REGULATABLE AIR-FLOW ACCELERATION UNIT FOR WIND ENERGY CONVERSION EQUIPMENT

Abstract

A regulatable air-flow acceleration unit for wind energy conversion equipment is presented. The novel regulatable air-flow acceleration unit includes a wind acceleration channel containing pressure-limiting devices arranged in a novel sequential way, protruding from above and from below into the wind acceleration channel which creates a variable degree of restriction. The pressure-limiting devices contain a regulation valve having a rotation axle connected to a tilting body that can be positioned in the radial direction in the case of air-flow acceleration units arranged in a circular cylinder section shape used in vertical axle turbines allowing for smoother and finer regulation during the movement of the tilting bodies.

Claims

1. A regulatable air-flow acceleration unit for wind energy conversion equipment comprising: a wind acceleration channel; a casing enclosing the wind acceleration channel having an inlet opening and an outlet opening wherein the casing is comprised of an upper delimiting member, a lower delimiting member and at least two side delimiting members attaching the upper delimiting member to the lower delimiting member; at least two pressure-limiting devices positioned within the casing wherein the at least two of the pressure-limiting devices comprising: a compression force reception member protruding into the wind acceleration channel; an axle connected to the compressive force reception member permitting rotation; and a multi-member drive part-unit connected to the compressive force reception member; a regulation valve within at least one of the at least two pressure-limiting devices comprising: a tilting body connected to the drive part-unit and positioned within the regulation valve; and a rotation axle connected to the tilting body and to the casing to permit rotation of the tilting body; wherein the rotation axle is positioned radially to the regulation valve at angle α to a longitudinal main axis of the casing that deviates from perpendicular; wherein direction of the rotation axle is essentially equal with direction of wind in the wind acceleration channel; and at least one transmission passage positioned adjacent to the rotation axle and within at least one of the upper delimiting member and the lower delimiting member of the casing; wherein the tilting body is positioned to cover at least a portion of the at least one transmission passage; wherein in operation the tilting body can be rotated to a turned out position from plane FS of the upper delimiting member or plane AS of the lower delimiting member around the rotation axle by the drive part-unit in proportion to rotation of the compressive force reception member; wherein the wind acceleration channel has a cross-section that monotonously reduces from direction of the inlet opening towards the outlet opening.

2. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the wind acceleration channel has a circular cylinder-ring section shape.

3. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the tilting body has a size and shape that conforms to a size and shape of the transmission passage.

4. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the rotation axle of the tilting body of the regulation valve is positioned in a longitudinal plane (HS) of the casing that is not longitudinal main plane (S) of the casing.

5. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the rotation axle of the tilting body of the regulation valve is positioned parallel to the plane FS of the upper delimiting member or parallel to the plane AS of the lower delimiting member.

6. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the at least two pressure-limiting devices are arranged in the casing sequentially from the inlet opening of the wind acceleration channel towards the outlet opening.

7. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two pressure-limiting devices is positioned in vicinity of the upper delimiting member and at least one of the at least two pressure-limiting devices is positioned in vicinity of the lower delimiting member of the casing.

8. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the at least two pressure-limiting devices are arranged next to one another and positioned in vicinity of the upper delimiting member or in vicinity the lower delimiting member.

9. The regulatable air-flow acceleration unit of claim 1, wherein the at least two pressure-limiting devices are arranged next to one another and positioned in vicinity of the upper delimiting member and in vicinity of the lower delimiting member.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In the following the air-flow acceleration unit according to the invention is presented in more detail in connection with a construction example with the help of drawings. In the drawings:

[0033] FIG. 1 shows the side view of the air-flow acceleration unit according to the invention in partial cross-section.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows the cross-section of the air-flow acceleration unit according to FIG. 1 taken along the plane marked II-II.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows the view of the air-flow acceleration unit according to FIG. 2 from the direction III.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a view picture of a version of the wind energy conversion equipment equipped with the air-flow acceleration units according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0037] In FIGS. 1-3 a version of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 according to the invention may be seen that may be used to good effect with wind energy conversion equipment 1 containing a vertical axle turbine. It may be observed that located before the inlet opening 20 of the casing 10 of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 there is a wind speed increasing guiding element 3 that serves to more effectively receive and preliminarily accelerate the currently blowing wind. Also the outlet opening 30 of the casing 10 is connected to the wind energy conversion equipment 1 in the usual way and so is not detailed here.

[0038] The casing 10 of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 is assembled from the upper delimiting member 12, the lower delimiting member 13, the first side delimiting member 14 and the second side delimiting member 15 and encompasses the wind acceleration channel 11. The cross-section of the casing 10—as may be easily observed in FIG. 2—has a rectangular shape, which rectangular-shaped cross-section have a monotonously reducing area progressing from the inlet opening 20 in the direction of the outlet opening 30. In this case the wind acceleration channel 11 of the casing 10 has a circular cylinder ring section shape, which is illustrated in FIG. 3 as well. As the distance between the side delimiting member 14 and the side delimiting member 15 is the greatest at the inlet opening 20, and along the main axis 17 moving away from the inlet opening 20—in the present embodiment—it reduces continuously.

