Patent Publication Number: US-2013251506-A1

Title: Wind turbine electricity generating apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a wind turbine electricity generating apparatus, more particularly to a wind turbine electricity generating apparatus that includes a wind collecting device for accelerating incoming wind to propel rotation of a rotor. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Wind energy is one of the available forms of natural energy, such as solar energy, hydro (tidal) energy, thermal energy, etc., and can be utilized to generate electricity. Conventional systems for using wind energy to generate electricity have disadvantages that the systems can not be operated in an almost windless situation. Moreover, stable electricity generation can not be achieved if the conventional systems are utilized in a region that has wind from various directions. Furthermore, the systems may malfunction if the wind is too strong. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a wind turbine electricity generating apparatus which can overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. 
     According to this invention, the wind turbine electricity generating apparatus includes a wind collecting unit, a rotor unit, a primary re-entry conduit, and a primary wind-stream accelerating unit. 
     The wind collecting unit has an inlet end and an internal-port end which are opposite to each other in a lengthwise direction, and which respectively define a wind inlet and an internal port, and a funnel-shaped wall which extends between the inlet and internal-port ends and which defines an air channel for passage of a main stream of incoming wind from the wind inlet to the internal port. The air channel has distal and proximate regions relative to the internal port, and is configured to converge from the distal region toward the proximate region. The funnel-shaped wall has uptake and re-entry ports extending therethrough to communicate with the distal and proximate regions, respectively. 
     The rotor unit includes a rotor housing and a rotor. The rotor housing has a surrounding wall which surrounds a rotary axis that is perpendicular to the lengthwise direction, and which defines a rotor receiving chamber. The surrounding wall is connected with the internal-port end, and has an entry port in spatial communication with the internal port so as to permit entry of united wind streams into the rotor receiving chamber. The rotor includes a rotary shaft rotatably mounted on the rotor housing in the rotor receiving chamber about the rotary axis, and a plurality of vanes which extend radially from the rotary shaft and which are angularly displaced from one another about the rotary axis. Each of the vanes has a leading vane face which confronts the united wind streams and is driven thereby so as to rotate the rotary shaft. 
     The primary re-entry conduit is disposed in the proximate region downstream of the re-entry port and extends to terminate at a nozzle end which is located immediately upstream of the internal port. 
     The primary wind-stream accelerating unit is disposed outwardly of the funnel-shaped wall between the first uptake and re-entry ports to speed up the velocity of a side stream of wind taken up through the uptake port such that a accelerated side stream of wind is delivered out of the nozzle end to be entrained in the main stream so as to induce a negative pressure, thereby forming the united stream with an increased velocity before dashing through the entry port into the rotor receiving chamber. 
     Even in an almost windless case, an increased wind velocity can be generated at the internal port to enable continued operation of the rotor. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic sectional view of the first embodiment of a wind turbine electricity generating apparatus according to this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing a funnel-shaped wall of a wind collecting unit of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view showing a tubular zone of the funnel-shaped wall; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of an encircled portion (B) in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view showing an airflow rectifying member of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing one form of an inflow regulating valve of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing another form of the inflow regulating valve; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view showing a plurality of re-entry conduits extending into a rotor receiving chamber of a rotor housing; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic view showing a rotor unit of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is an enlarged view of an encircled portion (A) in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic view showing a main stream of incoming wind of the wind collecting unit; 
         FIG. 12  is a fragmentary sectional view showing a gap reducing unit of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic view showing a moisture removing unit of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic side view of the second embodiment according to this invention; 
         FIG. 15  is a schematic side view of the third embodiment according to this invention; 
         FIG. 16  is a schematic side view showing the wind collecting unit in another tilted position of the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 17  is a schematic view of the fourth embodiment according to this invention; 
         FIG. 18  is a top view of  FIG. 17 ; 
         FIG. 19  is a sectional schematic view of the fifth embodiment according to this invention; and 
         FIG. 20  is a schematic view showing an angled roof mounted on a wind duct. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that same reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the first embodiment of a wind turbine electricity generating apparatus according to the present invention is shown to comprise a wind turbine electricity generating device  100 . The device  100  includes a wind collecting unit  1 , a rotor unit  2 , a generator  3 , and a primary wind-stream accelerating unit  4 . Incoming wind flows into the wind collecting unit  1  to rotate the rotor unit  2  so as to permit the generator  3  to convert the rotation of the rotor unit  2  into electricity. 
     The wind collecting unit  1  has an inlet end  111  and an internal-port end  112  which are opposite to each other in a lengthwise direction, and which respectively define a wind inlet ( 111   a ) and an internal port ( 112   a ), and a funnel-shaped wall  11  which extends between the inlet and internal-port ends  111 ,  112  and which defines an air channel  10  for passage of a main stream of incoming wind from the wind inlet ( 111   a ) to the internal port ( 112   a ). The air channel  10  has distal and proximate regions ( 11   a ,  11   b ) relative to the internal port ( 112   a ), and is configured to converge from the distal region ( 11   a ) toward the proximate region ( 11   b ). Preferably, the funnel-shaped wall  11  has a conical zone ( 11   c ) which is converged from the inlet end  111  by a taper angle (θ) of about 10 degrees, as shown in  FIG. 2 , and a rectangular tubular zone ( 11   d ) which is dimensioned for evenly interconnecting the conical zone ( 11   c ) and the internal-port end  112 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The sectional areas (A 1 , A 2 ) of the wind inlet ( 111   a ) and the internal port ( 112   a ) are dimensioned about 3 to 5 times in area ratio thereof. Hence, based on the equation of fluid flow: A 1 V 1 =A 2 V 2 , for example, even in an almost windless case, i.e., in a small wind velocity, with such configuration of the wind collecting unit  1 , an increased wind velocity can be generated at the internal port ( 112   a ). 
