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Forum Index : Windmills : Airdolphin
| Author | Message | ||||
KarlJ Guru  Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178 |
airdolphin couldnt help but laugh at this, was referred to one of these at the sun expo in perth at $17K grid connected. at diameter of 1.7m its just 1/3 the size (swept)of a 3m Phillm machine and yet they quote in an average of 3.1m/s for the day an accumulated output of 1KW and 4.6KW for the day in 6.4 m/s average wind. Come on.....our F&P's are technological dinosaurs but something with 1/3 the swept area truly make those numbers Tell em hes dreamin Edit -changed late night typos from 12 to 3 Luck favours the well prepared |
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Greenbelt Guru Joined: 11/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 566 |
KarlJ, I thought I would play with the numbers to see how this small Mill could be rated at this output. It appears that the word AVERAGE is key here. If the Mill is set up near the coastline where the breeze is fairly constant then it may be reasonable in 24 hours to accumulate 1-KW at 3.1 ms.average. this is 41 watts average output, mostly generated from higher than average wind gusts over the 24 hours. I'm in agreement with your analysis in most locations, This is a 80/20 wind requirement. The higher value at 6.4 meter/sec. is 191 watts OUCH. If the wind gusts to 30 mph.pretty often it may be possible to have an average wind speed that low and still get the power. But of course in real life this is not the way things work. Time has proven that I am blind to the Obvious, some of the above may be True? |
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GWatPE Senior Member  Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi Karl, You really need to check your figs, and possibly greenbelt should have picked up on this as well. A fillm rotor has a dia of I think 3.1m. You state, The airdolphin has a rotor of 1.7m dia. the capture area of the 3.1m dia rotor is 7.55m^2, and the capture area of the 1.7m dia rotor is 2.27m^2. my maths gives this a factor of 3.33. Gordon. PS edit: The $17k grid connected is over the top though. become more energy aware |
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GreenD88 Senior Member Joined: 19/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 104 |
It'll generate 1Kw at 28mph with a efficiency of 31%. I used there rotor diameter and charts to figure the efficiency. Which isn't to far fetched. If anyone's interested I made a OpenOffice Spreadsheet that calculates power from turbine diameter. Right now it's in Feet for diameter, MPH for windspeed, and KW for power. And also has the option of adjusting the efficiency percentage. If you want to change the windspeed just choose one of the cells and change the number.2010-04-04_120205_Wind_Speed_Power_Calculator.zip If you need open office: http://www.openoffice.org/ Licensed Master Plumber / EPA 608 Universal License / 410a Safety Certified / Medical Gas Brazer/Installer |
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| KarlJ Guru Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178 |
Yep, late at night, too many beers Still tough for an average daily windspeed with a 2.27m2 rotor area with 1/3 the rotor area to make those numbers. Oh I think we're (phill and I) down to 3m diameter giving a little over the 7m2 swept Luck favours the well prepared |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi All I have been fooling around with a 500 watt chinese thing trying different blades results so far have been interesting it is in a bad position so only goes in a strong wind trees obstruct it at the moment. 10ft 4 inch spins nearly all the time, in strong winds it does 30+ amps at 30 volts but it has a balance problem so took it off to rebalance. 82 inch blade plastic three blade hard to start but when gets going does 15 amps 7-8 ms 60 inch three blade high aspect blade raptor spins up easy and makes 15 amps in medium wind 7-8 ms Next to try is a six blade raptor 60 inch Then a 10 blade raptor 60 inch Original Chinese blades would spin but not produce much power about 8 amps alloy constant cord 78 inch a bit noisy also. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
This link is one that has been used before, and does not require downloading of anything. altons windmill calculations page just use an efficiency of 1.00, to give the energy in the wind for the chosen rotor dia. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| Greenbelt Guru Joined: 11/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 566 |
GWatPE; The 1/12 size error in KarlJ's post is obviously just that. A man who has worked with windmills as long as he has will definitely know the difference between 1/3rd. and 1/12th. I saw no reason to call him on it as it was most likely meant to read (as just under 1/2 the size(swept) of a 3m Phillm Machine)This statement is a general approximation of 1/3 and I accept it as adequate for the general description of an observation. The numbers 1 & 2 on a keyboard have an affinity for each other, If one's AIM is slightly off. the 1. will appear.,Magically. Using KarlJ's numbers of 3m. for the PhillM Machine and 1.7 for the Airdolphin, the swept area's are 75.56 and 24.31 SQUARE FEET Respectively, The Ms Calculator results are 75.56 / 24.31= 3.1081, so it is a hair smaller than 1/3 the size of the Phillm. $17K @ 10.00 a watt, SOLAR, will output 10.2 KW at 6 sun hours daily average. Can not imagine anyone paying this price for a toy. Time has proven that I am blind to the Obvious, some of the above may be True? |
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| GreenD88 Senior Member Joined: 19/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 104 |
I know someone who spent ~$60,000+ on a 10KW Wind Turbine with a 4KW inverter on either a 24" or 16" x 100 foot Freestanding Tower.. lol And with the current blades on it will only produce 10 kw in 38mph+ winds and with the average wind speeds for the area will produce 1kw. And I think it took several months after it was installed before the power company actually hooked it up to the grid. Licensed Master Plumber / EPA 608 Universal License / 410a Safety Certified / Medical Gas Brazer/Installer |
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| Greenbelt Guru Joined: 11/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 566 |
GreenD88, This is a good example of People with more Money than Brains. Reminds Me of a used Buick I purchased when I was young. Spare you the Details. Time has proven that I am blind to the Obvious, some of the above may be True? |
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| KarlJ Guru Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178 |
everyone does that with cars, its a male thing Luck favours the well prepared |
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| GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Windmills are like normal real-estate. Its all about location loacation location location location.................. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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SSW_squall Senior Member Joined: 20/03/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 111 |
Looks like they've ripped off the AIRX design... Also wind turbines on the top of buildings is generally a crap idea, because the wind is just too turbulent. The Rann government had a few of those "swift" micro turbines (The 5 bladed machines with the stupid ring around the tips of the blades) mounted on top of some of the building in the CBD of Adelaide. It's bad enough that most of the time they to jack all. But i have it on good information that nose cone and other pieces of the turbine were found on the street below!! Another quality government investment of our taxpaying dollars. All about the (visibility of the) location of course, in this the case generation of political rather than electical power. AB Einstein: Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler |
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| KarlJ Guru Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178 |
LOL The guy who put me onto this, more than likely will be doing my solar install and when I told him about the F&P dual he was blown away, very impressed. He also likes the VAWT idea, haven't got to that in our chats yet but i cant help but think they arent any quieter, easier or magical -quite the opposite in fact! Luck favours the well prepared |
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