GB2565294A

GB2565294A - A rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine

Info

Publication number: GB2565294A
Application number: GB1712649.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Henry Rodway Giles; Martin Andres Bigg Jeremy; Joseph Joachim Kurt
Original assignee: Spinetic Energy Ltd
Current assignee: Spinetic Energy Ltd
Priority date: 2017-08-07
Filing date: 2017-08-07
Publication date: 2019-02-13
Also published as: GB201712649D0

Abstract

A rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine and a wind turbine are disclosed. The rotor comprises two blades 6 that are connected to one another and arranged to rotate about an axis 10. The vanes 6 are radially offset from the axis and disposed 180o apart. The inner edge 14 of each blade is spaced radially inwardly from the outer edge 12 of the opposing blade, forming an opening 26. Each blade comprises a first 20 and second 22 oppositely curved portions that are separated by an inflection point 24. The overlapping concave and convex portions of each blade form a passageway 28 which extends between the openings. The rotor aims to reduce the flickering associated with known turbines and increase efficiency whilst reducing the chance of the blades buckling.

Description

A ROTOR FOR A VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

The invention relates to a rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine.

Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) possess a number of intrinsic advantages over horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). These include the fact that VAWTs are equally effective at capturing wind from any horizontal direction, without having to be oriented into the wind. They are also capable of driving generators whose rotation axis is fixed, meaning that such generators do not have to be built to withstand yawing forces (as they do with HAWTs), and the generators may be more conveniently located for servicing (e.g. mounted on the ground, driven by a VAWT mounted directly above them). VAWTs are, however, generally of lower overall efficiency than HAWTs, meaning that for a given swept area, a VAWT typically converts less wind power to mechanical or electrical power than a HAWT.

Many different rotor designs and blade shapes have been proposed for use in VAWTs, in order to improve this conversion efficiency. Typical “high efficiency” blade shapes are essentially aerofoils, relying on the lift forces generated by the wind passing over rapidly rotating blades, to extract power from the wind. Examples of such turbines are “Darreius” or “Gorlov” turbines. These designs, however, are relatively expensive to construct, and usually are not “self-starting”, therefore requiring an external means (e.g. an electric motor) to initiate rotation until the blades reach “lift mode”. Due to their high rotation rates, such blades are also subject to high fatigue forces in use which can lead to premature blade failure.

Another family of VAWT blade designs also exists which typically consist of two or three blade shells or “buckets”, blades often being semi-circular in cross-section and made from sheet material. These are often termed Savonius-type blades, after their original inventor, Sigurd Johannes Savonius (see, e.g. US 1,697,574). Power is extracted from the wind via a combination of lift and drag forces on the blades. Savonius and related VAWTs tend to be of lower maximum efficiency than pure aerofoil blades, but are usually self-starting with wind from any direction (and so do not need an external starter), and are simpler, cheaper to construct, and more robust in high winds than Darreius type or similar VAWTs. Figure 1A (taken from US 5,494,407) shows a rotor designed by Alvin Benesh which has one of the highest efficiencies for turbines of this type. The rotor is a two-bladed design comprising a characteristic planar, parallel sided central section. Although easy to construct and relatively efficient, this blade has the disadvantage that the flat sections are very visible when the blade turns in the wind (especially if the blade material is even slightly reflective) making visual “flicker” very noticeable with such turbines in use. Furthermore, the flat, parallel-sided central section is more prone to buckling in strong winds limiting the robustness of the design. Known designs incorporating curved sections, such as that shown in Figure 1B (taken from US 4,715,776), which might overcome the above limitations, suffer from lower efficiency.

It is therefore desirable to provide a rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine which addresses some or all of the issues mentioned above.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided a rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine comprising: first and second blades connected to one another and arranged to rotate around an axis; wherein the first and second blades are disposed 180° apart with respect to one another and are offset from the axis in a radial direction; wherein an inner edge of each blade is spaced radially inwardly from an outer edge of the opposing blade to form a pair of diametrically opposed openings which open in opposite directions; wherein each of the first and second blades comprises a first curved section and a second oppositely curved section, the first and second curved sections being separated by a point of inflection; and wherein the first and second curved sections of the first and second blades overlap one another to form a passageway between the first and second blades which extends between the openings.

The passageway may have a uniform width along its length.

The point of inflection of the first blade and the point of inflection of the second blade may form a line through the axis of rotation.

