Prime-mover dynamo plants – Electric control – Fluid-current motors
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-13
2001-04-10
Ponomarenko, Nicholas (Department: 2834)
Prime-mover dynamo plants
Electric control
Fluid-current motors
C290S055000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06215199
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a device for utilizing the power of the wind.
BACKGROUND—DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
For many years mankind has been challenged to harness the force of the wind for the beneficial purposes. The discovery of fossil fuels such as coal oil, and gas in the nineteenth century made energy much more efficient and versatile. With the invention of the steam and internal combustion engines the use of fossil fuels quickly overtook all other the energy sources and directly led to the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s.The Industrial Revolution brought the prosperity and progress, but it also brought the big environmental problems. The products of combustion of fossil fuels are pollutants. Such pollutant includes poisons such as sulfates, nitrates, carbon oxides, etc. The pollutants are now concentrated in the air of our major cities and are diffusing throughout the air of our planet.
In the second half of our century some scientists and engineers had a big hope that this problem will be solved by construction of the atomic plants. Such plants, however, generate nuclear waste, which is inherently dangerous, and, in addition, present a serious problem. This leaves hydroelectric, solar, geothermal, tidal and wind as alternate energy sources which are environmentally clean and not inherently dangerous.
For this reasons the efforts to develop the more effective alternative sources of energy (also the wind energy) have been intensified. The great quantity of the wind generators was built in the last decades. The big quantity of the new types was proposed. One alternate energy source, which is particularly promising, is wind farms that are presently in use but only on a limited basis. Known wind generators are generally very large and expensive. Smaller relatively inexpensive units if of advanced, more efficient designs could provide more energy per land area, especially if utilized on a national or worldwide scale. Such unit could be utilized individually or connected to the existing utility power grids.
The existing wind generators have the disadvantages and deficiencies (we say about the big wind generators):
1. Those generators have high level of the acoustic noise.
2. The rotating metal vanes are causing noticeable electromagnetic interference and worsening receiving the radio and TV programs.
3. The rotating vanes are very dangerous for the birds.
4. The tremendous dynamically loading on the vanes of the wind generators and, therefore, the high probability of the fatigues damages.
5. The towers of the wind generators may be blows down in the hurricane or typhoon.
In addition, for compete with low-cost fossil fuels, the wind generators and another renewable sources of the energy must have a low cost of the construction and the maintenance.
To attain these ends (to compete with fossil fuels) the wind power plant must have a possibility to work in a big range of a speed of the wind. The range between the minimum speed of the wind that can rotate a wind machine and the furling speed (the wind speed at which a wind machine is shut down to avoid damage from high winds) must be far apart.
Various techniques are employed commercially or are disclosed in the patent literature for converting wind energy to electrical energy. One of the most interesting of the development is the wind turbine that has shrouds. Those turbines, in the opinions of the inventors, have a significantly greater output power than the conventional wind turbines. Note, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,883,750, Uzzell, Jr., (1975), 3,944.840, J. H. Troll, (1976), 4,021,135, Pedersen at al., (1977), 4,075,500, Oman at al. (1978), 4,132,499, C. W. Crook (1979), 4,204,799, deGeus, (1980), 4,379,236, M. Inoue, (1983), 4,508,973, Payne, (1985).
The shrouds in those wind turbines can increase the power output but they have a substantial disadvantage that they have a big length particularly in its diffuser section. That makes that construction very cumbersome and flimsy. That construction cannot to oppose the strong winds.
The examples of another lines of attack are the apparatus that can, in the opinions of the inventors, operate on the strong winds: U.S. Pat. Nos.4, 154,556, Webster, (1979), 4,164,382, K. J. Mysels, (1979), 4,379,239, (1983), 5,194,754, T. Mikami (1993)
These wind generators are very complex and they will have big problems under constructions and maintenance. The price of the energy in that wind generators will be high, and these power systems will be economical impractical.
As illustrated by the number of prior patents, as well as the commercial devices, effort are continuously being made in an attempt to improve devices for converting wind energy to electrical energy. Such efforts are being made to render such devices more efficient, reliable, inexpensive and convenient to use. None of these previous efforts, however, provide the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, the prior patents and commercial devices and techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component element arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein.
The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects and advantages through a new, useful and nonobvious combination of component elements with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable manufacturing cost, and by employing only available materials.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
a) to provide a wind-powered electrical energy-generating device, which significantly increases the amount of energy, derived from the wind source;
b) to provide a wind-powered energy generating device of the aforesaid type which is simple in construction, inexpensive to produce and maintain which is highly efficient in its operations;
c) to provide a wind-powered electrical energy device that will be shielded from lateral wind loads thus reducing the structural requirements of the supporting tower of the generator system. That and other objects are achieved according to the present invention by providing a wind-powered electric generator having: a vertical shroud with the double walls arranged in a path of fluid flow and the rotors that freely rotate on axis disposed within said vertical shroud;
d) to provide a wind-powered electrical energy device with the light rotors that are driven by the air moving from a bottom to an upper part of the vertical shroud. The armature and field structures are situated in the space between the inner and outer walls of the shroud. That elements cooled by the air that is passing past, then this air go further to plurality of the air ducts that are situated in the upper part of the shroud; that prevent premature air separation along the diffuser of the shroud and therefore increasing the its effectiveness.
e) to provide the starting and braking possibility of the generator by electrical means;
f) to provide to aforesaid generator the means for controlling the rotational speed of the rotors wherein this means includes means for controlling the pitch of the rotor vanes
REFERENCES:
patent: 3721290 (1973-03-01), Butler, Jr.
patent: 3883750 (1975-05-01), Uzzel
patent: 3944840 (1976-03-01), Troll
patent: 4021135 (1977-05-01), Pedersen
patent: 4031173 (1977-06-01), Rogers
patent: 4036916 (1977-07-01), Agsten
patent: 4070131 (1978-01-01), Yen
patent: 4075500 (1978-02-01), Oman
patent: 4132499 (1979-01-01), Igra
patent: 4154556 (1979-05-01), Webster
patent: 4164382 (1979-08-01), Mysels
patent: 4204799 (1980-05-01), de Geus
patent: 4289970 (1981-09-01), Deibert
patent: 4379236 (1983-04-01), Inoue
patent: 4452046 (1984-06-01), Valentin
patent: 4508973 (1985-04-01), Payne
patent: 5194754 (1993-03-01), Mikami
patent: 5300817 (1994-04-01), Baird
patent: 5982046 (1999-11-01), Minh
patent: 6097104 (2000-08-01), Russell
Lysenko Adolf
Lysenko Sergey
Lysenko Adolf
Ponomarenko Nicholas
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