Omnidirectional Wind Turbine Project:

Midterm Report

Troy Massagee

Capitol Technology University

EE-458 D01

Dr. Chandra Bajracharya

March 7, 2018
System Design
Project Concept:

The customer is seeking a portable wind turbine able to operate in variable and unstable wind
environments. It must be transportable in the back of a standard pickup truck and can be
assembled by one person within a reasonable time. The turbine must be able to charge a
battery backup system (car battery or similar). The system must be able to self-stabilize on a
relatively flat and level surface in an outdoor environment.

Optional features would include the system being able to power a variety of small electrical
appliances, from lights to phones. Another optional feature would include the turbine’s ability
to generate electricity suitable to connect to the local power grid to sell to the local utility
company when not being used to charge or power any batteries.

Original Block Diagram:

Revised Block Diagram:

Functional Description:

• Turbine Blades:
The length of the blades determines how much of the wind is captured for use. The
specifications limit the blade length to a maximum of 3.5 meters to accommodate portability
and space constraints.

• Turbine Shaft:
The upper shaft will contain the nexus where the blade arms meet to apply the rotational
energy derived from the turbine blades. The joints should be reinforced to prevent stress and
fatigue failures. The upper shaft will be mounted to the generator with long-life, low-friction
ball bearings to allow for easy rotation. The generator will convert the mechanical energy into
electricity and flow down through the stationary lower shaft. The lower shaft will be strong
enough to support the weight of the turbine blades, arms, and generator.

• Generator:
The generator will be an asynchronous induction generator. This will produce 3-phase AC
power at variable frequencies, relative to the fluctuating wind speeds of the environment.
Research shows AC generators are more efficient in wind turbine usage than DC generators
(Muller, et. al., 2002). While 3-Phase AC is preferable, cost and simplicity has seen this revised
to a single phase AC generator easily obtainable from ceiling fan motors.
 • Sensor Array: (Module Removed)
The sensor array would be mounted to various locations on the turbine platform and shaft.
Sensors include an anemometer, wind vane, thermometer, ammeter, potentiometer, and a
rotational speed sensor. Collections of these data points are critical for the testing phase of this
project. This has been removed from the revised design to simplify the Turbine project to meet
the April deadline.

• Braking System: (Module Removed)

An electromagnetic braking system will be implemented as the feedback control system
operated by the controller. Using variable resistors, switches, and heat sinks, the braking
system can inject an artificial load onto the system to regulate the speed of the turbine. This
prevents the turbine from overloading the generator and controller circuitry. This has been
removed from the revised design to simplify the Turbine project to meet the April deadline.

• Controller: (Module Removed)

The controller is the brain of the prototype VAWT. It takes inputs from the generator and
sensor array. The controller is centralized around a programmable microcontroller to regulate
power flow and log sensor inputs from the sensor array. Programmable logic will control the
behavior of the braking system when the environment produces excessive wind speeds. It will
monitor the voltage generated in order to infer the rotational speed of the turbine. A portion of
the circuits will convert the variable frequency AC power input into a clean direct current (DC)
power output, using rectifiers and filters. The DC power will output to the inverter and charge
controller components. The charge controller is a circuit that regulates power to the battery
bank component. This has been removed from the revised design to simplify the Turbine
project to meet the April deadline.

• Inverter: (Module Removed)

The inverter converts the DC power into single-phase AC power at 120 Volts and 60Hz. The
amperage will fluctuate based on the load of the grid it is connected to and power from the
generator. It includes the filters and fault protection essential for safe connection to the local
power grid. The local utility company dictates how and when a safe connection to the power
grid can be made. Until that is negotiated, the backup load is the battery bank.

• Battery Bank:
This component is an array of at least one large-capacity battery. This battery will be used to
power the controller component. It also operates as a backup power source for the inverter
during times of minimal or zero wind speeds. Ideally this bank would be built using
conventional 12V batteries for easy scalability.

