WO2016105288A1

WO2016105288A1 - A telescopic wind turbine tower

Info

Publication number: WO2016105288A1
Application number: PCT/TR2015/000254
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alperen CIRCI
Original assignee: Circi Alperen
Priority date: 2014-12-25
Filing date: 2015-06-08
Publication date: 2016-06-30

Abstract

In the inventive wind turbine, there is a fixed lower body (4) which is mounted on the ground (3), a movable upper body (5) which enters into the previous one and moves up and down vertically, and a turbine (2) which is positioned on the movable upper body (5).

Description

A TELESCOPIC WIND TURBINE TOWER

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a novel wind turbine design. The invention essentially relates to a body design which enables the wind turbine body to be raised or lowered in vertical direction according to the wind force. In the inventive wind turbine body design, even though the amount of the materials which are used relative to the previous technique, the strength does not change, even it can be increased.

Background Art

Renewable energy sources have become significantly common since the energy sources such as petroleum and gas have started to decrease and they have become more and more expensive. Wind energy which is one of the renewable energy sources has been commonly used together with water and solar energy. The basic utilization method of wind energy is the working principle of windmills as it is known for centuries. Wind turbine is installed in areas with continuous and strong wind (at least strong wind in high blowing periods in annual average), the rotary movement obtained from here is converted into another movement or electric energy. Today, this method converts the rotary movement obtained from wind turbine to electric energy via the generator.

The wind turbines are generally installed in open areas with continuous and strong wind and hills. Therefore, it is aimed to get maximum benefit from the wind. The wind being strong makes the rotation of the turbine easy and thus high power can be obtained. The wind being continuous enables the said rotary power to be stable, which is a desirable situation. However, in practice, the wind does not always blow with constant speed. Sometimes the wind blows at low speed, sometimes at high speed, sometimes it does not even blow. In times when the wind is so strong, the wind turbine can get damaged. In such cases, the wind force causes irrecoverable damages in vanes of the wind turbine. In order to prevent such disadvantages, the turbine vanes are brought to a fixed position such that they will not turn when the wind speed exceeds a certain level in practice. Turbine tower or turbine body carrying the turbine is reinforced so that the strong blowing wind does not damage the turbine. For this, generally steel or similarly strong materials are used commonly. The materials used in large amounts in order to reinforce the turbine body increase production costs, as well as increasing transportation and labor costs.

The objectives and Description of the Invention The objective of the inventive new wind turbine is to provide a turbine body the strength of which is high against winds blowing at high speed and force, and which can be raised and lowered depending on the speed and the force of the wind. In the inventive wind turbine, the turbine body is comprised of one main body which is fixed to the ground, and a movable upper body which can be moved up and down thereon. With the said structure, the movable upper body can be lowered down in case the wind blows strong and at high speed. This situation decreases the wind force on the turbine. Therefore, both the turbine is protected from the harmful effects of pressure force generated by the high speed wind, and the bending force on the fixed body is creased. An advantage of the inventive turbine system is that there is no need to stop the turbine in high speed and strong winds due to the movable upper body structure. The operation time of the turbine is increased even more, and the force generated by the high speed wind is decreased. Therefore, the turbine is enabled to operate longer and without damage. Another advantage of the inventive turbine system is that the wind turbine body does not require constructing bodies with high amount and strong enough to resist against high speed and strong winds. The property of the said invention is that the force applied by the wind on the turbine is decreased by lowering the movable upper body in high speed winds; therefore it is possible to use less amount of material. Such design also decreases the transportation and labor costs of the body.

In the inventive wind turbine design, it is possible to support the body with ropes in order to increase the strength of the body against lateral forces. Therefore, the requirement for increasing strength by using more material against lateral forces is eliminated.

The figures will be utilized in order to understand the inventive assembly better.

Description of the Figures Figure 1 is the view of a general wind turbine body applied in the state of the art. Figure 2 is the perspective view of the inventive wind turbine body showing its conceptual design.

Figure 3 is the cross sectional perspective view of the inventive wind turbine body showing the connection of the fixed lower body and the movable upper body. Figure 4 is the cross sectional representative perspective view of the inventive wind turbine body showing the lifting mechanism of the movable upper body.