[0039] FIG. 3 also illustrates well that there are more transmission passages 16 created in the upper delimiting member 12 of the casing 10 of the air-flow acceleration unit 2. What is more, in the given embodiment—as shown in FIG. 1—transmission passages 16 are created not only in the upper delimiting member 12 of the casing 10 but also in the lower delimiting member 13 as well. The pressure-limiting devices 40 are located in the vicinity of the transmission passages 16, which pressure-limiting devices 40 all include a compressive force reception member 41 and an axle 42 operating with it, and also the drive part-unit 50 and the regulation valve 60.

[0040] The axle 42 of the pressure-limiting device 40 is fixed to the casing 10, and the compressive force reception member 41 is able to rotate around this axle 42. The axle 42 is positioned in the wind acceleration channel 11 of the casing 10 so that it is perpendicular to the main axis 17 of the casing 10. In this arrangement the wind arriving from the inlet opening 20 of the wind acceleration channel 11 strikes the entire surface of the compressive force reception member 41, and so it is able to exert the greatest force onto the compressive force reception member 41 in the interest of rotating it around the axle 42 from the wind acceleration channel 11 in the direction of the upper delimiting member 12 or the lower delimiting member 13.

[0041] The regulation valve 60 has a tilting body 61 and a rotation axle 62, and here the rotation axle 62—as opposed to the axle 42—is fixed to the casing 10 so that its direction falls into one of the vertical longitudinal planes “HS” of the casing 10. However, this longitudinal plane “HS” does not contain the main axis 17 of the casing 10, and so it does in the vertical longitudinal main plane “S” of the air-flow acceleration unit 2. Therefore, it may also be seen on the basis of FIG. 3 that the rotation axle 62 of the regulation valve 60 in every case is at a relatively small sharp angle of inclination “α” to the vertical longitudinal main plane “S” of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 and to the main axis 17 of the casing 10 as well. In the case of a cylindrical ring section-like air-flow acceleration unit 2 arrangement it may be said that the position of the rotation axle 62 of the regulation valves 60 is radial.

[0042] The tilting bodies 61 of the regulation valve 60 are connected to the rotation axle 62 so that they may rotate, and in their basic position they are sheets positioned in parallel to the plane “FS” of the upper delimiting member 12 or to the plane “AS” of the lower delimiting member 13, the base and size of which sheets complies with the shape and size of the transmission passages 16 of the upper delimiting member 12 or of the lower delimiting member 13.

[0043] Naturally an arrangement may also be imagined in which the tilting bodies 61 are positioned in the plane “FS” of the upper delimiting member 12 or in the plane “AS” of the lower delimiting member 13.

[0044] In the case of the present embodiment each transmission passage 16 is covered by two identically sized tilting bodies 61. This is advantageous because in this way the regulation of the wind speed may be performed under more favourable flow conditions. Here more transmission passages 16 located behind each other, and so more pressure-limiting devices 40, are arranged in the upper delimiting member 12 and the lower delimiting member 13 of the casing 10. It is important that the air-flow acceleration unit 2 contains transmission passages 16 and pressure-limiting devices 40 in several rows. The greater the number of such arrangements the finer the automatic wind speed regulation of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 is.

[0045] Here it must be noted that several independent air-flow acceleration units 2 behind one another may be linked to each other, in which even just one transmission passage 16 and associated pressure-limiting device 40 is located. At this time, however, the entire wind channel is formed jointly by the wind acceleration channels 11 of the casings 10 of the air-flow acceleration units 2 assembled as a continuation of each other, in which there are now several transmission passages 16 and pressure-limiting devices 40 arranged one after the other.

[0046] It is also obvious that the air-flow acceleration units 2 may also be arranged in the shape of a cylindrical ring in such a way that the side delimiting member 14 of the one air-flow acceleration unit 2 comes into contact with the side delimiting member 15 of the neighbouring air-flow acceleration unit 2. What is more, in the case of a given arrangement the neighbouring air-flow acceleration units 2 may also have a common side delimiting member 14. The air-flow acceleration units 2 located next to one another may form a complete cylindrical ring, but an arrangement may also be imagined in the case of which just a 45°, 90°, 180° or even a 270° cylindrical ring section is created. This depends on whether there is a special wind direction or a dead zone from the point of view of wind that is preferable to take into consideration—for the purpose of reducing costs—when installing the wind energy conversion equipment 1.

[0047] A drive part-unit 50 creates the motion transfer connection between the compressive force reception member 41 and a tilting body 61. In the case of this version the drive part-unit 50 consists of a motion-transfer member 51 and a coupling member 52, and the first end 51a of the motion-transfer member 51 is connected to the compressive force reception member 41 while the second end 51b of the motion-transfer member 51 is connected to the tilting body 61. The task of the drive part-unit 50 is to tilt the tilting body 61 around the rotation axle 62 in a way proportional with the rotation of the compressive force reception member 41 around the axle 42.

