position and insufficient to move the blades all the way to the fully deployed position. The flow of current induces rotation of the blades in the direction induced by wind, which creates a centrifugal force that moves the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position. As the blades move from the retracted position, the blades have increasing exposure to ambient wind to receive additional rotational force from ambient wind, and the additional rotational force being sufficient to, either alone or in combination with the flow of current, move the blades into the fully deployed position.