Variable Centrifugal Flywheel for Turbine Speed Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbines and other turbines face challenges in high winds, requiring shutdown to prevent damage from excessive speed, and there is a need for stabilizing turbine speeds and adjusting rotational energy for improved efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a variable flywheel with a centrifugal clutch that adjusts the moment of inertia by changing the rotational velocity of the turbine shaft, allowing for controlled engagement and disengagement of a clutch to manage energy storage and transfer, and includes a method to reset the flywheel using a control arm and mechanical mechanisms for hysteresis control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the turbine operates in high winds, then energy generation increases, but the turbine may be damaged due to excessive rotational speed
Solution Approach 1:
The flywheel's moment of inertia is made dynamically adjustable through a centrifugal clutch mechanism. As turbine speed increases in high winds, the centrifugal force pushes the flywheel outward, increasing its moment of inertia and automatically limiting further speed increase. This dynamic adjustment allows the turbine to safely operate in high winds while preventing damage from excessive rotational speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of moment of inertia based on operating conditions. The centrifugal clutch mechanism alters the flywheel's effective moment of inertia as a function of rotational speed, enabling the turbine to maintain safe operating speeds across varying wind conditions while maximizing energy generation when possible.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the turbine shaft rotational velocity is increased to store more energy, then energy storage capacity increases, but speed stabilization becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The centrifugal clutch creates a dynamic feedback mechanism where increased rotational velocity automatically increases the flywheel's moment of inertia through outward movement. This dynamic response stabilizes speed by preventing excessive velocity increases, while still allowing the system to store energy at elevated speeds within safe limits.
3Device complexity
If a fixed moment of inertia flywheel is used, then the structure is simple, but the turbine cannot adapt to varying wind conditions
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using a complex active control system, the invention employs a passive dynamic mechanism where the centrifugal clutch automatically adjusts the flywheel's moment of inertia in response to rotational speed changes. This provides adaptability to varying wind conditions while maintaining relatively simple mechanical structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The centrifugal clutch mechanism is self-regulating and requires no external control or power source. The flywheel automatically adjusts its moment of inertia based on the centrifugal forces generated during operation, enabling the turbine to adapt to varying wind conditions autonomously.
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 system effectively stabilizes turbine speeds, prevents damage from high winds by slowing down turbines, and enhances energy storage and transfer efficiency by dynamically managing rotational energy.
Implementation Method 1
In an embodiment, the changing of the centrifugal force as a result of the increasing and/or decreasing of the rotational velocity of the turbine shaft speed controls the activation (of the release) and deactivation (of the release or the engagement) of a clutch to a movable mass.
Implementation Method 2
In this way, some energy may be stored or released as rotational kinetic energy.
Data Source
AI summary
A flywheel is attached to a shaft of a turbine. As the shaft rotates, the flywheel swings outwards away from the shaft and regulates the angular velocity of the rotating shaft. In an embodiment, there are multiple flywheels attached to the shaft. In another embodiment there is a first flywheel that controls a second flywheel. In another embodiment, the flywheel has adjustable or centrifugal displacement of counterbalanced masses for effective rotational diameter with effective rotational balance. In another embodiment, a small pilot centrifugal displacement flywheel may control a clutch by rotational velocity and may include a hysteresis control. An example of a clutch may limit that degree to which the arms of the flywheel may be extended and/or retracted. In another embodiment, a small pilot centrifugal displacement flywheel controls the hysteresis of a centrifugal flywheel displacement.