The first curved section may have a radius of curvature which is greater than the radius of curvature of the second curved section.

The first curved section may have a radius of curvature of between 0.9r and 2.5r, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

The first curved section may have a radius of curvature of 1,45r.

The second curved section may have a radius of curvature of between 0.75r and 2r. The second curved section may have a radius of curvature of 1.13r.

The blades may be spaced by a distance of between 0.25r and 0.4r. The blades may be spaced by a distance of 0.32r.

Each blade may comprise an outer section which extends from the outer edge towards the first curved section, the outer section extending circumferentially about the rotor.

The outer section may have an arc length of between 10 and 25 degrees. The outer section may have an arc length of 17 degrees.

The outer section may be connected to the first curved section via a transition section which may have a radius of curvature of between 0.1 r and 0.5r.

The transition section may have a radius of curvature of 0.3r.

The inner edge may be located at a distance of between 0.5 and 0.8r from the axis of rotation. The inner edge may be located at a distance of 0.65r from the axis of rotation.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a turbine comprising a rotor as described above and a generator coupled to the rotor.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figures 1A and 1B show prior art rotor designs;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a rotor according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the blades of the rotor with the end caps removed for clarity;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor;

Figures 5 to 10 depict a geometrical description of the shape of the blades;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a rotor according to another embodiment of the invention; and

Figures 12A and 12B show graphs comparing the performance of the rotor against the prior art rotor design shown in Figure 1A.

Figure 2 shows a rotor 2 according to an embodiment of the invention. The rotor generally comprises a pair of circular end caps 4a, 4b which are parallel to one another such that their centres are aligned on a common axis but spaced apart by a pair of blades 6a, 6b which extend between the end caps 4a, 4b. The rotor 2 has a radius r and a height h. Each of the end caps 4a, 4b is provided with a shaft 8a (the opposing shaft of the end cap 4b is not visible in Figure 2) which enable the rotor 2 to be rotatably mounted via suitable bearings.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the blades 6a, 6b are essentially identical, but one is rotated 180 degrees relative to the other about the axis 10 and offset from it by equal distances in opposing radial directions.

The features of blade 6a will now be described; however, it will be appreciated that blade 6b includes corresponding features which are denoted by the same reference numerals, but distinguished using the prime symbol.

Blade 6a includes an outer edge 12 and an inner edge 14. Between the outer and inner edges 12, 14, the blade 6a is profiled to form, in series, an outer section 16, a transition section 18, a first overlap section 20 and a second overlap section 22.

As shown, the outer section 16 follows the curvature of the end caps 4a, 4b and thus extends circumferentially and with a radius of curvature r. The outer section 16 and outer edge 12 are therefore located on a circle of radius r. The blade 6a curves inwards towards the axis 10 over the transition section 18. The first and second overlap sections 20, 22 are both curved, but are curved in opposite directions, such that one may be considered convex and the other concave. The first and second overlap sections 20, 22 are therefore separated by a point of inflection 24 and form an S-shaped or sigmoidal (although not necessarily in accordance with the mathematic definition) curve. The first overlap portion 20 has a radius of curvature which is greater than the radius of curvature of the second overlap portion 22. The blade 6a terminates at the inner edge 14 which is located radially inward of the edge of the end caps 4a, 4b.

As described above, the blades 6a, 6b are rotated 180 degrees relative to one another and offset from it by equal distances in opposing radial directions. With this arrangement, the inner edge 14, 14’ of edge blade 6a, 6b is spaced inwards from the outer section 16, 16’ of the opposing blade 6a, 6b to form two openings 26a, 26b which are diametrically opposed of one another and which open in opposite directions. The outer section 16, 16’ of each blade 6a, 6b projects circumferentially beyond the inner edge 14, 14’ of the opposing blade 6a, 6b. The first and second overlap sections 20, 22 of the first blade 6a overlap the first and second overlap sections 20’, 22’ of the second blade 6b overlap and run parallel to one another. The first and second overlap sections 20, 20’, 22, 22’ therefore define a channel or passageway 28 of uniform width which connects the first and second openings 26a, 26b located at either end. The passageway 28 thus also has an S-shaped or sigmoidal curve. The point of inflection 24, 24’ of the first and second blades 6a, 6b are located on opposite sides of the passageway 28 and form a line with the axis 10.

