Vertical Shaft Impact Wind Turbine with Multi-Stage Blades
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wind-driven power generators with vertical shafts have low wind energy utilization ratios and difficulty in starting the wind wheel, making them less efficient and more costly to maintain, especially due to the need for large diameters and complex structures.
Innovation Solution
An impact type wind-driven power generating device with a vertically disposed central shaft, an exhaust duct, multi-staged impacting blades, and an airflow accelerating nozzle, which enhances wind energy utilization by increasing airflow energy through height differences and lateral exhaust, allowing for efficient energy conversion even in low wind conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the diameter of the wind wheel is increased to increase power output, then the power generation capacity is improved, but the production, transportation, installation and maintenance costs are greatly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The wind wheel is divided into multiple independent blades that can be manufactured separately and assembled together. Each blade can be produced independently using standardized processes, avoiding the need to manufacture and transport extremely large monolithic structures. This segmentation allows for modular assembly and reduces the complexity of production and maintenance operations.
2Power
If the diameter of the wind wheel is increased to increase power output, then the power generation capacity is improved, but the tower rack height must be greatly raised, increasing production cost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from a horizontal-axis wind turbine configuration to a vertical-axis wind turbine configuration. This dimensional change allows the wind wheel to capture wind from all directions without requiring the wind wheel plane to be horizontal, thereby reducing the necessary tower height while maintaining effective wind capture capability. The vertical orientation enables the structure to be more compact in the vertical dimension.
3Speed
If a speed regulation device with variable propeller pitch is adopted to maintain rated rotational speed, then the generator operates at rated speed, but the production cost becomes very high
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical-axis wind turbine design inherently provides self-regulating characteristics through its blade geometry and operating principles. The blades are designed to automatically adjust their effective angle of attack based on rotational speed, providing natural speed regulation without requiring complex mechanical pitch control systems. This self-regulating behavior eliminates the need for expensive variable propeller pitch mechanisms while maintaining stable generator operation.
4Device complexity
If a blade stall control device with fixed propeller pitch is adopted, then the structure is simplified, but the wind power utilization ratio remains low
Solution Approach 1:
The blade design incorporates specific geometric parameters including a curved airfoil section with a maximum thickness-to-chord ratio of 12-18% and a carefully designed camber line. These parameter optimizations enable the blades to maintain high lift-to-drag ratios across a wide range of operating conditions. The curved cross-section and optimized thickness distribution allow the fixed-pitch vertical-axis turbine to achieve superior wind power utilization compared to conventional designs, reaching utilization ratios above 40% while maintaining structural simplicity.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
An impact type wind-driven power generating device is classified into a vertical shaft impact type wind-driven power generating device and a horizontal shaft impact type wind-driven power generating device. The two types of the impact type wind-driven power generating device adopt a power rotor mechanism (10) of a multi-stage impacting blade to utilize the energy of in-coming wind to the maximum extent, thereby improving the utilization of the wind energy. The energy of the in-coming wind is increased due to the height difference and the lateral exhaust of a high-altitude exhaust duct (8), so that the power rotor (10) can generate electric power at a low load even in a sunny windless day. The power generating device can be manufactured into a power generator set with large power and small volume per unit, being convenient to transport, install and maintain, thereby greatly reducing the investment cost of unit power generation amount. The power generating device can receive in-coming wind from any direction without a complicated variable propeller pitch system. A transmission system and a power generator may be arranged on the ground, which is convenient to operate and maintain. The power generating device overcomes the disadvantages of low utilization of the wind energy and the power rotor being difficult to be activated.