Lieb's VAWT Design Proposals

We recently received a letter from inventor Paul Lieb of Norton, Ohio, excerpted below. Readers familiar with the technical niceties of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) design are invited to comment here or contact Paul directly at his website.

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I would like opinions on the difficulties and the potential of my designs. I have not built any prototypes but I filed a provisional patent for a VAWT with 4 blades linked in pairs.

The first design example (below, top) will begin producing power at lower winds speeds by using the direct force (drag) of the wind hitting a large blade. The RPM will need to be controlled by a variable-draw generator so it can produce more power at high wind speeds, because if the wind speed is faster than the blade tip speed it is not efficient. These would be extremely efficient for their size. I hope these drawings provide the detail needed to understand its workings.

My second design (below, bottom) is one that will change automatically from the Savonius style above to the Darrieus style that is efficient at wind speeds that exceed the blade tip speed.  It combines the functions of both high- and low-speed wind turbine designs.

Here are some options worthy of note:

1. Bending / rounding the top and bottom 1/4 portions of the blades will increase output at lower speeds
2. Extending the blades past the hinge point (changing the pivot points) may improve performance
3. Changing blade height to width ratios – changing diameter to height ratio
4. Different styles may be ideal for different locations – telephone poles, on roofs, between buildings, wind farms etc…
5. Any number of support arm and links can be used.
6. Should be economical to produce with minimal tooling

Considering that prototyping and commercializing are expensive beyond my reach, I would be most pleased to work with a company or discuss licensing or sale of patent pending.

 

Comments

[EKIM]

interesting, yet I am a little confused about this application. would it have a push pull effect or be working against itself? I understand what your proposing but when I try to imagine this I find it might have an opposite effect than the one you seek, I could be all wrong here, have you built this and tested it? I have a neat design I need to get a pat pending on, and am also working on a very different design, I wish you luck in your endeavor.

[wind generator]

If this start wind speed is 1.5m/s. This generator will be a huge progress in small wind turbine industry. Whether it is as good as they say. It need the test of time.