WindWallProposal

Haida Gwaii Infrastructure Project Proposal:

Quiet Wind Wall Power Generator
with Powerful New Designs

by Craig Carmichael, EET,
Researcher, inventor and innovative product developer
November 23rd 2021

250 559 7735 / craig@saers.com
19996 Hwy 16, Queen Charlotte BC

New designs recently developed on Haida Gwaii by the author constitute a breakthrough in wind power technology. Multiple new design "Savonius" style wind driven rotors attach to the "wind wall", which forms a solid frame around the moving parts. This makes it easy to install, in a fixed position oriented to face the prevailing winds. Savonius rotors start turning and generating power at lower wind speeds than other types, providing power not only in high winds but on the more common breezy days when other types sit idle. They turn at about the speed of the wind and are far quieter than other rotors and propellers that spin much faster than the wind speed. Typically Savonius "two half barrels" rotors have harnessed under 20% of the wind's power, but the combined new designs presented here are expected to be approximately as efficient at extracting power from the wind as the noisy Darrieus type of rotor: 35-40%, and in lighter winds. Grills or nets can be stretched across the front of the wall frame to prevent birds from being injured.

The bottom "two scoops" rotor is a superior
design to the "two half barrels" Savonius type.
The top "composite" rotor design created by the author
incorporates the best aerodynamic advantages of both types.

   In this proposal it is intended initially to make wind wall frames about 4-5 feet tall by 4 or 8 feet wide with two or four rotors and about 1.5 to 2 feet thick. These are to be constructed and installed especially for off-grid power applications. It is possible that they will eventually become an 'export' product from Haida Gwaii. When these are well underway and considerable experience has been gained, further plans for larger units potentially for grid-tie applications, perhaps in conjunction with PV solar power, can be considered.
   Since diesel generated electricity costs the better part of a dollar per kilowatt-hour, all renewable energy generated on Haida Gwaii has a much greater benefit to society as a whole than that generated on the mainland.

   Further it is intended to use recycled polypropylene for the rotors and wind steering vanes. This process will consist of re-melting scrap fishnets and ropes and forming them into the desired solid shapes. (Thousands of pounds of such nets salvaged from beaches are presently available free in huge bags at the Sparrow property near Miller Creek.)

Prototype of a simple "Wind Wall" by Robert Murray-Smith to illustrate the basic concept.
(The planned design will have fewer, larger (and better) rotors and more depth,
with built-in wind steering vanes greatly imcreasing the capture of the wind's energy.)

Special Technologies

(For more in-depth technical details please see:
https://TurquoiseEnergy.neocities.org/TENewsV2/TENews162/TENews162.html
to be posted after ~ December 5th.)

The special technologies developed here include a new "composite" shape of "Savonius" type rotor, special vanes to optimally direct wind flow onto the rotors, and an axial flux generator designed by the author to be built into the top or bottom section of the wind wall.

The new rotor shape was devised and (even as a crude prototype) proven in a mini wind tunnel to attain a higher RPM speed than existing rotor types in the same wind. Made with two sheets of material instead of one, the "scoops" trailing face to catch the wind is a different shape than the more streamlined leading face going into the wind.

(In viewing the test results, it should be noted that the most common "cut in" speed for windplants is 4.0 meters per second. Thus the tests reveal relative performance of rotors at low and even lower wind speeds, where slight friction in components becomes an important slowing force.)

Test Results from 3 Different Rotor Profiles

MINI WIND TUNNEL FAN SPEED	AIR SPEED meters/second (max. reading with no rotor in the wind tunnel)	1st (SAVONIUS) "OVERLAPPED HALF BUCKETS" ROTOR RPM: (OD = 7")	2nd "FLAT SCOOPS" ROTOR RPM (OD=10")	3rd "COMPOSITE" ROTOR RPM (OD=10")
LOW	2.1	20	40	40
MEDIUM	2.6	50	62	66
HIGH	3.1	80	82	90

The stationary vanes concentrate a broader cross-section of the wind and aim it to optimally assist rotational power. They will be built in as parts of the frame of the wind wall, optimized in size, shape and position. In the wind tunnel the following remarkable results were achieved with a simple flat vane, and then with a second one added:

FAN SPEED	AIR SPEED meters/second (maximum reading with no rotor in wind tunnel)	1st "OVERLY OVERLAPPED SAVONIUS" ROTOR no load RPM: (Second Tests) (OD = 7")	2nd "FLAT SCOOPS" ROTOR no-load RPM (OD=10")	3rd "COMPOSITE PROFILE" ROTOR no load RPM (OD=10")	3rd ROTOR WITH WIND DEFLECTOR VANE no-load RPM ( try 2 - /21st)	3rd ROTOR WITH TWO WIND DEFLECTOR VANES no-load RPM
LOW	2.1	20	40	40	104	-
MEDIUM	2.6	50	62	66	138	-
HIGH	3.1	80	82	90	166	172

It is seen that adding even a simple flat vane almost doubles the RPM. This will translate into almost 4 times more power when a generator is connected. Shaped vanes with optimal profiles should achieve somewhat better performance.

The first fixed vane to direct the wind almost doubled the performance

            3KW Ultra-Efficient, Low RPM
               Improved Piggott Alternator,
    designed and built by the author
     (Visualize it horizontal with a rotor where the pulley is)

The generator - really a 3-phase alternator - is to be a lightweight version of the ultra-efficient axial flux type essentially based on the Hugh Piggott windplant alternator design. This wastes no power and extracts every watt available from any wind up to its power capacity. This will not be the author's first such design and there are no important "unknowns" to be faced in the design and construction. Building such alternators as parts of the rotor assembly instead of buying and attaching generators will lower costs and improve performance.