Figure 5 is the representative perspective view of the inventive wind turbine body showing the lifting mechanism of the movable upper body.

Figure 6 is The lateral projective conceptual design of the inventive wind turbine body in case it is manufactured with cage system.

Figure 7 is the top projective conceptual design of the inventive wind turbine body in case it is manufactured with cage system.

Figure 8 is the perspective conceptual design of the inventive wind turbine body in case it is manufactured with cage system. Figure 9 is the perspective view of the inventive wind turbine body showing its conceptual design in case it is reinforced with ropes from the edges.

The Reference Numbers of Parts and Components which will help to describe the Invention

1- Body

2- Turbine

3- Ground

4- Fixed lower body

5- Movable upper body

6- Carrier rope

7- Roller

8- Carrier

9- Body rope

10- Fixing rod

HI- Height

H2- Height of the fixed lower body

H3- Height of the movable upper body

H4- Elongated height

F- Wind Force

M-Moment, rotary force

Detailed Description of the Invention

In the inventive wind turbine design, in order to better understand the design developed to increase the body strength and decrease the amount of the materials to be used, it is beneficial to look at the view of a wind turbine in the state of the art given in Figure 1. Here, the wind turbine is essentially comprised of ground (3), a body (1), and a turbine (2) which is located thereon. In the state of the art, the height of the turbine from the ground is fixed, and height (1) is an important factor in wind force (F) on the turbine. Under normal conditions, the force coming to the wind turbine, in other words, the rotary force coming to the area where the body (1 ) is fixed to the ground (3) due to the force generated by the wind, is the multiplication of the wind force (F) and the height (HI) of the turbine (2). In order words, M = F x HI . In the state of the art, as the speed and force of the wind increase, the wind force (f) will increase; this causes the moment (M) to increase. This will cause the body to tilt, break or bend. In order to prevent this, in the state of the art metal, alloy or composite materials with high strength are used in large amounts. The increase in amount of the materials that are used undoubtedly increases the strength; however it also increases production costs, transportation and labor costs. On the other hand, since the turbine (2) propellers rotate too fast due to the wind blowing too fast and strong, damages such as breaking, bending etc. can occur. The propeller is stopped in order to prevent this in the previous technique. This is an unwanted situation since it decreases the energy production time.

The general conceptual design of the inventive wind turbine is shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3. Here, there is a fixed lower body (4) which is mounted on the ground (3), a movable upper body (5) which enters into the previous one, and a turbine (2) which is positioned on the movable upper body (5). Here, the fixed lower body height (H2) is less than the body height in the state of the art. However, the fixed lower body is hollow, and the movable upper body (2) which is another body enters into this opening. The movable upper body (5) operates in vertical direction inside the fixed lower body (4) like piston-cylinder mechanism. The movable upper body (5) can move up and down vertically inside the fixed lower body (4). The height of the movable upper body (H3) is expressed as "H3" ahcT!t is fixed. The fixed lower body (4) is preferably conic shaped so that it can bear load and be strong. The fixed lower body (4) has hollow inside, and it can be cylindrical or conical. The movable upper body (5) is preferably cylindrical, and it has the diameter to move easily inside the fixed lower body (4). When the fixed lower body (4) and the movable upper body (5) are connected, the movable upper body (5) can move up and down with the help of a force. Therefore, the elongated height (H4) which is the height of the turbine can be varying. In case the wind blows fast and/or strong, the movable upper body (5) is lowered. Therefore, the elongated height (H4) decreases. Thus, the wind force (F) coming to the turbine also decreases. This also causes the moment (M) to decrease. This prevents the bending force subjected by the turbine and its body from increasing in case the wind force and/or speed increases, and thus the damages are reduced. On the other hand, in case the turbine (2) is lowered, the rotating speed is prevented from increasing, and thus the turbine is enabled to operate even at high wind speeds. In order that the movable upper body (5) remains fixed or rigid when it is up, fixing rods (10) are passed through the holes on the upper part of the fixed lower body (4) and abutted against the movable upper body (5), or inserted inside the said holes. Therefore, the movable upper body (5) can remain connected to the fixed lower body (4) rigidly or in a fixed way. In the inventive turbine body assembly, the up or down movement of the movable upper body (5) entering inside the fixed lower body (4) is possible via the carrier rope (6) and roller (7) system. When one end of the carrier rope (6) is connected to the movable upper body (5) and the carrier rope (6) is pulled via a power generator (any kind of motor or power moving the rope), the carrier rope (6) will slide on the roller (7) and thus the movable upper body (5) is moved downwards or upwards. Here, since the connection detail of the carrier rope (6) to the motor and the movable upper body (5) is another subject, it will not be emphasized on. However, a subject which is to be defined is carrying the movable upper body (5) with the carrier ropes (6) over the rollers (7) connected to the fixed lower body (4), moving upwards or downwards. Of course, the movable upper body (6) can be moved inside the fixedTower body (4) withrtoothed rack, not with the carrier rope. As it is known, the toothed rack is a linear gear; the one moving thereon is circular gear system. Here, it is possible to move the movable body (5) upwards and downwards as a result of the movement of the toothed rack with a power such as motor by connecting the linear one of the toothed racks to the fixed lower body (4), and the circular gear to the movable upper body (5). It is possible to achieve the same movement by connecting the circular one to the fixed lower body (4), and the linear one to the movable upper body (5) in connection form of the toothed rack. In the inventive turbine body design, as well as the fixed lower body (4) and the movable upper body (5) can be cylindrical or conical (a prism with annular diameter), they can be in form of rectangular prism or cage system. In this case, it is possible to achieve a design in Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8. Here, the only difference is that the fixed lower body (4) and the movable upper body (5) are not in shape of cylinder or rectangular prism having a wall, they are like a load bearing post, and these two machine pieces are nested. In other words, the fixed lower body (4) is a post with cage system and it is hollow. The movable upper body (5) is a post manufactured with cage system, and it has the structure to move upwards and downwards inside the fixed lower body (4). Here, there is a frame to which the carrier rope called as carrier (8) is connected in the fixed lower body

