THE “TURBINATOR”

FRAME

• Frame height 3 metres
• Frame width 1.5 metres
• Blade size 1220 mm x 150 mm x 18
• Blade material, medium density polyethylene (life span 20+ years)
• Weight of blades 30 kg
• Weight of turbine 200 kg approx
• Swept area 3.4 sq metres
• Stainless steel shaft & solid grease stainless steel bearings that require no lubrication
• Aluminium pulleys, hard anodized with 5mm HTD drive belt
• All metal surfaces are hot dip galvanized
• Startup wind speed 3 m/sec
• Measured sound emission 0db
• All blades are individually statically balanced
• Power output 1kw

GENERATOR

A 300mm 48 volt 3 phase axial flux generator using neodymium magnets connected to a custom built controller incorporating a braking/load dump.

To understand the concept of extracting energy from the wind, it should be noted that the energy available from the wind rises in proportion to the cube of the wind speed. This means that during a light wind the turbine makes only a small amount of power, however as the wind speed increases, the power output increases considerably, so if the wind speed doubles it will produce 8 times more power.

The traditional 3 blade horizontal axis wind turbine is a lift design and as such the tips of the blades go faster than the speed of the wind and therefore whistle. The turbinator is a vertical axis wind turbine and is a drag design and spins much slower and is completely silent. This design creates a lot of torque so the generator is driven at seven times the speed of the blades.

TOWER

The standard tower is constructed from 65 X 65 X 5 mm angle iron 1500 mm square at the top and 2500 mm square at the bottom and 8 metres tall, a larger tower is available to mount two turbines 300 mm apart and is constructed from 75 X 75 X 5 mm angle iron and is 3300 X 1500 mm at the top and 5300 X 2500 mm at the bottom and is 8 metres tall.

A mini tower is also available for roof mounting at 2 metres tall and is constructed from 50 X 50 X 5 mm angle iron and is 1700 mm square at the bottom.

These towers have been designed in conjunction with Bullock and Partners consulting engineers and have been certified  and a copy of the calculations are available to assist in obtaining council approval.

Wind Power Curve