Wind turbine rotor with venturi tube effect

• US 8,851,828 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2009
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Shanghai Forevoo New Energy Systems Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Shanghai Forevoo New Energy Systems Company Limited, Shanghai Powerfooo Energy System Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Zhang, Yunlong
• Primary Examiner(s): Look, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): EASTMAN, AARON ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US13/120,169
• Publication Number:
  US 20110176920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,841 Days
• Field of Search: 415/4.1, 415/4.3, 415/4.5, 416/227.A, 416/227.R, 416/175, 416/132.A, 416/132.B, 416/232
• US Class Current: 415/4.1
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 1/0608 characterised by their aerodynamic shape
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2240/301 Cross-section characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2250/232 conical
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2250/25 helical
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction

Abstract

The present invention discloses a rotor of wind energy conversion system (WECS) with the Venturi-tube effect. All the blades mounted on the blade-mounting seat envelop together to form a revolving-body cage turbine, which can be divided from structure into a head portion at the windward end, a tail portion at the wind exhaust end, and an airstream compression portion between the head portion and the tail portion and constituted by the enveloping blades. The revolution diameter of the airstream compression portion is gradually substantially increased from the head portion to the tail portion. The cage turbine forms a dynamic Venturi tube during the revolving process, with which the blade revolves to constitute its outline tube wall with the air permeability. The airstream passes through a window between the blades, and the incoming wind does work towards the blade during the process of permeating from the external space to the internal space of this outline tube wall, thus realizing the energy transfer.

Claims

1. A rotor of wind energy conversion system (WECS) with the Venturi-tube effect, comprising:

a horizontal main shaft with multiple blades positioned around, a blade-mounting seat fixed on the main shaft for mounting the blades, and a connector between them;

all the blades mounted on the blade-mounting seat envelop together to form a revolving-body cage turbine with the main shaft as the revolving axle;

the blade-mounting seat includes a front blade-mounting seat and a rear blade-mounting seat, with both ends of the blade fixed on the two blade-mounting seats, respectively;

the cage turbine includes a head portion at the windward end, a tail portion at the wind exhaust end, and an airstream compression portion between the head portion and the tail portion and constituted by the enveloping blades;

the cage turbine forms a dynamic Venturi tube during the revolving process, with which the blade revolves to constitute its outline tube wall with air permeability; and

an airstream passes through a window between the blades, and incoming wind does work towards the blade during the process of permeating from the external space to the internal space of this outline tube wall, thus realizing the energy transfer,

wherein the blade on the cage turbine is made of a thin plate, whose average width is more than 12 times as large as the thickness of the plate, with the width of the plate connecting the connector, between the blade and the main shaft and not used for accepting or exhausting wind, on the tail blade-mounting seat being less than 12 times as large as the thickness.

2. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein an axial space at the tail portion of the cage turbine is open.

3. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 2, wherein exhaust blades, located in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction at the tail portion of the cage turbine, acts as an exhaust fan for ejecting the residual airstream from the upstream site backward out of the cage turbine, thus making the cage turbine produce sustained vacuum and propelling the airstream to circulate smoothly.

4. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein revolution diameters of the airstream compression portion of the cage turbine is gradually increased from the head portion to the tail portion.

5. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 4, wherein the cage turbine has a “

V-shaped”

axial section and a badminton-shaped body outline having a contour line comprising an approximately straight curve.

6. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the body outline of the cage turbine is a configuration with a “

C-shaped”

axial section having a contour line comprising a curve arc convex outwards.

7. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein an axial space at the tail portion of the cage turbine is unopened.

8. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 7, wherein a contour line of the cage turbine has a thwart “

Φ

-shaped”

axial section.

9. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 7, wherein a contour line of the cage turbine has a hexagonal section, with the axis of the main shaft as one diagonal of this hexagonal section symmetric with respect to the axis.

10. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the blades are located on the outside wall of the cage turbine along the longitudinal direction.

11. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the blades are located on the outside wall of the cage turbine in a spiral configuration.

12. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein each cross section in the blade length direction, i.e. each vertical section, is a varying section.

13. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein a vertical section of the blade can be of any of the following shapes:

a rectangle, a circular quadrant, a combined pattern of two round ends and a rectangular middle, and an airfoil.

14. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the blade is a flexible blade.

15. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the main shaft is a segmentally combined shaft connected by a transmission element only transmitting a twisting moment instead of a bending moment.

16. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein the blade is made of aluminum alloy or composite material by a cutting process.

17. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein with the plane where the biggest diameter of the cage turbine is located as the boundary, at least one of the front portion and the rear portion of the cage turbine is provided with an angle of attack.

18. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 17, wherein both the front portion and the rear portion of the cage turbine are provided with the angle of attack, with the two angles of attack both plus or both minus.

19. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 1, wherein multiple short vanes are provided at an outer edge of the cage turbine uniformly distributed along its circumference.

20. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein a shroud ring is provided at the outer edge of the cage turbine in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction, and the multiple short vanes uniformly distributed along the circumference are mounted on the shroud ring.

21. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein the multiple short vanes uniformly distributed along the circumference is mounted on a strip blade of the cage turbine.

22. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein the main shaft of the cage turbine is provided with a support, and the multiple short vanes uniformly distributed along the circumference are mounted on the support.

23. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein the multiple short vanes uniformly distributed along the circumference are mounted on the outer edge of the section of the cage turbine with the biggest diameter.

24. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein the short vane has an angle of inclination of 5-45 degrees.

25. The WECS rotor with the Venturi-tube effect according to claim 19, wherein the short vane has a streamlined section.