Purdue, U.S. government, working to make a smarter wind turbine
Wind turbines have been around since just after the dinosaurs began making fossil fuels.
These days, a team from Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories are working to make future blades more efficient, more cost effective and more reliable.
In other words: Plans for the smart grid, meet plans for the smart blade.
Engineers have embedded sensors inside wind turbine blades, and are testing the technology at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service laboratory in Bushland, Texas.
The research may result in smart blades in the future, with flaps like those on an airplane, Purdue officials say.
(Image: Purdue doctoral student Jonathan White holds a cross section of a wind turbine blade like the one used in research to improve the efficiency of turbines and prevent damage to blades from high winds. Credit: Purdue University photo/Andrew Hancock).
This article is screwy. MSU refers to Montana State Un, the host for the Big Sky RCSP.Tye ae woking with bees .. in Montana…
There is no bee research being done in Michigan and Michigan State University is not involved, at all….
Wind & Star energy’s vertical axis wind turbine is 225% more efficient than any of the horizontal axis, propeller-type turbines which dominate the marketplace today. They operate at a Capacity Utilization Factor of only 33% whereas the Wind & Star Energy generators operate at 85% 95% efficiency. They have a smaller foot print and no exposed moving parts (bird & bat friendly)Because of their Hydrabine Triplex Turbine (patent applied for) and the solar component, they can successfully function in low wind areas and don’t have to be installed in remote, elevated locations. Doing the math, as an example: a 10 MW wind farm will require 30 1 MW prop turbines to equal the baseline power generated byt only 11 - 1 MW Wind & Star Turbines. Using $2 million/MW TIC to generate 10 MW of baseline power, there is a $38 million initial savings using the Wind & Star turbine. You’ll be hearing more about them in the ensuing months ahead.
Bob Kerrigan