Abstract:
A new design of vertical axis wind turbine is disclosed based on a dome structure using dome struts as blades that work in concert to produce rotational motion. The stability and low cost of the new design allows the turbine to function in low wind speed regimes as well as high speed winds that would be encountered in off-shore wind installations. The large stresses and structural requirements of mounting large horizontal axis wind turbines, particularly off-shore, are avoided with the new system. A new energy distribution system is proposed that will capture abundant off-shore wind energy, store it aboard a generator/delivery ship in the form of Hydrogen gas, and deliver it to an existing shore based power plant to produce electricity using a conventional gas turbine. Alternatively, the Hydrogen can be used to produce methane from coal using known processes to add natural gas to pipelines in areas that would normally be consuming the material. Both applications, and the direct production of heat by the new turbines, would stabilize our national energy grid while reducing CO2 emissions.

Description:
[0001]     This is a divisional application by Paul Hartman, (US Citizen), Chardon, Ohio to co-pending application Ser. No. 11/210,068 filed Aug. 23, 2005. This application is for equipment to provide distributed energy resources to offset the use of non-renewable fuels in the public power supply. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to wind turbines and energy systems, specifically to vertical axis machines and systems that have the capability to supply public energy needs in combination with existing infrastructure and equipment.  
         [0004]     2. Prior Art  
         [0005]     Large horizontal axis wind turbines have the lion&#39;s share of the current land based market. They also constitute the planning for off shore installations of very large (up to 5 MW) turbines. While many high value wind sites lie in mountain passes such as Tehachapi in California and Guadalupe in Texas they are limited in frequency and access to the grid. A host of attractive sites are found in the Great Plains, (called the ‘Saudi Arabia’ of wind), but lie a considerable distance from major population areas.  
         [0006]     Just off shore of major population centers on the Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Pacific and Great Lakes lie wind energy resources that dwarf on-shore wind energy available by factors of up to 5:1. Recent DOE inquiries have focused on tall towers for islands to capture this resource. The difficulties of the Nantucket Shoals project, general use of the shoreline as a recreational/tourist resource and valid ‘not in my back yard’ sentiments of the public demonstrate the limitations of this direction of development. Another difficulty is integrating and connecting the variable off-shore wind resource to existing shore-based power plants that are the ties to the distribution grid.  
         [0007]     As turbines get larger, the large moment of inertia in the three-blade horizontal axis design requires ever heavier composite cross-sections. Fiberglass thickness now reaches close to three inches for 1.5 to 2.5 MW production machines. The strength to weight properties of composites will limit the turbine size in the same way the size of dinosaurs was limited by the properties of bone. A planned developmental 5 MW turbine for off-shore installation in Germany will have 18 ton blades, even considering some use of high cost carbon fiber reinforcement. Production scale machines are now so large that they need to be rotated whenever they pass below bridges.  
         [0008]     Thinking in land based terms of ever larger turbines is not particularly useful within an ocean context where average wind energy can go from 500 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2 by moving slightly further off shore. The top-heavy design of horizontal axis mills and transmission to shore increases the cost of off shore installations by a factor of at least three over comparable land installations. Island installations have a more reasonable cost but are not scaleable in the sense that there are few opportunities available.  
         [0009]     Within this context, Heronemous, (US App#2003/0168864) and Pflantz, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,600) have proposed gigantic, buoyed, off shore platforms for horizontal axis turbines to produce public power. Both are unique in generating hydrogen through electrolysis and utilizing heat to desalinate water; an important need in many areas. The former also features systems on the platform to produce methane, ammonia and liquid Hydrogen for transport by tender ship to shore. Placing large chemical production platforms off shore would seem to be more costly than placing them on land, and to invite the possibility of chemical spills in the aquatic environment. Working with liquid Hydrogen is just barely handled safely by NASA at the present time.  
         [0010]     In addition to the limitations described above, the fixed position of the platforms, the ungainly array of multiple horizontal axis wind turbines and the turbulence experienced in large storms present the challenge of catastrophic failure such as that of the Putnam 1.5 MW installation in Vermont during WW II.  
         [0011]     Also, from the perspective of public services, Bird, U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,382, presents a land based energy system using wind for water pumping to create a hydrostatic head for wind powered water purification. Most recently, a corporation formed around the work of Lackner et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,790,430) has worked on the pollution free production of public electricity from coal. The work has been focused on the use of oil shale and is quite far from producing a viable public power system.  
         [0012]     The first step of the Lackner process, however, (the hydrogenation of coal to produce methane), is a viable technology developed between the 1930&#39;s and 1960&#39;s (e.g. Schroeder U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,063). Implementation of the later technology, would go a long way towards the realistic goal of stabilizing global CO2 at 500 ppm (Browne), and could do so in a much shorter period of time and with-better assurance of public safety than use of a totally Hydrogen based economy.  