System Description:

The turbine design is based on the H-rotor concept, relying on the lift force generated from
aerodynamic blades to turn the shaft and generate electricity. Research has shown efficiencies
in using the NACA 0018 airfoil design for the turbine blades (DeCoste, et al., 2005). The turbine
blades will be attached to allow passive self-adjustment of their pitch which will maintain
optimal airflow through them. This increases efficiency and lowers the minimum start-up wind
speed for the turbine design (Shuqin, 2011).

The electrical systems will be primarily made from individual parts and components. The major
systems are the generator, sensor array, braking system, controller, inverter, and battery bank.
The upper shaft of the turbine houses the generator, converting the mechanical energy into
electricity. Sensor array collects all the essential data to monitor the performance and power
output of the system as well as collect data on environmental variables such as wind speed and
air temperature. The braking system reduces the rotational speed of the upper turbine shaft if
wind speeds exceed operating limits of the turbine design. The controller is the “brain” of the
system. It logs the data collected from the sensor array, converts the generator output from
alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) electricity, determines when to apply the braking
system, houses the charge controller to regulate power to the battery bank, and outputs the DC
power to the inverter. The inverter will convert the DC power into AC power at 120V and 60Hz
in single-phase. This is the standard for home grid connections. The battery bank is the back-up
power supply to power the controller logic and inverter when the turbine is inactive.

System Analysis:

A previous wind turbine project shows that various turbine designs range in efficiencies from
10% to 20% (DeCoste, 2005, p. 8). The current wind turbine project will be determined
successful if the wind turbine is able to meet the primary objectives outlined at the beginning of
this document. The secondary objective is to reach a Coefficient of Performance (Cp) rating of
10% or higher. Losses from converting the mechanical power to electrical power will see an
even lower overall efficiency rating. Assuming a loss factor of 30% in converting mechanical
energy to electrical energy, the wind turbine is expected to produce electricity at seven percent
overall efficiency in harnessing available wind energy. The equations in Table 2 below were
derived from previous wind turbine projects (DeCoste, 2005, p. 6-7 and Silva, p. 1-3) and a hot
air balloon website (Griffin, 2017).

Table 1: Equations for Deriving H-Rotor Wind Turbine Efficiency

Definition Symbol Equation
[Wind Power (Watts)] Pw = (½ )* ρ * As * u3
[Air Density] ρ = p / (R * T)
[Air Pressure (Pa)] p Measured by sensor
(barometer)
[Specific Gas Constant R = 287.05 (dry air)
(J/(kg*K))]
Temperature (K) T Measured by sensor
(thermometer)
2
[Swept Area (m )] As = Dt * lb
 [Undisturbed Wind Speed u Measured by sensor
(m/s)] (anemometer)
[Turbine Diameter (m)] Dt Measured by ruler
[Length of Turbine Blade (m)] lb Measured by ruler
[Mechanical Power (Watts)] Pm = Cp * Pw

[Coefficient of Performance] Cp = Pm/Pw < 59.3 % = 16/27

[Betz Coefficient]
Electrical Power (W) Pe = L*Pm = L*Cp*Pw
Electrical Loss Factor L = Pe/Pm = Pe /(Cp*Pw)
[Alternate Coefficient of Cp = Pe / (L*Pw)
Performance]

The sensor data can then be used to analyze the efficiency of each component. Future wind
turbine projects can use this data to determine which components to focus on for improving
efficiency. This can also help identify which, if any, components need to be scrapped for
redesign and reconstruction.

Project Plan

Definition of work:

The Project can be broken down into distinct stages:

Stage 1: Platform

The first stage is building the Base, or platform for the system to mount on. This has already
been completed and is made of a combination of plywood and 2x4 beams mounted to reinforce
and raise the platform a few inches above ground level.

Stage 2: Electrical Housing

This involves making the electrical housing and is still in final design process, about to be built.

Stage 3: Turbine Blades/Airfoils

This is currently under construction. The 3 blades need to be both light and resilient. Several
materials are being evaluated for satisfying this design. Materials will likely be a composite of
plywood, foam or foamboard, and PVC.

