Omnidirectional Wind Turbine Project:

Project Proposal

Troy Massagee

Capitol Technology University

EE-458 D01

Dr. Chandra Bajracharya

January 17, 2018

Project Description:

The Omnidirectional Wind Turbine Project seeks to create a working prototype of a

vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) on a scale suitable for an individual’s home use. This
VAWT is intended to be placed and used in areas of unstable but frequent wind
patterns. This prototype should generate electricity compatible with the U.S. power grid.

Reason for Choosing This Project:

Traditional wind turbines capitalize on using wind as a renewable resource but are
limited to areas of consistent wind presence flowing in a consistent direction. However,
omnidirectional wind turbines are able to dynamically adjust themselves to changing
wind directions. This allows more efficient energy capture from chaotic wind patterns.
This capability creates new areas of harvestable wind energy that has not been
capitalized on. Expanding the areas of harvestable wind energy allows for much more
widespread implementation of wind turbines in society. This would also contribute to an
overall growth of the United States’ power grid capabilities. An additional benefit would
be long-term reduction of individuals’ costs in using electricity in home and business
environments. Wind turbines are already an established and mature technology with
many available references for hardware design.

Research:

This project was chosen for its level of cost, simplicity, and applicability relative to other
methods of generating electricity from renewable sources. Wind turbine technologies are
mature with a wealth of references on how to design, build, and connect the necessary
components. This project will build on existing wind turbine designs and create the electrical
components needed to generate clean electricity.

There are many existing solutions to generate electricity from renewable energy sources. They
all require a high initial investment of capital. One can purchase wind turbine kits from Amazon
from $200 to well over $1,000. In order to connect the energy generated from the turbine to
the local grid a high quality inverter is required which can cost around $500 (Amazon, 2017a).
The $1,500 price tag is still more expensive than simply buying electricity from the local power
utility but has minimal maintenance requirements and the electricity generated over time will
eventually pay for itself.

A wind turbine can be assembled using existing kits or created from existing and relatively
cheap materials. Fiberglass, wood, plastic, and metal are common in homemade and
commercial wind turbine components. The controllers, regulators, and inverters use existing
circuit board designs and technology.

Vertical axis wind turbines have fewer moving parts than conventional horizontal axis wind
turbines (Eriksson, Bernhoff, & Leijon, 2008, p.1425-1427). They also have fewer stages of
energy conversion than other forms of renewable energy. The existing technology on
generators, motors, controllers, and inverters has lowered the design complexity of a VAWT
project.

Wind turbines have the flexibility of reducing or increasing its scale in order to accommodate
energy requirements. Huge turbines can be made for wind farms, while smaller versions can be
made for individual home use.

See Appendix A attached at the end of the document for the

Literature/Technology/Professional Environmental Overview performed for this project.

Projected Time to Complete:

With the finalized prototype design expected to be finished by January 30th, the project
is expected to be completed by the 3rd week of April. The research and design phase
should take about two weeks. Manufacturing and assembly is anticipated to take up to
two months, depending on the availability of parts from vendors and manufacturing
sources. Testing and revision of the prototype to meet the desired specifications is
expected to take about three to four weeks to gather and analyze the test data.

Projected Costs:

The only costs that are expected to still need financing for is the material costs for
building the turbine. Depending on the sources for the materials, this is expected to be
around $1000 to cover. Other costs such as labor, software, tools, and testing are
expected to be split between the Project manager and the Capitol Technology
University Labs.

Diagram

Vertical Axis
Wind Turbine
(VAWT) Environmental
Sensor Array

120 VAC
Generator Controller Inverter
Power Grid

Braking
Element

Figure 1: Diagram of Proposed VAWT Project

Physical Configuration

The prototype will consist of a small-scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with custom
blades mounted to a generator and platform. The controller converts the power
generated into DC current and will use a dynamic switchable breaking resistor to
regulate power flow into the inverter. The inverter would convert the DC power into 120
VAC (Volts Alternating Current) suitable for uploading into the local power grid. An
alternative setup would insert a large capacity battery between the controller and
inverter to allow local storage of the power generated before uploading the power into
the grid.