         [0013]     Earlier, Lawson-Tancred, (U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,010) developed an integrated horizontal axis system for producing heat and/or electricity based on hydraulic pumps to drive electric generators which in turn generate heat for storage or smaller amounts of electricity for on-site usage. Disadvantages of this approach were that heat could have produced directly from the fluid power and that the small scale of the installation could not effectively compete with utility based supply costs. In targeting direct production of heat, much of the cost and complexity of a wind system is reduced, allowing wind to more effectively compete in areas of modest wind energy resources.  
         [0014]     In terms of ocean-based technology, Flettner (U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,169 &amp; Foreign Patents) sailed a large Magnus effect powered ship across the Atlantic in 1925. Reducing weight on the top of the mast, a stable shipboard system was produced. In the 1980&#39;s Bergeson repeated this work retrofitting ships between 81 and 560 feet long with Magnus rotors, saving between 23 and 11% on fuel usage, (Gilmore).  
         [0015]     These efforts did not put forward a systems approach to supplying public energy needs. Few designs have been put forward to collect off shore energy resources and deliver them by ship to shore based energy production and distribution infrastructure. The ability to do so also affords the opportunity to move to safe haven in the event of massive storms. It allows for scaleable and mobile systems that can respond to changing needs while also moving the production system for the most part out of everyone&#39;s ‘back yard’.  
         [0016]     The original Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine design (U.S. Pat. No. 1,835,018) had the advantages of moving the mass of the generator to the bottom, reducing overall weight of the structure, being omni-directional and having a relatively high tip speed ratio and efficiency. One early limitation was that it was not self-starting.  
         [0017]     Original designs were formed from Aluminum extrusions with more potential for damaging deformation than composites. Recently, Wallace et al, (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,499,904 and 5,375,324), developed a composite Darrieus blade produced through the lower cost pultrusion process. This process addresses a potential problem of conventional horizontal axis blades; mold form/lay up process can leave potential voids and hidden defects formed in the heavy wall polymerization process.  
         [0018]     Wallace still uses conventional troposkein Darrieus geometry and has many of the limitations outlined for it. Wallace proposes bending into the troposkein geometry from a straight geometry on site, avoiding the transport problems outlined above, but perhaps creating others.  
         [0019]     Another limitation in the Darrieus design was the lack of pitch control. Modifications to the original curved blade by Drees, (U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,367), Seki, (U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,253) and others resolved the perceived needs for a self-starting machine with pitch control. Despite the advantages of vertical axis wind machines, they did not perform well in applications directly linked to the grid and are no longer produced in the US. This may have been related to speed regulation, to structural weakness in the rectangular geometry of the cylindrical straight blade arrays or to a standardization on horizontal axis machines.  
         [0020]     Additional references are included on forms PTO/SB/08 A &amp; B, (attached).  
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the current invention are: 
        a) To provide a robust design for a vertical axis wind turbine or windmill that is capable of operation in a variety of wind regimes; Such as that of a ship mounted device to capture high powered off-shore wind energy resources and economical land based installations in areas having modest wind energy resources,     b) To provide an energy production and delivery system capable of harvesting abundant off shore wind resources and delivering them in economically and technically useful forms to existing on-shore energy generation, distribution and use infrastructure,     c) To provide an energy production and delivery system capable of reducing hydrocarbon fuel usage and associated greenhouse gas emissions in a variety of shore based energy applications in areas with modest wind resources, and     d) To provide a system that is scaleable and that can be implemented in a relatively short period of time in order to; relieve growing energy demand, improve energy independence and the environment.        
 
         [0026]     Further objects and advantages will become apparent from examination of the specifications, drawings and claims of the invention.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]     The invention consists of a robust vertical axis windmill/turbine design based on dome structure spars as blade supports and blades. It can either be ship mounted or land based and operate in low (windmill) to very high (wind turbine) wind speed regimes. Driven devices for heat and electricity generation allow for production of site/district heating and Hydrogen for energy storage aboard a generator ship for delivery to shore based facilities. Integrated downstream equipment can use the Hydrogen for substitution or supplement of natural gas in conventional gas turbine electrical generation or production of natural gas for heating and transportation needs.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0028]      FIG. 1  is an isometric drawing of a land based vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) coupled to the heating system of a building.  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a cross section through a blade strut making up the VAWT.  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is an isometric drawing of a first style of hub connector  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is an isometric drawing of a second style of hub connector  
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is an exploded assembly drawing of a turbine to mast coupler unit  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  is an exploded assembly drawing of a fluid friction thermal generator  
         [0034]      FIG. 7  is an isometric drawing of a ship based energy capture and delivery system  
         [0035]      FIG. 8  is a schematic illustrating wind turbine function  
         [0036]      FIG. 9  is a schematic/layout of dome—turbine geometry  
         [0037]      FIG. 10  is a cross section of mechanical components in the ship based system of  FIG. 7   
         [0038]      FIG. 11  is a cross section of the generator/Hydrogen storage components of the system  
         [0039]      FIG. 12  is a process flow diagram of the energy capture and distribution system 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     Wind Turbine and Heating Systems  
       [0040]     1. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a wind energy resource  134  turns a novel vertical axis wind turbine  21  driving a thermal generator  30  to supply heat to a conventional heat pump system  45  for a commercial, industrial or agricultural building, (not shown). In areas of modest wind energy resources, an integrated wind heating system  46 ; allows for economical competition with the rising cost of natural gas, and the freeing of natural gas supply to uses such as electrical generation and transportation.  