(4) , and there are carrier rope (6) connected to this and rollers (7) present in the fixed lower body (4). The carrier rope (6) is connected to the movable upper body

(5) through the rollers (7), and it is moved upwards or downwards by pulling or releasing the carrier rope (6) with a power generator or a motor. Of course, prism shaped tubular structure like toothed rack can also be used in cage systems. Any one of the fixed lower body (4) and the movable upper body (5) with cage system can be in form of a prismatic tube having a wall. In other words, one body can be cage system, and the other body can be tubed system. On the other hand, even though the movable upper body (5) passes inside the fixed lower body (4), the opposite design, the movable upper body (5) passing outside the fixed lower body (4), can be achieved with appropriate engineering calculations and design verifications if it is desired.

As it is seen in Figure 9, the inventive wind turbine is possible to be connected via the body ropes (9) connected to the fixed lower body (4) from the ground (3). Therefore, the fixed lower body (4) will be more resistant against the lateral forces or shakings. Such design can be used preferably when it is wanted.

In the body design of the inventive wind turbine, an application can be made in all kinds of wind turbine by preserving the logic of a fixed lower body (4) and a movable upper body (5). The body can be cylindrical or rectangular prism tube in several wind turbines, and cage systems can be applied in others.

Claims

1. A wind turbine body design characterized in that it comprises a fixed lower body (4), a movable upper body (5) which is located in the inner opening of the said fixed lower body (4), and a turbine (2) which is positioned on the said movable upper body (5).

A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixed lower body (4) is fixed to the ground (3), the movable upper body (5) moves upwards and downwards vertically inside the fixed lower body (4).

A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one carrier rope (6) and roller (7) allowing the up and down movement of the movable upper body (5) inside the fixed lower body (4).

A turbine body according to claim 1 , characterized in that at least one of fixed lower body (4) and the movable upper body (5) can be a tube system or cage system.

A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable upper body (5) moved upwards and downwards inside the fixed lower body (4) comprises toothed rack mechanism when it is wanted apart from at least one carrier rope (6) and roller (7).

6. A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixed lower body (4) is connected to the ground (3) with the body rope (9) from the edges when it is desired.

7. A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises fixing rod (10) which preferably connects ( keeps rigid) the movable upper body (5) to the fixed lower body (4).

8. A turbine body according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable upper body (5) is inside the fixed lower body (4), or the movable upper body (5) is outside the fixed lower body (4).