Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-24
wIND-sToRED ErEcrRIcrrY.
English Experiments In Charging Aocumu-
lztor- by windniils.

hnshsh Experiments In Charging Aocumu-
istor- by windmiiis.
From the Western Electrician.
Americans have done very little In the line
OF devising apparatus through which wind
power might be made available TO do the work
Of charging storage batteries Prof. J. Blyth
of England. however, has been experimenting
with the view Of stealing a share of natures
waste forces.
In a recent address made before the British
Association Prof. Blyth thus refers 10 his plant:
NO sooner was the accumulation invented
than wlndmills for electric storage began to be
thought OF. At the York meeting Of the British
Association Sir William Thompson suggested
the Construction Of cheap vindmiils 60 run
dynamos for charging accumulators. but so far
as know no practical trial was made till the
summer of 1887, when I erected nv first cleo
trio windmill in the village Of Marykirk. Kim
eardineshire At that time procured set Of
thirteen accumulators and constructed wind
mil OF the old English typo, having four arms
ana canvas sails. The length Of the arms was
about fourteen feet and the sails we're eight
feet by three feet. The mill was provided with
beveled gearing at the top. a vertical shaft and
DeNeied gearing below, so arranged that
the driving wheel moved always in the same
vertical plane. no matter in what direction the
wind shaft pointed. The mill was turned into
the wind by hand, having no tail or other gear
ing Tor keeping automatically head TO wind.
me dN ndmo was driven by belt from the
driving wheel, and with this was able on two
or three windy days to store my cells
Although the experiment was not on a very
large scale. 1t was sufficient to show me that
aecumulators could quite well be charged, when
the electrical connections were properly made
by dynamo driven az the irregular speed char
acterlstic OF windmill Sails found were not
great success, especially since had no way Of
reennS them. To prevent them being torn TO
pieces the mill had 10 be stopped when the wind
was high. that is, just at the time when !. should
have been going at its best.
II remedied this partially. altered the
WIND wheel from the English TO the American
type, having a number of arms and blades Of
sheet iron. / also introduced the further i'm
provement OF doing away with the driving
wheel being always made TO go in the same
plane. This is absolutely necessary il the wind
mil is TO drive mill, a corn mill. or any,
thing of that sort. but for electrical purposes
the dynamo can quite easily be attached 10 the
wlnd-shaft platform so rs TO turn with the mill
as the wind changes. IL this way all gearing is
avoided, as the dynamo can be driven with ropes
from large wheel KEYED directly on to the
wind shaft. This found TO answer very well
so long a. the wind had a moderate speed, but
Ike al other windmills.I soon found that il had
either 10 be made self-reeiing stopped alto
gether when breeze came. This Is obviously
very unsatisfactory as the best of the wind for
storage purposes is lost, and hence this problem
presented itself, viz, how TO construct wind
mill that would satisfy the following requisites
-. 1t must be always ready to go.
so. II must so without attendance for length
ened periods.
80. II must go through the widest gale. and
be able to take full advantage of it.
"a possible solution of the problem is pre-
seEted n The Robinson thermometer, which con-
sists of four hemispherical cups attached to
four arms, and moving in a horizontal plane
about vertical axis. From tho theory Of
this instrument. which is however only ap-
proximate 1T appears that whatever might be the
speed Of the wind. the speed of the cups at
tanned certain terminal value, such that the
couple due to the wind pressure was exactly
equal TO that produced by the resistance to the
motion through the air and the friction on the
bearings.
last summer erected a machine OF this
kind. which has been considerably improved
within the past three months The cups are
replaced by semi-cylindrical boxes attached
to four strong arms, each about TWENTY-FIVE feet
long-the opening of each box is ten feet by six
feet, and the vertical shaft is long rod of iron
FIVE inches in diameter. At the lower end it
carries massive pit wheel, which actuates a
train OF gearing, and drives fly wheel six feet
in diameter. with the requisite speed for driv-
ing dynamo connected with il by belt in the
OIuAtlsfE way lDls machine WORKED most
satisfactorily, and with a fair wind speed gave
about two electrical horse power. also tested
it in strong gale by allowing it TO run with no
load, and the result was perfectly satisfactory.
As a safe terminal speed was attained and all
racing avoided. Hence | think that electrical
wind mills, ut least for small installations,
are likely to assume this form, as there
is no limit TO the size and strength with which
they may be constructed. and, IL necessary,
several could be placed in any well-ex-
posed position, each having its own dynamo
and ret OF accumulators. During the past few
months i have increased the power of the ma
chine b. adding an auxiliary box to each arm
with gap between it and tho previous one
This find to be better than merely increasing
the size OF the previous box. As the whole is o
case of vortex motion. the theory is very diff
cult. Information can only be got from models
and applying the principle of dynamical SINH
larity.
Regarding the electrical connections neces-
sary. | NAV say word. All that is needed is
tina; the circuit be broken when the dynamo is
running az less than the storage speed. This is
easily managed by governor attached to the
dynamo shaft, and which makes and breaks
contact in mercury pool at the required
speeds. have also tried a form of governor
which throws greater or less number of cells
into the charging circuit as the wind varies,
and in this way the machine is always doing
some work"