         [0041]     2. Turbine  21  is made up of a dome structure assembled from structural struts  22  and blade struts  23 . ( FIG. 1 ) The blade struts  23  all have leading edges  65  that are oriented in the same circumferential direction to reinforce rotation  100 , (clockwise from above) of the turbine. The dome structure illustrated has octahedral symmetry with what is termed a three-frequency breakdown, (i.e.; each spherical segment is divided into three equal sections between the pole and the equator and each quarter of the equator is divided into three equal sections.)  
         [0042]     3. Structural struts  22  are used wherever the component is roughly parallel to the equator of the dome. Blade struts  23  are used wherever there is a projection of the component on a meridian plane which can be used to generate lift and rotation of the turbine. The turbine is attached to a central mast  25  at an upper coupler  24 B and a lower coupler  24 A. Mast  25  passes into a segmented tower  26  and is supported by an upper bearing  27 A and a lower bearing  27 B. Tower  26  has internal platforms  28  and  29 , which serve to stabilize the structure and delineate work areas within the structure. Thermal generator  30  is supported on platform  29  and mechanically driven by mast  25 . Segmented tower  26  is preferably constructed through the methods and materials of U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,520 to Hartman.  
         [0043]     4. Thermal generator  30  is shown in  FIG. 6  as a shear type fluid friction device working on a contained viscous fluid  116 . Heat is transmitted through an upper enclosure  104 A and a lower enclosure  104 B to a surface of extended fins  112  which heat a flow of supply air  31 A which is sent to a standard HVAC system  45 . A flow of return air  31 B comes from system  45  and is reheated by the thermal generator.  
         [0044]     5. An acceptable alternative to the thermal generator illustrated is a high pressure fluid pump driven by turbine  21  which generates heat passing the circulating fluid through a small diameter heat exchange coil, (not shown). In the case of heating for a greenhouse or other less critical application, the lower portion of tower  26  can be optionally used to contain a thermal storage medium  43  for subsequent supply to the application. Flow  3   1 A would then be directed through the medium for heat storage within the tower. Some preferred materials for the medium would be rocks and aluminum metal, (because of the high specific heat capacity).  
         [0045]     6. A schematic of HVAC system  45  is bounded by fence line  42 , and would likely be contained within the commercial or industrial building served by the system. Thermal storage tank  32  contains water  47  as the primary heat transfer medium and is fitted with a heat exchange jacket  33 . Flow  31 A passes through jacket  33  before returning to the thermal generator.  
         [0046]     7. Water  47  is supplied to a circulation pump  34  which in turn supplies heated water to the coil of a water source heat pump  36  and then returns the water to tank  32 . Heat pump  36  receives a flow  39 A of return air  37  from the building, conditions it and circulates a flow  39 B of supply air  38  to the building.  
         [0047]     8. An alternate source  40  of supply flow  35 A could be used by heat pump  36  and returned (flow  35 B) to the alternate source  41  for reconditioning. A preferred alternate source for summer cooling would be a geothermal loop. Preferred alternate sources for heating would be a natural gas heated or solar heated loops.  
         [0048]     9. In this dome design layout, ( FIG. 9 ), three lengths of struts are required. Equatorial struts  141  have a length of 0.259 times turbine diameter. Central struts  142  have a length of 0.325 times the diameter. Corner struts  143  have a length of 0.353 times the diameter. (36) equatorial struts, (48) central struts and (24) corner struts are used in the illustrated turbine.  
         [0049]     10. It is not desired to limit the invention to the particular dome geometry illustrated, as any dome geometry could be used to implement the invention on virtually any scale desired. Dome geometry is useful in distributing dynamic and static stress throughout turbine  21  as opposed to the massive centrifugal force normally borne by the blade root/nacelle connection of typical three-blade horizontal axis wind turbines.  
         [0050]     11.  FIG. 2  is a cross section through a blade strut  23 A showing both the structure of blade struts and structural struts. An elliptical tube  50  is integrally produced with transition sections  51 A and  51 B, which later join to form a blade section  52 . It will later be shown that some deflection of the blade section, (indicated by arrow  54 ), is desirable in operation. This can be controlled through adjustment of the blade materials, the thickness  53  of the blade section, or as shown in  FIG. 4 , through engineering the nature of a hub connection  144  ( FIG. 9 ) between struts.  