Stage 4: Hub/AC Generator

The AC Generator will be made by converting a ceiling fan motor with neodymium magnets.
This seems to be the cheapest solution available.

Stage 5: Turbine Arms

The Arms connecting the blades to the Hub need to be strong and light. Plastic or steel seem
the most likely options.

Stage 6: Main Shaft and wiring

The wires connecting the generator to the core electronics and from the electronics to the 12V
battery needs to be of sufficient gauge to enable high current draws and safely carry
overcurrent into the grounding stake that will be planted into nearby earth for safe electrical
grounding of the system. The main wires will be protected from the elements by being stowed
inside the main turbine shaft and electrical housing.

Stage 7: Core Electronics

A smaller housing to be mounted inside the Electronic housing will ensure protection from any
small leaks from the main housing. It will contain the critical core electronics responsible for AC-
DC conversion/filtering and charge controller to ensure safe charging of the battery in the lower
level of the Electronic Housing.

Stage 8:Painting/Weatherproofing
Painting and coating all main elements of the Turbine system with some sort of polyurethane
sealant will help mitigate water damage and prevent rust. Spray foam will be used to seal any
small cracks in various areas of the system

Schedule:
Please refer to Appendix B for the project schedule. The project is currently several weeks
behind schedule and the construction and assembly process is taking longer than expected. This
will cause a significant reduction in time available for testing and troubleshooting.

Cost estimate:
Between Parts and tools, the estimated cost of completing this project is around $1000 dollars.
Please refer to Appendix A for a complete breakdown of estimated labor and material costs for
this project. Costs are and will be mitigated by using free labor from the project manager and
tools provided by family sponsors. The project is being constructed and stored in Front Royal,
VA on family property.

Project Budget:
Initial self-investment into this project has $1000 in the bank to satisfy safe construction of this
system.

Current Status:

So far, stages 1 and 6 are the only ones currently complete. Stages 2 and 3 are currently
underway simultaneously. The Turbine Blades are taking longer than expected to complete,
requiring extended times for glue and materials to form and set at each stage. They require
precise and accurate measurements, cutting, forming, and smoothing. The Electronic Housing
design is finalized. The exact materials that will be used to construct it is still being examined
and will be decided shortly.