The geometry of the rotor 2 will be further described below with reference to Figures 5 to 10 which present a geometrical construction of the blades 6a, 6b.

Referring first to Figure 5, to provide reference positions for construction lines and portions of the blade, four points are initially defined with respect to the circle, of radius r, which itself defines the cross-sectional shape of the rotor 2 and its swept cylinder.

Specifically: • Point A is at the centre of the circle; • Point B lies within the circle, at a distance 0.65r horizontally displaced from point 1; • Point C lies within the circle, at a distance 0.7r horizontally displaced from point 1; and • Point D lies outside the circle, at a distance of 1.29rfrom point 1, and 1.15r from point 3.

It can be seen that points A-D all lie on a triangle, whose sides are of length 0.7r, 1.29r and 1.15r. Points A, C and D are the vertices of that triangle, and point B lies on the shortest side of the triangle (i.e. directly between point A and point C) at a distance of 0.65rfrom point A.

As shown in Figure 6, a construction line E is defined which passes through points A and D and a construction line F is defined which passes through points B and D. The second overlap section 22’ of the second blade 6b is formed as an arc of a circle, radius 1.13r, centred on point D, and lying between construction lines E and F (such that the second overlap section 22’ is at a distance of 0.16r from point A at its closest point).

As shown in Figure 7, a further construction line G is defined which passes through points C and D. The first overlap section 20 of the first blade 6a is formed as an arc of a circle, radius 1,45r, also centred on point D, but lying between construction lines E and G (such that the first overlap section 20 is at a distance of 0.16r on the other side of point A at its closest point).

As shown in Figure 8, a further construction line H is defined which passes through points A, B and C. The transition section 18 of the first blade 6a is formed as an arc of a circle, radius 0.3r, centred on point C, lying between construction lines G and H, such that it joins the first overlap section 20.

As shown in Figure 9, a further construction line I is defined which passes through point A, at an angle (Θ in Figure 9) of 17° to line H. The outer section 16 is formed as an arc of a circle, radius r, lying between construction lines H and I, such that it joins the transition section 18.

The above steps collectively define the cross-sectional shape of half of the rotor 2. As shown in Figure 10, each of the sections formed as described above may be rotated about point A by 180° to form the remaining sections of the blades 6a, 6b, as described above and shown in Figure 4.

Although the end caps 4a, 4b are described above as being circular, they may instead be narrowed to follow more closely the envelope formed by the first and second blades 6a, 6b. For example, as shown in Figure 11, the end caps may be stadium shaped. The rotor 2 may also comprise internal or external bracing to maintain the relationship between the blades 6a, 6b. It will be appreciated that the radius r referred to herein is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades 6a, 6b and not the radius of the end caps 4a, 4b where this exceeds the radius of the swept area.

In use, the rotor 2 may be coupled to a generator or the like for generating electricity from the wind. Alternatively, the rotor 2 may be coupled to a pump and perform mechanical work.

Figures 12A and 12B provide a comparison of the performance of the rotor 2 against a prior art rotor as shown in Figure 1A of equivalent height and diameter. The data is provided from wind tunnel testing of a turbine with the rotor 2 and a turbine with a rotor according to Figure 1A over wind speeds from 6 to 12m/s. Both turbines were subjected to equivalent loads.

The results show that the rotor 2 gives a significant improvement, compared to the relatively high efficiency design shown in Figure 1A, both in terms of rotation rate under no-load conditions, and power output under load (in this case, provided by an electrical generator). The average improvement (across the tested wind speeds) of the rotation rate under no load was 12.65%, whereas the average improvement in the power output under load was 10.55%.

The shape of the present design optimises torque on the blade and hence power output throughout the rotation of the blade: This is thought to be due to the enhanced external aerofoil shape of the blades, due particularly to the convex sections 20, 20’, positioned relative to the rotation axis such that they maximise lift forces when the orientation of the blades (as indicated e.g. by the direction of construction line H in Figure 8) is in a range either side of parallel to the wind direction, whilst at the same time the uniform width of the internal channel between the blades minimises turbulence and losses due to expansion/compression for air flowing through that channel, enabling this flow more readily to equalise pressures at the openings 26a and 26b, enhance airflow and lift over the external blade surfaces, and thus provide additional thrust during rotation. The blade shape also directs air so as to facilitate self-starting due to lift and/or drag forces at all angles of the blade to the incident wind direction, and the effectively increased “bucket” size due to the concave sections 22, 22’, enhances torque due to drag forces at lower tip speed ratios (the ratio of the blade tip speeds to the wind speed), for example when the blade is under a heavy external load from an electrical generator. These characteristics mean that the blades produce a high torque under a wide range of operating conditions, making them more versatile and hence providing further advantages compared to previous designs.