         [0051]     12. Dashed line  56  shows how a structural strut  22 A would be produced as a matching elliptical tube with the transition sections and blade section omitted from the construction. Both the blade strut  23 A and the optional structural strut  22 A have an internal surface  55  and an assembly adhesive  57  which are used for mounting end connections. ( FIGS. 3, 4 ,  9 ). The preferred material for both types of struts is a flexible fiberglass reinforced thermoset plastic. Alternatives are carbon reinforced plastic, chopped fiber reinforced thermoplastics, and metal extrusions.  
         [0052]     13. Beyond the mast couplers  24 A and  24 B, turbine  21  is assembled at a number of six strut hubs  144  and four strut hubs  145 . ( FIG. 1 )  FIG. 3  shows a rigid hub connector  58  composed of a metal tube  59  and a bar section  61 . Bar section  61  is joined tube  59  by a near adapter  60 A at the viewer end and a far adapter  60 B at the far end. In each case, the bar section, adapter and tube are welded together, (welds not numbered). Bar section  61  is bent at point  62  to allow for a tab section  63  perpendicular to the vertex of either hub  144  or hub  145 , ( FIG. 1 ). Through hole  64  is designed to accept a conventional fastener, (not shown), which is used to make up the hub assembly in the field. Outside surface  66  of tube  58  is sized for a sliding fit into internal surface  55 . During manufacture of the struts, through holes  64  can be used to precisely size the length using reference pins, (not shown), while adhesive  57  is curing.  
         [0053]     14. Optionally, tab section  63  would be extended out to section  68 , having a second through hole  69  for connections to couplers  24 ,  24 A and  24 B. Ideally, the length of tube  59  would also be extended in this case to add strength to structural strut  22 A. As shown in  FIG. 5 , both through holes would be used to anchor the struts to the couplers.  
         [0054]     15.  FIG. 4  shows an alterative hub connection system which allows for flexion of blade struts relative to the fixed position of the hubs. Elliptical adapter  70  carries two through holes  71 A and  71 B. Outside surface  72  is also sized for a sliding fit into internal surface  55 . Ring adapter  73  is formed from light rod or heavy wire on a four axis spring machine into two arms  74 A and  74 B that are congruent with through holes  71 A and  71 B. Arms  74 A and  74 B are bent at point  75  into a plane perpendicular to the vertex of either hub  144  or hub  145 , and rolled into ring section  76 , which functions as the connection point to form the hubs.  
         [0055]     16. A spool piece  67 ,(not to scale) is field assembled from a cap  77  and a plug  78 . Cap  77  has internal threading  79  which matches locking threads  80  on plug  78 . Ring sections  76  from the struts at the field assembled hub ( 144  or  145 ) are contained by flange sections  81  and  82  during assembly. Span wrenches, (not shown), can engage holes  85  and the outside diameter of the flange sections for final tightening.  
         [0056]     17. As an additional locking component, a bolt or eye bolt  83  with threading direction opposite that of locking threads  80  can be used to engage threads  84  on cap  77  to prevent release during operation. Eye bolt  83  would be the preferred configuration where a cable stay (not shown) to prevent turbine rotation would be needed and as a tether point for securing the trailing edge of a fabric or film based sail, where sails would be used in conjunction with the dome turbine.  
         [0057]     18. The preferred material for ring adapter  73  in cases involving corrosion (e.g.  FIG. 7 ) would be tempered Titanium. An acceptable alternative in other applications would be spring steel. In both cases, the axis of the blade strut could rotate relative to a fixed hub position during turbine rotation as shown in  FIG. 8 . The preferred material for rigid connector  58  would be stainless steel in corrosive applications. Aluminum or a thermoplastic material for use with thermoplastic blade struts would be acceptable alternatives.  
       Specialized Components  
       [0058]     19.  FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate specialized components to realize the vertical axis wind turbine and the wind heating system of the present invention.  
         [0059]     20. Mast  25 , shown as  25 A in  FIG. 5  is preferably produced as a resin fiber composite in order to confer light weight and flexure resistance on the turbine  21 /tower  26  assembly. Coupler  24  represents couplers  24 A, and  24 B in  FIG. 1  and the turbine to mast couplings (not numbered) in  FIG. 7 . The assembly shown in  FIG. 5  is one approach to connecting a rotating member to a composite shaft without direct use of threaded holes in the composite. It is roughly based on the many types of compression fittings currently in use in the plumbing industry.  