This leaves stages 4,5,6 and 8 still to be complete. Testing will happen throughout the
construction phase of this project to ensure satisfactory components.
 Appendix A: Estimated Project Costs
Table 2: Estimates of Tangible Costs
Resource Estimated Price Per Total Source
Unit(s) Unit Cost
Research and Design Costs: $1,624
Project Member Labor (PML) Research 24 hr. $21/hr. $504 Glassdoor
time
PML Design time 30 hr. $21/hr. $630 Glassdoor
Project Software (Windows 10, 1 $120 $120 Microsoft
MS Office) 1 $70/year $70
Design Software (Matlab) 1 $500 $0 Matlab
Matlab Alternative (GNU Octave) 1 $0 Octave
3D Model/Printing (Blender, Sketchup, 1 $0 Fabian
Fusion360)
Laptop 1 $300 $300 Amazon
Construction Costs: $2,104
Indoor Storage Rental Costs 3 months $60/mont $180 Public
h Storage
PML for Construction/Assembly 49 hr. $21/hr. $1029 Glassdoor
Construction Materials:
- Grid Tie Inverter (<500 Watts) 1 $80 $80 Amazon
- Sensor Array (weather station) 1 $70 $70 Sparkfun
- Charge Controller (40 Amp) 1 $20 $20 Amazon
- AC-DC Converter/Filter 3 $15 $45 Amazon
- Battery Bank (12V) 2 $70 $140 Amazon
- Controller Logic 1 $50 $50 Banggood
- Breaking Element 3 $5 $15 Banggood
- DC/DC regulator 1 $15 $15 Ebay
- Wood Platform 2 $16 $32 Home
- Wood 2x4” beams 4 $6 $24 Depot
- Galvanized Steel sheet 7 $8 $56 “”
- Nuts/Bolts/Washers, Screws 100 $0.46 $46 “”
- PVC pipe (Turbine Shaft) 1 $20 $20 “”
- Turbine Arm (Aluminum) 3 $22 $66 “”
- Balsa Wood Turbine Blade 6 $3 $18 “”
Construction Tools:
- Soldering Iron 1 $10 $10 Amazon
- Multimeters 3 $15 $45 “”
- Toolkit/Toolbox 1 $33 $33 Home
- Power Drill 1 $30 $30 Depot
- Drill bit set 1 $10 $10 “”
- Clamps 4 $5 $20 “”
- Glue Gun 1 $40 $40 “”
- Glue 2 $5 $10 “”
Testing Costs: $1,541
PML for Testing 44 hours $21/hr. $924 Glassdoor
Testing Tools:
- Lab equipment (Oscilloscope, 2 months $300/mo. $600 Electrorent
Multimeters, probes)
- Sensor Array (built into system) 1 $0 $0
- Data Storage (Flash drive – 32GB 1 $12 $12 Amazon
microSD)
USB connector (5 ft.) 1 $5 $5 Amazon
Laptop (Reused from Design Phase) 1 $0 $0
Revision Costs: $196
PML for revising/fixing 4 hr. $21/hr. $84 Glassdoor
Replacement parts (blades, gears, ball 2 $50 $100 Amazon
bearings, battery) Banggood
Spare consumable materials (nuts, bolts, 20 $0.60 $12 Home
wires, glue) Depot
Troubleshooting/Repair tool use 4 hr. $0 $0 Estimated
Operational Costs: $405
PML for Maintenance 5 hr. $21/hr. $105 Glassdoor
Outdoor Space Rental Costs 30 days $10/day $300 Estimated
Operating costs 30 days $0 $0 Estimated
Miscellaneous Costs: $1,061
Electrical Consulting (Local Utility 4 hr. $26/hr. $104 Glassdoor
Company)
Administrative Costs (computer/printer 2 hr. $5 $10 Estimated
access)
PML for Documentation 7 hr. $21/hr. $147 Glassdoor
Project Advisor Consultations 16 hr. $50/hr. 800 Glassdoor
Total Estimated Tangible Costs: $6,931.00
 Appendix B: Schedule for Completing Senior Design Project (EE-458)
Task
Seek Project Funding
Finalize Prototype Wind Turbine
Design
Finalize Project Budget & Resources
Available
Identify testing equipment needed
Create 3 buildable Designs (1 with
off-the-shelf components, 1 with
scratch-built in-house components, 1
with hybrid of both)
Execute CBA of 3 designs and
choose final design
Identify components to
manufacture and/or purchase
Manufacture and Assemble
Components
Research/Compare specs and prices
for components to purchase from
multiple vendors
Order Parts, Send 3-D & Circuit
Board manufacturing request(s)
Receive parts
Assemble ‘Generator’
Assemble ‘Controller’
EN-408: Item 2B
Senior Design Project Schedule
For Troy Massagee
(Omnidirectional Wind Turbine)
# of Resource
Days Requirements Notes
60 EN-408 Documents, *Will use the documents generated
Computer, Printer, Points from EN-408 as a basis for creating
of Contact proposals for seeking sponsors to
help fund this Senior Design
Project.
15
Project Budget will constrain the
Consult with Project size of the Turbine and quality of its
3 Advisor components. Access to 3D printer is
required if manufacturing
Consult with Project components in-house
1 Advisor
Detailed Component
6 Diagrams needed
Many components have trade-offs
of price/performance/efficiency
3 Cost-Benefit Analysis
Vendor Catalogs
2 Data in Spreadsheet for
easy analysis
37 Project Budget will determine what
parts/components are purchased
from vendors.
5 Vendor Catalogs,
Monetary Budget, Budget may allow purchase of spare
Material Budget from Self parts.
& Capitol Tech. University
1 Parts from international sources will
take longer than domestic sources.
Receiving Address
14 Components being hand-made or
Working space to from Capitol’s resources can be
5 assemble and store assembled and wired while waiting
project, Power Tools, for other parts to arrive.
3 Industrial Glues, clamps,
polishing/sanding tools,
 Assemble ‘Inverter’
Assemble ‘Braking Element’
Assemble Turbine Blades/Rotor
Assemble Turbine Housing
(Nacelle)
Assemble Turbine Platform
Assemble Artificial Wind Source(s)
(Fans)
Assemble Prototype Turbine &
Testing Platform
Mount Nacelle (Housing) onto
Turbine Platform
Mount Generator and Turbine
Blades/Rotor into the Nacelle
(Housing)
Mount Controller and Braking
Element onto the Turbine
Platform/Nacelle
Mount Inverter onto the Turbine
Platform
Mount Artificial Wind Source(s)
onto Turbine Platform
Test Connections and Power Flow
Test Wind Turbine Performance &
Efficiency
Test turbine performance under
controlled conditions (Measure
energy output over time/peak
output)
Remove Artificial Wind Sources
Test turbine performance under
real world conditions (Measure
energy output over time/peak
output)
3 Screws, Nails, hammer, Some components may need time
Electronic measuring for glue to set, and for small parts to
1 tools, Soldering be placed very precisely.
equipment, Access to
2 Capitol’s Electronics Lab, Testing each component is critical
during this for reducing
1 troubleshooting and issues later in
this project.
Likely to be bought from
1 local Walmart or other The Turbine Platform will be the
department store largest component and require the
1 largest amount of storage space.
The ‘Artificial Wind Sources’ are
required to test the prototype
turbine under controlled conditions,
to allow for collection of a reliable
baseline of testing data.
6
The mobility of the Turbine platform
1 Same resources needed will largely affect where project will
from previous phase of be stored and how often access to it
the Project: will be.
1 Working space to
assemble and store
project, Power Tools,
Industrial Glues, clamps,
1 polishing/sanding tools,
Screws, Nails, hammer,
Electronic measuring
tools, Soldering
1 equipment, Access to Double-checking and testing the
Capitol’s Electronics Lab, connections is essential and will be
done at every sub-section of this
1 phase to ensure proper energy flow
and prevent damage to any
component later on.
1
36
7 Energy/Electronic Provides a baseline to evaluate
measuring tools, power generated and its efficiency.
Computer, Spreadsheets
Since real world conditions are
much more unpredictable, extra
1 time is need to gather data. Slack
Energy/Electronic from other parts of this project may
14 measuring tools, allow testing of this turbine at
Computer, Spreadsheets multiple locations.