As described above, the rotor of the present invention provides noticeably higher efficiency, whilst also providing higher buckling resistance and reduced intensity of flicker. These improvements arise as a result of the use of an S-shaped central (i.e. close to the rotation axis) portion of the blades.

It will be appreciated that the above described blade shape represents a preferred embodiment, but that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention, and still giving a measurable improvement in performance (e.g. relative to the blade shown in Figure 1A).

In particular, the first overlap portions 20, 20’ may have a radius of curvature which differs from that described above (1.45r). For example, the first overlap portions 20, 20’ may have a radius of curvature between 0.9r and 2.5r. Similarly, the second overlap portions 22, 22’ may have a radius of curvature which differs from that described above (1.13r). For example, the second overlap portions 22, 22’ may have a radius of curvature which is between 0.75r and 2r. Further, although the spacing between blades has been described as being 0.32r it may vary from this. For example, the spacing may be between 0.25r and 0.4r. Similarly, the transition section 18 need not have a radius of curvature of 0.3r. For example, the transition section 18 may have a radius of curvature of between 0.1r and 0.5r.

Further, the size of the openings 26a, 26b as defined by the inner edge 14, 14’ may vary from that shown. In particular, although the inner edge 14, 14’ has been described as being located at approximately 0.65r, it may be at a distance of between 0.5 and 0.8r, for example.

Although the outer section 16 has been described as conforming approximately to the circumference of the rotor, this need not be the case and it may deviate from an arc of a circle. Further, the outer section 16 may have a different length to the 17 degrees of arc described above. For example, it may extend over an arc of between 10 and 25 degrees.

It should also be noted that the curved sections of the blade do not need to be arcs of circles. For example, one or more of these sections may follow other regular curves (e.g. parabolic) or may have a curvature that varies in any non-uniform manner.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein, and may be modified or adapted without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A rotor for a vertical axis wind turbine comprising: first and second blades connected to one another and arranged to rotate around an axis; wherein the first and second blades are disposed 180° apart with respect to one another and are offset from the axis in a radial direction; wherein an inner edge of each blade is spaced radially inwardly from an outer edge of the opposing blade to form a pair of diametrically opposed openings which open in opposite directions; wherein each of the first and second blades comprises a first curved section and a second oppositely curved section, the first and second curved sections being separated by a point of inflection; and wherein the first and second curved sections of the first and second blades overlap one another to form a passageway between the first and second blades which extends between the openings.

2. A rotor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the passageway has a uniform width along its length.

3. A rotor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the point of inflection of the first blade and the point of inflection of the second blade form a line through the axis of rotation.

4. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the first curved section has a radius of curvature which is greater than the radius of curvature of the second curved section.

5. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the first curved section has a radius of curvature of between 0.9r and 2.5r, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

6. A rotor as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first curved section has a radius of curvature of 1,45r.

7. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the second curved section has a radius of curvature of between 0.75r and 2r, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

8. A rotor as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second curved section has a radius of curvature of 1.13r.

9. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the blades are spaced by a distance of between 0.25r and 0.4r, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

10. A rotor as claimed in claim 9, wherein the blades are spaced by a distance of 0.32r.

11. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each blade comprises an outer section which extends from the outer edge towards the first curved section, the outer section extending circumferentially about the rotor.

12. A rotor as claimed in claim 11, wherein the outer section has an arc length of between 10 and 25 degrees.

13. A rotor as claimed in claim 12, wherein the outer section has an arc length of 17 degrees.

14. A rotor as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the outer section is connected to the first curved section via a transition section which has a radius of curvature of between 0.1 r and 0.5r, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

15. A rotor as claimed in claim 14, wherein the transition section has a radius of curvature of 0.3r.

16. A rotor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the inner edge is located at a distance of between 0.5 and 0.8r from the axis of rotation, where r is the radius of the cylindrical volume swept by the blades.

17. A rotor as claimed in claim 16, wherein the inner edge is located at a distance of 0.65r from the axis of rotation.

18. A turbine comprising a rotor as claimed in any preceding claim and a generator coupled to a rotor.