         [0060]     21. Flanges  90 A and  90 B are the compression members that form the outside of the assembly. Flange  90 A has through holes  96  for passage of assembly bolts  95 , (only one shown here), and flange  90 B has tapped holes  97  for connection to bolts  95 . Spool piece  92  has a through hole for mast  25 A, (not shown), and conical ledges  98  at the top and bottom for receipt of compression rings  91 A and  91 B. It also has a series of strut flats, illustrated here as  93 A and  93 B to be used as attachment points for rigid strut connectors as shown in  FIG. 3 . In the particular example illustrated spool piece  92  has four strut flats, (the number could easily be adapted to any desired dome geometry). Tapped holes  94  are provided at each strut flat for receipt of strut assembly bolts, (not shown) passing through holes  64  and  69  in the field assembly of turbine  21  to mast  25 , mast  25 A, or mast  25 B ( FIG. 7 ). Flats  93 A and  93 B can be countersunk to allow for better registration of struts and to relieve shearing stress on these strut assembly bolts. Spool piece  92  is preferably made from metal, aluminum for non-corrosive applications or corrosion resistant steel for corrosive applications. Both flanges  90  and spool piece  92  can be easily produced on multi-spindle machining centers.  
         [0061]     22. After assembly of coupler  24  using bolts  95 , flanges  90 A and  90 B urge rings  91 A and  91 B into locking contact with mast  25 A as the rings are deflected by conical ledges  98 . A choice of hard composites as the material for rings  91  would result in a tight connection to the mast. This might be desirable in upper coupler  24 B, as this might not be often removed.  
         [0062]     23. Softer thermoplastic as the material choice for rings  91  might be desirable in order to have a more easily loosened coupler. Turbine  21  could then be lowered on mast  25  after removal of lower structural struts  22  attached to coupler  24 A, thus allowing for repair and maintenance of turbine  21  closer to the ground. In the reverse of this operation, turbine  21  could be assembled around tower  26 , using the tower as a sort of scaffolding, then attached using coupler  24 B to mast  25 . The final operation in assembly would be raising mast  25  from inside the tower, (not shown), and assembling lower structural struts  22  to coupler  24 A. In this manner, a very large wind turbine might be assembled with a minimum of heavy crane equipment.  
         [0063]     24. Earlier methods of composite assembly used direct insertion of metal fasteners through the composite, resulting in ultimate failure either due to wearing and subsequent cracking of the composite parts.  
         [0064]     25.  FIG. 6  is an assembly drawing of thermal generator  30  from  FIG. 1 . It provides a dedicated assembly for generating fluid friction heat that cuts the cost of conventional electrical systems. It also represents a unique driven device for a wind turbine in the sense that the load is automatically increased in proportion to the power available in increasing winds. Hollow drive shaft  102  is secured to friction disc  101  and rotates (arrow  100 ) with it. While shown as a single disc in the illustration, the system could also be realized with multiple discs running off of the shaft.  
         [0065]     26. Disc  101  is contained between upper housing  104 A and lower housing  104 B, with a specific gap, g, (not shown on the drawing) between the housing inside surfaces  107  and the face surfaces  108  of disc  101 . Disc projections or roughness  118  are applied to surfaces  108  and housing projections or roughness  117  are applied to surfaces  107  in order to allow for effective momentum/heat transfer to working fluid  116  which is filled into gap g, through the center of shaft  102  during equipment setup. During manufacture, upper housing  104 A is preferably assembled to lower housing  104 B through welding raised flanges  106  of both housings together. Shaft  102  is held in fixed position relative to this housing assembly using bearing seal pack  115  mounted in upper housing  104 A.  
         [0066]     27. During setup of the generator  30 A, fluid  116  fills the lower gap between housing  104 B, moves up through periodic holes  109  in disc  101 , then displaces the air between disc  101  and upper housing  104 A emerging from a coupling fitting  119  in housing  104 A. Fluid  116  can then be sealed with either a plug (not shown) or a fluid expansion fitting, (not shown) threaded into fitting  119 . Outer surface  111  of the upper housing and outer surface  110  of the lower housing carry annular extended surface fins  112  which serve to facilitate heat transfer to air flow (from storage)  31 B.  
         [0067]     28. The entire assembly is enclosed between a pair of insulated sheet metal housings  105 A and  105 B (not shown in drawing) which serve to direct and contain air flow across outer surfaces  110 ,  111  and fins  112 . In this case, a blower  113  feeds air through a first stove pipe connection  114 A across surface  111 . Air emerges from connection  114 B as flow  31 C and is fed through a similar set of connections in lower housing  105 B (not shown), then to emerge as flow  31 A returning warmed air to thermal storage.  
         [0068]     29. Fluid friction wall stress for turbulent flow within a closed conduit or chamber is generally proportional to velocity squared, with fluid friction power consumption being proportional to velocity cubed. As wind power available varies according to wind velocity cubed, vertical turbine  21 &#39;s output would track the power consumed by coupled thermal generator  30 , resulting in a largely self-controlling system without the use of mechanical braking or feathering.  