Sensor Array
(anemometer, wind vane,
thermometer, ammeter,
potentiometer, and a
3-Phase Generator rotational speed sensor)

Controller Component
Braking System
Artificial Load
Controller Logic
+
+
-

- Inverter Circuit
AC-DC Converter DC Filter
(DC-AC Converter)
[1-Phase, 120 V, 60Hz]

+
Charge
Controller
Circuit -

Battery Bank

Figure 2: Diagram of Electrical Components

 Turbine
Arms

Sensor Turbine Blades

Array (3 blades)

Upper Shaft

Generator

Lower Shaft

Battery Bank

Controller 3-Phase, 120V,

Inverter 60Hz AC output
power
Braking System

Platform

Figure 3: Physical Layout of Wind Turbine Components

Required Resources

For the planning and design phase, simulation and modeling software will be needed to
design both the electronic circuits and the physical blade and housing designs.
Solidworks or another 3-D modeling program that is compatible with 3D printing
software will be needed. There are several freeware 3D modeling software applications
available online that are capable of creating 3D print files compatible with 3D printers
(Fabian, 2017). Access and experience with CircuitMaker software to engineer the
electronic aspects of the design are necessary and available as freeware online.

The production phase will require the manufacturing of the electrical circuits and wind
turbine components. Some of the components like magnets and wires will need to be
purchased off the shelf. Other components will need to be specifically engineered and
manufactured. Further research is required to identify which components are best
purchased from vendors and which will need to be manufactured in-house. Most likely,
access to soldering and PCB construction machines are needed for electronic
components which are already available at the main Capital Technology University
campus.

A 3-D printer may also be needed to manufacture some parts like custom fan blade
designs. CTU has access to a 3D printer through one of the professors at CTU.
Research in ongoing for funding the material and time needed for the necessary 3D
printed components.

The final testing phase will mostly just require time. Use of electrical measuring and
diagnostic tools will be needed which are available in CTU’s labs. Time will be needed
to gather meaningful data to determine the effectiveness and efficiencies of the
prototype wind turbine. Therefore, production of the wind turbine must be completed
well before April. This will allow time to gather data and analyze the data. This
information will be used to form meaningful conclusions about the project.

Professional Biography

Proposer is Troy Massagee, currently attending Capitol Technology University, seeking

to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 2018. This student has
taken is taken classes in Electrical Power Engineering, Network Analysis, Circuit Design
and Simulation, Engineering Physics, Analog Circuits. This gives the student adequate
experience in creating, working with, and testing the prototype wind turbine.
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 Appendix A

Literature/Technology/Professional Environment Overview

Item 1: Results of Technology Review

Silva, G. (n.d.). Vertical axis wind turbine development. Portugal: Tecnico Lisboa [University].
Retrieved from
https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/downloadFile/395143097660/Extended%20abstract.pdf

Summary:

This article documents Guilherme’s research and experiments with a custom-made Giromill-
type (a.k.a. H-rotor) vertical axis wind turbine.

Key Ideas & Information:

The researcher presented the key equations needed to understand and calculate power output
and efficiencies of wind turbines. He presents simulations that model the fluid behavior of air
and how they interact with a turbine to generate lift and torque. The custom-made VAWT
prototype was successfully tested in multiple configurations and provided real-world data to
compare with expected results from simulations.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

Guilherme’s simulations proved relatively accurate in predicting the behavior and power
output. The tip speed ratio (λ - lambda) and power coefficient (Cp) are the key variables that
define a turbine’s performance. The testing also revealed the need for high resolution sensors
in the absence of a controlled environment such as a wind tunnel.

Learnings & Insights:

Optimizing lambda and Cp is necessary to increase the efficiency of the wind turbine design. The
design phase will also need to incorporate a separate component containing all the necessary
sensors and infrastructure to log the data.

How Information Will Be Used:

The main ideas from this wind turbine project will be carried into the design phase of this wind
turbine project.

Item 2: Results of Technology Review

Shuqin, L. (2011, July 5). Magnetic suspension and self-pitch for vertical-axis wind turbines. In R.
Carriveau (Ed.). Fundamental and Advanced Topics in Wind Power (pp. 233-248).
Shanghai, China: InTech. Retrieved from
https://www.intechopen.com/books/fundamental-and-advanced-topics-in-wind-power

Summary:

This chapter presents convincing data on how passive self-pitch turbine blades and magnetic
suspension bearings significantly improve the efficiency and power output of VAWTs.