Fix Critical Failures & Issues
Final Results & Conclusions
Compile test data
Evaluate performance and
efficiency of the prototype wind
turbine
Generate conclusions for the
project
Total Estimated Time to Complete
Project
Power tools, Diagnostic
14* tools, Spare parts
10
2 Combine spreadsheets of
measurements. Utilize
5 data analysis tools from
MS Excel.
Compile report using MS
3 Office
164*
*Fixing Critical Issues can operate in
parallel with the rest of the Testing
Phase, and may extend the phase
depending on how long it takes to
fix the issue(s)
Weather a success, failure, or
neither, this project will reach
completion. Conclusions about this
project will be made and submitted.
*Includes 60 days for project
funding *
 References

DeCoste, J., McKay, D., Robinson, B., Whitehead, S., & Wright, S. (2005, Dec 5). MECH 4010
design project: Vertical axis wind turbine. Nova Scotia, Canada: Dalhousie University.
Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.6381&rep=rep1&type=
pdf

Shuqin, L. (2011, July 5). Magnetic suspension and self-pitch for vertical-axis wind turbines. In R.
Carriveau (Ed.). Fundamental and Advanced Topics in Wind Power (pp. 233-248).
Shanghai, China: InTech. Retrieved from
https://www.intechopen.com/books/fundamental-and-advanced-topics-in-wind-power

Silva, G. (n.d.). Vertical axis wind turbine development. Portugal: Tecnico Lisboa [University].
Retrieved from
https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/downloadFile/395143097660/Extended%20abstract.pdf