         [0069]     30. Additional design sophistication might be introduced through allowing starting velocity for turbine  21  to occur at a laminar flow situation within generator  30 , with transition to a turbulent flow regime occurring at the mid-range of wind speed. This would allow for capture of more prevalent low wind speeds, while also protecting from over-speed by power consumption in a turbulent fluid friction regime.  
         [0070]     31. Direct drive a a lower cost thermal generator removes the high costs associated with electrical generators mounted at the top of conventrional horizontal axis machines, the associated cost of heavier tower support and electrical power conditioning. It serves the needs of a large variety of potential customers by providing heat at a low cost to an established HVAC system serving a building.  
       Energy Capture and Distribution System  
       [0071]     32.  FIGS. 7, 9 ,  11  and  12  illustrate an alternate embodiment of the invention in the form of a ship based system for capturing abundant off-shore wind energy  120  and an energy capture and distribution system  186 . A wind energy resource  134  works through system  186  to supply public needs through an electrical distribution grid  194  and a natural gas pipeline  193 . The completed systems offer the opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions through the displacement of coal and gasoline with natural gas and Hydrogen and to capture abundant off-shore wind energy in an economical fashion for the general public good.  
         [0072]     33.  FIG. 7  is a perspective drawing of a ship  127  carrying three wind turbines similar to turbine  21  in  FIG. 1 . Main turbine  121  is mounted mid-ship with smaller turbines  122  and  123  mounted forward and aft. Turbines  122  and  123  are illustrated as simple spheres for drawing simplicity, and are dome—turbines like  21  and  121  in practice. Turbine  121  rotates clockwise from above, (arrow  100 ) while turbines  122  and  123  rotate counter-clockwise (arrow  103 ) to give gyroscopic stabilization to the ship, and to more effectively utilize wind moving between the three turbines, (not numbered).  
         [0073]     34. All three turbines are mounted on tubular towers  124 ,  125  and  126  which in turn are secured to the main deck  176 . An unloading equipment enclosure  132 , containing Hydrogen unloading equipment (not shown) is also mounted on the main deck. Below the waterline  131 , the hull of the ship is modified to include a nacelle  130 , which in turn protects a Hydrogen storage tank  153 , ( FIG. 10 ). The ship&#39;s bow  129  and stern  161  extend beyond nacelle  130  to further protect storage tank  153  from collision damage.  
         [0074]     35.  FIG. 10  is a mechanical detail cross section of ship  127 . Below the main deck, tower  124  connects with a primary gearing and generator set  150 . Similarly, forward turbine  122  connects with a secondary generator set  151 A and aft turbine  123  connects to a secondary generator set  151 B. Most equipment is mounted on an equipment deck  159  and a lower deck  160  supports auxiliary tanks  154 A,  154 B, (other auxiliary tanks not shown) and ship drive gearing  156 . A series of bulkheads  152 , separate compartments with different electrical and chemical functions such as primary generator  150  and electrolysis bay  162 . Electrolysis cells  157  for electrically splitting water into Hydrogen and Oxygen are mounted in bay  162  and in a forward bay (not numbered). An example of a commercially available cell  157  is the Hogen RE from Proton Energy Systems, distributed by Praxair.  
         [0075]     36. Alternatively, a forward bay  165  could be used with conventional storage batteries  166 , to store power provided by generator sets  150 ,  151 A or  151 B. This could either be used to provide utilities for the crew or to provide electric propulsion (not shown) for the ship. While not a direct objective of the invention, wind electric propulsion of ships would build on the proven energy savings demonstrated by Bergeson in the earlier discussed Flettner rotor work of the 1980&#39;s; particularly considering the small relative area of the Flettner rotors used compared to the size of wind turbines  121 ,  122 , and  123 .  
         [0076]     37. An optional wind deflector  158  is shown mounted to deck  176 . In practice it would serve to increase wind speed to the turbines by deflecting wind flow upward. It would be constructed from two halves, hinged to the deck and forming an A frame in use. The wind deflector would be actuated by hydraulics (not shown) to serve as a wind deflector at sea and flattened as a loading ramp or platform in ddck. The flattened wind deflector might also serve as a heliport platform or personnel platform for transfers on and off the ship at sea.  
         [0077]     38. Drive turbine  155  is mounted on equipment deck  159  and serves a dual function on the ship. Firstly, it is used to propel the ship off-shore and back to port. Secondly, through the drive gearing  156 , is can be used to power gas compression equipment (not shown) to take Hydrogen product  170  from electrolysis cells  157  and pressurize it to 6,000 to 10,000 psi for storage in tank  153 . Drive turbine  155  is configured as a dual fuel unit that could either run from Hydrogen  170  or liquefied natural gas that could be stored in one of the auxiliary tanks  154 A, or  154 B. If desirable from a economic standpoint, Oxygen  159  might optionally be stored in an auxiliary tank after compression at the outlet of electrolysis cells  157 . An example of a commercially available electrolysis cell  157  is the ‘Hogen RE’ from Proton Energy Systems.  
