Page 3.
Air Brakes
Runaway
Protection
Last Update
on: May 6th, 2006
The
blades shown on this page are test prototypes and are not for
sale.
There is no performance test data available at this time - please
do not
inquire.
The following
photos have been included to show one of the possibilities
for customizing the Century Blades. There are many ways to
improve the
full size fiberglass blade, or to cut them down to smaller sized
blades. The
fiberglass cuts easily with a standard Jig saw or a Skill saw. I
use a carbide
blade for straight and clean cuts. I also use running water from
a garden
hose to keep the resin/fiber dust from getting into the air,
keeping it off
my skin and out of my eyes and lungs, careful to keep the water
away
from the saw's motor and power connection.
Anyone with basic skills can work
with Fiberglass and Customize these Blades.
These blades have
had the last 2 feet of the tip cut off and refitted
as a centrifugal force activated air-brake. The deployed-tip is
patterned
after the blades of the Nordtank 65kW turbine. When the turbine
looses
power and goes into overspeed, (and all turbines eventually
will), the
blade tip will separate from its locked position and then twist
sideways
to slow the rotor speed.
If you don't have
a Fail-Safe high-speed disc brake system on your main
shaft or gearbox output, or a method for getting your rotor out
of the
wind, air-brakes on the blades may save your windmill from total
destruction in the event of a runaway.
This is just one
option. You could go with a simpler customization. You
can add the older style parachute air-brake to the back side of
the blade
tips by installing a chute compartment with a trap door that
opens by a
centrifugal force latch setup, or other methods.
These
prototypes also had a Root-Pack done at the time of the Tip
improvement. A Root-Pack is a wrapping of heavy mesh cloth and
resin with powdered fiber filler. A Root-Pack may stop stress
fractures from occurring in the Root and lengthen the life of any
blade.
Windpower Monthly
Magazine | the on-line edition.
U.S. Department of Energy | http://www.energy.gov/
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy | http://www.eere.energy.gov/
National Renewable Energy
Laboratory | http://www.nrel.gov/
California Public Utilities
Commission | http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/
California Energy Commission
| http://www.energy.ca.gov/
American Wind Energy
Association | http://awea.org/
Energy News Groups | news:alt.energy.renewable | news:alt.energy.homepower
|
Desert Wolf Enterprise - Internet Division; Copyright ©
February 1995.
All rights reserved. Information and or prices in this
document are subject
to change without notice. Other products and companies
referred to herein
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.
|