Key Ideas & Information:

The author presents several methods to implement magnetic suspension of rotating parts using
permanent and/or electro-magnets. The intended application is for vertical axis wind turbines
(VAWTs). The other design optimization is with passive self-adjusting pitch turbine blades. Data
gathered from the implementation of both designs onto a Giromill-type turbine shows
significant improvement in turbine speeds and power generation. The materials used also
reduce complexity and cost of a VAWT.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

These design concepts are intended to improve the efficiency of vertical axis wind turbines,
while reducing cost and complexity. The cost of permanent magnets may increase the material
cost of the project, but electromagnets will require an additional power source attached to the
system. Implementation of one or both concepts should increase the power coefficient (C p) and
therefore the efficiency of the system

Learnings & Insights:

Progress in research and designs of vertical axis wind turbines has increased significantly over
the last decade.

How Information Will Be Used:

These design concepts will be incorporated into the design phase of the project. The rest of the
book this chapter came from will be useful for the project as well.

Item 3: Results of Technology Review

Eriksson, S., Bernhoff, H., & Leijon M. (2008). Evaluation of different turbine concepts for wind
power. ScienceDirect: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12, 1419-1434.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2006.05.017

Summary:
This article reviews and compares three different wind turbine designs including two VAWT
designs and one traditional HAWT design.

Key Ideas & Information:

The authors present the advantages and disadvantages of each turbine design. The
performance of the three designs shows the H-rotor design as the most cost-efficient and
simplest in design.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

This article studied large-scale wind turbines intended for implementation on wind farms. The
focus of the review is biased towards that end but can still be applied to small scale projects.
Reviews of construction, design complexity, stability, and performance reveal the potential for
vertical axis wind turbines. Even with reduced overall power output, VAWTs have advantages in
efficiency, construction costs, maintenance costs, design simplicity, and noise generation.

Learnings & Insights:

VAWTs have potential to be used in both small scale and large scale applications. Even though
an individual VAWT has less power output than a single HAWT, multiple VAWTs can be
deployed in parallel from the reduction in construction and maintenance costs.

How Information Will Be Used:

The information from this article will help influence the design of the wind turbine for the
project. It also helps with the justification of the project.

Item 4: Results of Professional Environment Review

Mueller, S., Vithayasrichareon, P., Chandler, H., & Emanuele, B. (2017, March). Getting wind
and sun onto the grid: A manual for policy makers. France: International Energy Agency.
Retrieved from
https://www.iea.org/publications/insights/insightpublications/Getting_Wind_and_Sun.
pdf

Summary:

This publication offers insight on the current state of renewable energy adoption in the world
and provides policy recommendations to increase the use of clean/renewable energy sources.

Key Ideas & Information:

This guide addresses misconceptions about variable renewable energy (VRE). VRE sources are
essentially wind and solar generators. Integration of VRE sources into a national power grid is
broken down into four phases. The phases address initial integration of wind and solar
generators into the system followed by growth, flexibility, and stability of the national power
grid.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

The information is presented in a way that is understandable for policy makers. It helps to
address large-scale implementation of renewable energy sources into a power grid and
highlights important factors to consider.

Learnings & Insights:

There are national and international bodies that are encouraging the growth of renewable
energy sources. Solar, wind, and water generators are essential for securing the future energy
demands of the planet.

How Information Will Be Used:

The information from this publication will be used in considering the political, social, and
environmental effects of the project. Data in the guide will also help the justification of the
project.

Item 5: Results of Professional Environment Review

René, K. (2012, Sep 5). Ch. 4: Metal requirements of low-carbon power generation. In Materials
and Energy: A Story of Linkages. Department of Industrial Ecology, Institute of
Environmental Sciences (CML), Faculty of Science, Leiden University. Retrieved from
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19740/04.pdf?sequence=27

Summary:

This chapter of the book discusses the direct and indirect impacts of transitioning the world’s
electricity infrastructure into renewable sources such as solar, hydro, and wind farms with the
main focus on carbon dioxide emission.