[0048] It is also obvious that the task of the drive part-unit 50 can be realised not with just kinematic connections but also with the use of electronic elements, but taking into consideration cost-efficiency aspects a drive part-unit assembled from mechanical elements is by all means advantageous.

[0049] During the operation of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 according to the invention the wind arriving at the air-flow acceleration unit 2 approaches the inlet opening 20 of the casing 10 through the wind speed increasing guiding element 3, then through the inlet opening 20 it gets into the wind acceleration channel 11. If the speed of the wind is not too high then the compressive force reception members 41 of the pressure-limiting device 40 do not move from their hanging position in the wind acceleration channel 11. During the flow of the wind arriving in the wind acceleration channel 11 it progresses through an increasingly smaller cross-section, therefore its speed necessarily increases when progressing from the greater cross-sections of the inlet opening 20 towards the smaller cross-sections of the outlet opening 30. In the case that the accelerating air flow reaches a critical speed at a part of the wind acceleration channel 11 more distant from the inlet opening, and so its compressive force increases, then the compressive force exerted by the flowing air moves the inner compressive force reception member 41 of the pressure-limiting device 40—viewing FIG. 1—in the anticlockwise direction around the axle 42 in the case of the upper delimiting member 12 and in the clockwise direction with respect to the lower delimiting member 13. When the upper delimiting member 12 turns the motion-transfer member 51 and the coupling member 52 start to move and exerts torque depending on the transmission ratio onto the tilting body 61 of the regulation valve 60. Due to the force exerted on it the tilting body 61 turns around the rotation axle 62 so that in the mean time it opens the transmission passage 16 to the given extent. Then a part of the air flowing in the wind acceleration channel 11 leaves the wind acceleration channel 11 through the open part of the transmission passage 16 and so the pressure in the wind acceleration channel 11 drops as does the speed of the air flowing on.

[0050] When the rate of the air flow drops back to the permitted level, then the weight of the tilting body 61 now exerts a greater amount of torque on the tilting body 61 around the rotation axle 62 than is exerted from the compressive force of the wind through the compressive force reception member 41 and the motion-transfer member 51 of the drive part-unit 50 onto the second end 51b of the motion-transfer member 51 and so to the tilting body 61. In this way the tilting body 61 turns back to its basic position, i.e. into a plane parallel to the “FS” plane of the upper delimiting member 12, or even into the “FS” plane of the upper delimiting member 12. Naturally the same thing is realised in the case of the compressive force reception member 41 and tilting body 61 of the pressure-limiting device 40 connected to the lower delimiting member 13, only with respect to the lower delimiting member 13.

[0051] It is obvious that in the case of storm-strength gusts of wind the tilting bodies 61 of the pressure-limiting devices 40 close to the inlet opening 20 of the wind acceleration channel 11 also open, while in the case of mild wind, in a given case even the tilting body 61 covering the transmission passage 16 falling the closest to the outlet opening 30 does not open.

[0052] Therefore then it is always the wind speed in the wind acceleration channel 11 of the casing 10 of the air-flow acceleration unit 2 that determines where and when the tilting body 61 of one or more pressure-limiting devices 40 opens as a consequence of the wind force pushing effect exerted onto the compressive force reception member 41.

[0053] It is important to highlight that due to the position of the rotation axles 62 of the regulation valves 60 the tilting and tilting back of the tilting bodies 61 are realised in a much more reliable way than in the case of the known such versions where the axles of the emergency regulators are positioned perpendicular to the direction of the wind.

[0054] Moving over now to FIG. 4, it illustrates wind energy conversion equipment 1 in the case of which the air-flow acceleration units 2 are arranged in the previously mentioned cylindrical ring shape over 360°, and on the effect of the wind arriving on the right side of the wind energy conversion equipment 1 the tilting bodies 61 of the pressure-limiting device 40 covering the first transmission passage 16 of the first air-flow acceleration unit 2 are open to regulate back the greater wind pressure deriving from the wind speed.

[0055] The air-flow acceleration unit according to the invention may be used to good effect in all places where electricity has to be generated with a small amount of cost investment in a reliable way, even in significantly and suddenly changing wind conditions with an existing or new vertical axle turbine selected for the air-flow acceleration unit.

LIST OF REFERENCES

[0056]

TABLE-US-00001 1 wind energy conversion 11 wind acceleration channel equipment 12 upper delimiting member 2 air-flow acceleration unit 13 lower delimiting member 3 wind speed increasing 14 side delimiting member guiding element 15 side delimiting member 10 casing 16 transmission passage 20 inlet opening 17 main axis 30 outlet opening 41 compressive force 40 pressure-limiting device reception member 50 drive part-unit 42 axle 60 regulation valve 51 motion-transfer member “AS” plane 51a first end “FS” plane 51b second end “HS” longitudinal plane 52 coupling member “S” longitudinal main plane 61 tilting body “α” angle 62 rotation axle