Wind Turbine Design

Team Gryffindor: Nathan Durfee, Kyle Delahanty,

Mason McAtte, and Jonathan Falke
STLCC Meramec
December 4, 2014

Executive Summary
Being tasked to design and build a cost-effective, functioning wind turbine is defined as
our objective. To accomplish the given objective, we must design our turbine to be of minimal
cost, function at or above the expectations given, and be within the legal requirements for the
project. In addition, each of our group members must put in enough work that is essential to
complete the project.
Upon completing the project, we planned out possible designs until settling on a final,
found and bought the supplies that we needed for our design, used our final design to construct
our wind turbine, and recorded any research, data, and difficulties that we had in the process.
With some of the research collected from testing we utilized it to make any adjustments that we
deemed necessary. Once, the build was finished we then used the time to create visual
representations for our presentation.
The biggest result that we had come across was the voltage that we were able to produce
at different wind speeds.
For example:
Wind Speed (mph)
5 mph
10 mph
15 mph
20 mph

Amount of Energy Produced (Volts)

0.8v
1.5v
2.0v
2.3v

Introduction
After researching ideas and familiarizing ourselves with what options we had for building
our turbine, we decided to use a drill motor as our generator in a PVC tube were it held snugly.
For our blades we used cut out sheet metal and then attached them to a metal disc that we had
attached to the gear on our motor. Metal glue was also bought to connect the blades to metal disc
that we would use on top of the motor. Our group member, Mason, bought most of the supplies
and assembled the turbine at his house, where we all had access to more tools and equipment that
his father owned there. Luckily, Masons dad owned most, if not all the tools and equipment that
we needed to complete our turbine, which proved to be very beneficial cost-wise. In addition, we
all met at Masons house during free time on scheduled days that we decided to meet, in order to
exchange ideas and help assemble the turbine. The value that we received out of the voltage
results helped us get a better idea on what our turbine was capable of, and it also allowed us to
plan ahead by making any adjustments that we deemed fit.

Background
Wind power, form of energy conversion in which turbines convert the kinetic energy of wind
into mechanical or electrical energy that can be used for power. Wind power is considered a
renewable energy source. Historically, wind power in the form of windmills has been used for

centuries for such tasks as grinding grain and pumping water. Modern commercial wind turbines
produce electricity by using rotational energy to drive a generator. They are made up of a blade or
rotor and an enclosure called a nacelle that contains a drive train atop a tall tower. Large wind
turbines (producing up to 1.8 megawatts of power) can have a blade length of over 40 meters
(about 130 feet) and be placed on towers 80 meters (about 260 feet) tall. Smaller turbines can be
used to provide power to individual homes. Wind farms are areas where a number of wind
turbines are grouped together, providing a larger total energy source.
You can find wind plants in windy places- areas near the water or valleys. Most people
think that turbines block out and conceal the natural beauty of the places they are in, but I
personally think that seeing the imposing, lean towers topped off with two or three long, swift
blades is breathtaking. Since most wind power plants have many windmills, they look like giants
lined up together.
The fossil fuels we depend on today should be rationed. It is limited and pollutes
the environment. Using renewable energy sources like wind power means that we can conserve
oil, natural gas, and coal and instead use something environment friendly. I think that people
should think of tomorrow and invest in wind energy.

Statement of Problem

To redefine the problem, it is given that each team must design and build their wind
turbine. Each turbine is required to function properly within the given 22 x 22 internal
dimensions of the wind tunnel provided. As for the budget, each member should not exceed the
$75-$120 range when building the turbine. The biggest tasks given in the definition, is that we
must find the best use economically for our resources, and that we must build within the given
parameters.
To stay within the parameters we had to research for cost-effective designs, such as
lightweight plastic blades, and prefabricated generators.
During testing the wind turbine shook continuously, in order
to prevent the shaking we added on a larger base and rubber
stoppers to diminish the vibrations. For attaching the turbine
blades, we inserted a 3/8th chuck that had been ground down
to fit, and after the grinding of the chuck it fit more smoothly.