Key Ideas & Information:

The author analyzes the key materials needed in a life cycle assessment (LCA) for the
infrastructure of different energy technologies as well as the net carbon dioxide emissions from
using them. These include existing infrastructures of coal, naturals gas, oil, and nuclear. Analysis
is also made on renewable technologies, including solar and wind farms. The analysis includes
the amount of minerals and metals that need to be mined from the earth.
Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

Implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies for fossil fuels requires a
substantial increase in production of iron and nickel for net CO2 emissions comparable to
renewable sources (biomass, wind, and solar). However, plans for removing fossil fuels and
relying primarily on nuclear and renewable sources requires more than double the amount of
metals needed (zinc, copper, aluminum, nickel, and iron) compared to CCS technologies.

Learnings & Insights:

Regarding CO2 emissions, it would be more cost effective to focus on reducing carbon output
from fossil fuels for the short term. In the long-term, having renewable energy sources once
sources of fossil fuels deplete is a high priority. This would require extensive investments in
mining and refining the minerals needed to capitalize on renewable energy sources.

How Information Will Be Used:

The information from this author will be used in considering the political, social, and
environmental effects of the project.

Item 6: Results of Literature Review

Lyman, R. (2017, May). Why renewable energy cannot replace fossil fuels by 2050. Retrieved
from https://www.friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/Renewable-energy-cannot-
replace-FF_Lyman.pdf

Summary:

This article compares various forms of energy generation technologies and points out the limits
that current renewable energy technologies face.

Key Ideas & Information:

This article argues against the feasibility of leveraging renewable energy sources (solar, wind,
and hydro) to replace fossil fuel sources (petroleum, coal, and natural gas). The arguments and
analysis present key factors limiting widespread adoption of renewable energy sources. These
main factors are cost, efficiency, and land-usage.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

This article does not present any solutions to the global problem of fossil fuel usage nor the
adoption of renewable energy into the energy infrastructure. However, it does point out
several factors limiting the current technologies in renewable energy. Efficiency and land-usage
goes hand-in-hand. Current efficiencies in harnessing wind and solar panel requires huge tracts
of land and ocean space to make any significant contribution to electric grid capacity in the
United States. The expensive costs of manufacturing and maintaining the equipment over the
lifetime of the product prevents financial feasibility of renewable electricity generation.

Learnings & Insights:

Wind and solar technology is still a long way off from replacing the global dependence on fossil
fuels. Small and gradual progress has to be made to improve the cost and efficiency of
renewable energy technologies.

How Information Will Be Used:

This article helps to focus the objective of this project in creating a small scale wind turbine for
individual use.

Item 7: Results of Literature Review

DeCoste, J., McKay, D., Robinson, B., Whitehead, S., & Wright, S. (2005, Dec 5). MECH 4010
design project: Vertical axis wind turbine. Nova Scotia, Canada: Dalhousie University.
Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.6381&rep=rep1&type=
pdf

Summary: This article chronicles the academic wind turbine project of a group of university
students who build and test a vertical axis wind turbine from scratch.

Key Ideas & Information:

The article presents the design, simulations, and construction of the wind turbine. The project
to this point did not reach the testing phase, and the turbine was not fully assembled at the
publication of this article. The preliminary budget for the project was set at $4,000-$5,000
(CAD) with about half of that financed through sponsors and the university’s mechanical
engineering department. The bulk of the cost came from using the campus machine shop to
create the mechanical components of the turbine including the bearings, shaft, platform, and
blades.

Analysis of Key Ideas & Information:

This article shows many of the materials needed for the mechanical construction of a vertical
axis wind turbine and how much they were expected to cost. The design and simulation phase
narrowed down the type of blade design the students would build for the actual turbine. The
turbine blade and shaft were designed using aluminum material, which had a major impact on
the cost of the project.
Learnings & Insights:

This is a detailed group project that illuminates the costs and materials needed for a similar
project. This project focuses on the mechanical engineering aspect of the wind turbine and is
helpful for those with limited experience in this field of engineering.

How Information Will Be Used:

The information will help determine the budget and material resources needed for this project.
This article will also influence the design phase of the project.

Conclusion:

Researching the literature, technology and professional environment of an idea is very helpful
for project development. The sources and information helps inform the project manager on
how to carry out a project. The research helps establish background information, justification,
planning, and design considerations for the proposed VAWT project. Previous work and
research on similar concepts will be leveraged to increase the chance of success of the project.