         [0078]     39.  FIG. 11  is a cross section showing details of the power distribution and storage system. Mast  25 B is supported by bearing  181  and is attached to gear box  171  by means of a flange adapter, (not numbered). Gearbox  171  increases rotational speed and transmits power to primary generator  172 . Electrical power from generator  172  is transmitted via wiring/conduit  180  to power conditioning equipment  179  and from there to electrolysis bay  162  and various other shipboard requirements. The use of a modern, synchronus, variable speed generator such as the NW 100/19 from Northern Power Systems would eliminate the need for gearbox  171 .  
         [0079]     40. Hydrogen gas  170  is supplied by electrolysis cells  157  and stored at high pressure in tank  153 , preferably a heavy walled alloy vessel resistant to hydrogen attack. Tank  153  is protected from impact damage by nacelle  130  which is an extension of hull  184 . Compression plate  173  and gussets  182  further protect tank  153  from damage. Optionally, area  174 , between gussets  182 , nacelle  130  and tank  153  could be used for purified water feed storage (not numbered) to supply electrolysis cells  157 . This usage would also balance the weight of lower ship as Hydrogen was being produced.  
         [0080]     41. One of the key problems in realizing a Hydrogen energy economy has been the weight of energy storage for automobiles. In this application the weight of the Hydrogen storage equipment applied at keel  175  of ship  127  serves to stabilize the vessel in the heavy weather it is designed to utilize in the generation of wind power. The gyroscopic effect of the wind turbines would also work to stabilize the ship if turbines  122  and  123  were designed to be counter rotating to turbine  121 .  
         [0081]     42. Like the wind heating system, mast  25 B is designed to have the capability of lowering for repairs to turbine  121 . In this case a passage  25 C is provided for the mast through gear box  171  and generator  172  for the mast to be lowered into receiver  183  and to stop at lower deck  160 . In order to provide for repair and upgrades to the generator and gear train in port, main deck  176  is perforated in the area of tower  124  which is mounted to an access plate  177 . Plate  177  is secured to a support plate  178  with a series of bolts, (not shown) and may be removed by a crane in port to allow for repair and replacement of generator  172  and/or gear box  171 .  
         [0082]     43. A complete energy capture and distribution system  186  is displayed schematically in  FIG. 12 . Wind turbine  121  captures an off-shore wind energy resource  134  and converts it to electrical power through generator systems  150  and  151 , (A&amp;B). On-board electrolysis cells  157  produce Hydrogen  170  and Oxygen  159  which are stored on board and transported by ship  127  to port. Hydrogen  170 , (and optionally Oxygen  159 ) are unloaded at an existing shore based power plant  190  and burned in a conventional gas turbine, in combination with natural gas  196 . The power plant supplies high voltage electricity  197  to an existing power grid  194  for public use.  
         [0083]     44. Areas with abundant off-shore wind energy resources having significant populations and industrial base, such as the Atlantic seaboard, lakes Erie and Ontario, the Gulf Coast and the West Coast could be provided with significant electrical power. This would be achieved without large amounts of objectionable, inefficient (because of low shore based wind speeds), wind turbines located near the populated areas and also without the very high cost and potential large storm instability of off-shore platforms.  
         [0084]     45. Alternatively, Hydrogen  170  can be provided to a natural gas synthesis plant  191 , operating according to the process of Schroeder (U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,063) or more recent researchers to hydrogenate a coal resource  192  to produce methane  195  (CH4, or natural gas) and other light hydrocarbons. From plant  191 , the methane is fed to a pipeline  193  for public use. From this perspective, the national energy grid would be stabilized through providing for sources of natural gas at points that would normally be users.  
       Operation and Implementation  
       [0085]     46.  FIGS. 8, 10 ,  11  and  12  delineate the operational details of the vertical axis wind turbine and the energy capture and distribution system.  
         [0086]     47. Early experiments with a ‘sail cloth’ version of the dome turbine configuration shown here as turbine  21  and turbine  121  yielded the information shown in  FIG. 8 . Wind resource  134  coming from any direction is seen to deflect sails  135  (approaching the wind source) toward the center of the dome. Conversely, sails  137  moving away from the source are deflected outward from mast  25 . This leads to the conclusion that there is an internal flow  139  moving across the direction of wind resource  134  from what might be construed as a higher pressure/lower velocity flow at sail  135  to a lower pressure/higher velocity flow at sail  137 .  
         [0087]     48. In the early sail cloth version, each sail was composed of polyethylene film wrapped around a strut at it&#39;s leading edge  65 A, and tethered with string to a hook at a hub opposite to that leading edge. (not shown). Struts were composed of ¼″ dowel material, and the sail cloth version easily held up to test winds in excess of 45 mph.  