Approach
In tackling the problem given to us, we planned out our design, and did research to aid us
in deciding on a particular design. When we had decided on our design, we then proceeded to
buy what materials we needed to build our turbine. For our process in building our turbine, we
first disassembled a Craftsman drill given to us free of cost using the motor from the drill in our
design. We then took apart and attached a 3/8th chuck to the gear on top of the drill motor, after
that we attached our turbine blades to the end of the chuck. To fully secure our turbine, we
placed the motor into a PVC repair connector tube, and used plastic PVC glue to glue it to
another PVC tube attached by a PVC cap that is bolted to a wood base that we had constructed.
In order to further balance the turbine on the base, we placed rubber feet under the base so that it
would not sway back and forth.

Results
Wind Speed (mph)

Amount of Energy

5 mph

Produced (Volts)
0.8v

10 mph

1.5v

15 mph

2.0v

20 mph

2.3v

Our most significant findings were

measured by a voltmeter provided by
Masons father, which we received the
following results that were provided in
the Introduction:

Problems Encountered (Further

elaborated on the Challenges
Page

Finding a way to make the

turbine balance and be
freestanding, so we used
screws to fasten the turbine
in place on the stand. Also,
we used rubber stoppers
under the stand so it would
stay still.
The chuck did not fit right,
so we had to grind the gear
down so that the chuck
would fit properly
The first chuck that we
bought was half-inch chuck
and was too big for what we
needed, so we bought a
smaller 3/8th chuck.
Pictures of our final design

Amount of Voltage
Produced
2.5

1.5

Volt
s

0.5

0
5

Results Continued

10

15

20

Wind Speed
(mph)

As the input in wind speed increases, the

output in voltage also increases.

Cost Analysis

The Design was very cost efficient, for the entire project we only had to spend about $60.

The most expensive parts were the PVC pipes.

We used a drill motor as a generator which was given to us for free so that saved what
wouldve been the majority of the cost.

Challenges
Money
Difficulties in the
process Spent

16

Finding a cheap and efficient design. To do this we

15.5

researched efficient wind turbine designs and generators.

15

Money Spent

14.5Finding a way to make the turbine balance and be

14freestanding,

so we used screws to fasten the turbine in

13.5

place on the stand. Also, we used rubber stoppers under the

13

standMason
so it would stay
Jonstill.

Nathan

Kyle

The chuck did not fit right, so we had to grind the gear
down so that the chuck would fit properly

Man Hours

The first chuck that we bought was half-inch chuck and was
Mason

th
too big for what we needed, so we bought a smaller 3/8
Nathan

chuck.

Jon
Kyle

Alternatives

Some alternatives we looked at were to deconstruct a fan and reverse the wires and alter
the wing pattern for increased performance.

Another one we considered was vertical fan

design like in the picture to the right. But
this was impractical because you needed to
put the fan blades in a special contour. To
do that we would need to heat up the
material and bend it, none of us had the
experience or equipment necessary so we
had to scrap that idea.

Decisions

Summary and Conclusions

Each group was tasked with the project of designing and building a cost-effective wind
turbine that would operate within the given requirements. Every turbine build was to be
budgetary and have economical utilization of all resources. For the approach, we first planned
and researched designs, bought the materials needed for the build, disassembled a drill to use the
motor, and attached a 3/8th chuck to the motor with fan blades attached it all to our base. Our
results showed us that with 5mph wind speed, our turbine could produce a minimum of 0.8 volts,
and a max of 2.3 volts at 20mph wind speed. Some conclusions we drew were that not many
volts are created from a wind turbine on a small scale, this maybe changes when you upscale it
because of moments.

The results helped us understand to complexity of building wind turbines on an industrial

scale. They also showed us that our turbine was indeed functioning and creating electricity.
Some areas that deserve some further study are the scale of turbine compared to the output pf
electricity and wind speed compared to electrical output. Another area would be generator and
gear ratios compared to electrical output. These would tell us what changes we could make to
improve our efficiency.

Recommendations for anyone trying to build this wind turbine too would be; if you are
unexperienced with electronics and generators, like we were, buy a prefabricated generator or
dismantle a drill and use the motor in the reverse direction like we did.

References
"a renewable energy source:wind power." 123HelpMe.com. 10 Dec 2014
<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=50012>.

"wind power". Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.

Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/645063/wind-power>.

Appendix A