         [0088]     49. Because the turbine is rotating about mast  25 , (arrow  100 ), internal flow  139  might be taken to imply somewhat of a Magnus effect was at work. A later experiment with round tubular struts showed that this vertical axis wind turbine design was self-starting and would rotate with a wind resource  134  having neither blade shaped struts nor sail cloth attached to struts. This appeared to be further confirmation of the Magnus effect at work in the design, and offer the promise of improved performance with the blade struts  23 ,  23 A, and  23 B shown in the earlier figures. The self-starting characteristics of the invention overcome the earlier limitations of Darrieus vertical axis turbines without the complex mechanical linkages present in the subsequent designs of cylindrical arrays of straight bladed machines, (e.g. Drees, Seki).  
         [0089]     50. In the intermediate positions during turbine rotation, sails  136  and  138  in the early experiment had intermediate deflections toward and away from the mast. Designing blade flexure into the blade section  52  ( FIG. 2 ) and/or the ring adapter  73  ( FIG. 4 ) seems to be an effective way to capitalize of the deflections and lift forces available at work in the system.  
         [0090]     51. Based on the preceding information, it is not desired to limit the invention to a particular blade geometry as the invention has been utilized with both sail cloth blades and with a dome structure composed of simple round tubular struts. The blade geometry illustrated in  FIG. 2  may represent, however, a preferred configuration in terms of turbine aesthetics, ease of assembly, cost/efficiency and environmental concerns. It is also likely that the observed performance of a sail cloth version of the invention utilized the ‘jib effect’ where pressure is reduced on a following sail by a leading sail (Billings), thereby improving performance of the following sail.  
         [0091]     52. A ‘sail cloth’ configuration comprising plastic film based sails wrapped around struts  122  and tethered at the trailing edges to eyebolts  183  secured to nearby hubs, (not shown) would be an economical and highly compactable system for providing power to explorations on Mars, (using the thin Martian atmosphere to fill the sails), or the Moon, (using the solar wind of particles and radiant flux from the sun as the ‘wind energy resource’).  
         [0092]     53. Based on known characteristics of Dutch Four Arm windmills and curved blade Darrieus wind turbines, the new turbine might be expected to have an optimum tip speed ratio of four times incident wind velocity and an overall efficiency of about 35%.  
         [0093]     54. Using typical values for wind energy resources off the US East Coast, a main turbine diameter 200 ft and a ‘harvesting time’ of two weeks off-shore; ship  127  could collect about 400,000 kWh of electricity and produce just under 2,000,000 std cubic feet (SCF) of Hydrogen. At a pressure of about 9000 psig, tank  153  would have an estimated diameter of 5 feet and a length of 180 feet. One to three ships could supply the average, (about 500 MW), shore based power plant  190  for two to four hours. Depending on desired mix of Hydrogen  170  to natural gas  196  burned in the power plant turbine, between 100 and 500 ships could sustainably support power plant  190 .  
         [0094]     55. From an environmental perspective, natural gas  195  emits 14.4 units of carbon per unit of energy, while gasoline (not shown) emits 19.2 units of carbon and coal  192  emits 25.7 units of carbon. Displacing natural gas usage with wind heating system  46  would eliminate carbon (CO2) emissions in the buildings served and free up use of natural gas to displace coal and it&#39;s emissions in electrical generation and gasoline and it&#39;s emissions in the transportation sector. Within the transportation sector, using methane to power hybrid automobiles would be a rather easy fix to improve the already low emissions of this developed technology.  
         [0095]     56. Replacement of methane and coal in the power generation sector with Hydrogen through energy conversion and distribution system  186 , would remove present CO2 emissions as it was employed. Wind heating of green houses would also save significant amounts of natural gas.  
         [0096]     57. From an implementation perspective, these approaches to resolving parts of the energy crisis can draw on established components and infrastructure: 1) Existing turbine based electrical power plants. 2) Existing electrolysis equipment 3) Existing electrical generators 4) Existing pultrusion equipment for the production of blade struts  23  and structural struts  22 , 5) A variety of coal  192  to methane  195  technologies developed over the years, and 6) Existing hybrid automobile technology. Energy system  186  could therefore be implemented in a relatively short period of time.  
         [0097]     58. In World War II, with a scant technology and economic base to build on, more than 5500 merchant marine ships were built in five years .(Tassava). It is not unreasonable to assume that the inventions described herein could be implemented in a shorter period of time than an entire Hydrogen ecomony, including a hydrogen filling station infrastructure. The present inventions not only represent a practical first step toward energy independence, but a practical use, with reduced environmental consequences, of the coal resources available in the US: Methane emits 44% less CO2 than coal and 25% less CO2 than gasoline for the same amount of energy produced  
         [0098]     59. Using Hydrogen as an energy transport and storage media in conjunction with an existing utility infrastructure allows for an easier social transition to an environmentally friendly system without establishment of Hydrogen filling stations for automobiles and saves the expected 15 to 30 year delay in implementing fuel cell based automobiles.