     Further, the funnel-shaped wall  11  may be configured in the form of a telescopic or partly-detachable structure such that the inlet end  111  is movable relative to the internal-port end  112  in the lengthwise direction so as to adjust the length thereof and the dimension of the wind inlet ( 111   a ). 
     Further, pressure fans  15  are securely disposed in the distal region ( 11   a ) by means of fastening, such as screws so as to stagewise pressurize the inflow air in the air channel  10 . 
     The funnel-shaped wall  11  has first uptake and re-entry ports  113 ,  114  which extend therethrough to communicate with the distal and proximate regions ( 11   a ,  11   b ), respectively. A primary re-entry conduit  43  is disposed in the proximate region ( 11   b ) downstream of the first re-entry port  114  and extends to terminate at a first nozzle end  431  which is located immediately upstream of the internal port ( 112   a ). A primary wind-stream accelerating unit  4  is disposed outwardly of the funnel-shaped wall  11  between the first uptake and re-entry ports  113 ,  114 . The primary wind-stream accelerating unit  4  is in the form of a turbo blower  41  which has an intake mouth  42  connected with the first uptake port  113 , and an outlet connected with the primary re-entry conduit  43 . Thus, a first side stream of wind is taken up through the first uptake port  113  to speed up the velocity thereof such that a first accelerated side stream of wind is delivered out of the first nozzle end  431  to be entrained in the main stream so as to induce a negative pressure, thereby forming united streams with an increased velocity before dashing through the entry port  211  into a rotor receiving chamber  28  of the rotor unit  2 . Preferably, the first nozzle end  431  has a sectional area which is half of that of the internal port ( 112   a ), and, as shown in  FIG. 3 , is rectangular in cross-section. More preferably, the first nozzle end  431  is tapered to further increase the wind velocity. 
     The rotor unit  2  includes a rotor housing  21  and a rotor  22 . The rotor housing  21  has a surrounding wall which surrounds a rotary axis that is perpendicular to the lengthwise direction, and which defines the rotor receiving chamber  28 . The surrounding wall is connected with the internal-port end  112 , and has an entry port  211  in spatial communication with the internal port ( 112   a ) by virtue of a coupling duct  16  so as to permit entry of the united wind streams into the rotor receiving chamber  28 . The rotor housing  21  further has a shutter  20  disposed to be angularly slidable relative to the entry port  211  so as to regulate the inflow rate of the united wind streams through the entry port  211 . The rotor  22  includes a rotary shaft  221  which is rotatably mounted on the rotor housing  21  in the rotor receiving chamber  28  about the rotary axis, and a plurality of vanes  222  which extend radially from the rotary shaft  221  and which are angularly displaced from one another about the rotary axis. The generator  3  is disposed under the rotary unit  2 , and is coupled with and driven by the rotary shaft  221  by virtue of an output shaft  25  extending in an upright direction. 
     Each of the vanes  222  has a leading vane face ( 222   a ) which confronts the united wind streams and is driven thereby so as to rotate the rotary shaft  221  about the rotary axis, and a trailing vane face ( 222   b ) which is opposite to the leading vane face ( 222   a ) and which is tapered in shape so as to reduce wind resistance of the rotor  22  during rotation. 
     Accordingly, the incoming wind from the wind inlet ( 111   a ) is pressurized stagewise by the pressure fans  15 , and part of the air stream (the first side stream of wind) is taken up through the first uptake port  113  to be sped up by the turbo blower  41  and delivered out of the first nozzle end  431 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the first accelerated side stream of wind is entrained in the main stream to induce a negative pressure, which facilitates incoming of ambient air through the wind inlet ( 111   a ). The wind power density, measured in watts per square meter, indicates how much energy is available at the site for conversion by a wind turbine, and is in proportional to the cube of the wind velocity. For example, as wind speed triples, the capacity of wind power converted with the generator increases almost twenty-sevenfold. Therefore, with the configuration of the funnel-shaped wall  11 , the wind velocity of the main stream is greatly increased. Additionally, the first accelerated side stream of wind through the turbo blower  41  is entrained at the tubular zone ( 11   d ) to further speed up the wind velocity of the united stream to the rotor receiving chamber  28 . 
     Preferably, referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an airflow rectifying member  12  is disposed in the proximate region ( 11   b ) immediately upstream of the tubular zone ( 11   d ) and to divide the proximate region ( 11   b ) into a plurality of parallel straight passages  121  so as to direct the main stream in the lengthwise direction toward the internal port ( 112   a ), thereby minimizing airflow loss and velocity reduction. The airflow rectifying member  12  includes a plurality of rounded tubes extending coaxially and a plurality of partition plates interconnecting therebetween. 
     Preferably, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the funnel-shaped wall  11  further has a second uptake port  115  extending therethrough to communicate with the distal region ( 11   a ). A secondary re-entry conduit  53  is disposed outwardly of the funnel-shaped wall  11  and extends to terminate at a second nozzle end  531  which is located in the rotor receiving chamber  28  in a direction substantially tangential to the surrounding wall  21 . A secondary wind-stream accelerating unit  5  is disposed outwardly of the funnel-shaped wall  11 , and is in the form of a high-pressure turbo blower  51  which has an intake mouth  52  connected with the second uptake port  115 , and an outlet connected with the secondary re-entry conduit  53 . Thus, a second side stream of wind is taken up through the second uptake port  115  to speed up the velocity thereof such that a second accelerated side stream of wind is delivered out of the second nozzle end  531  into the rotor receiving chamber  28  in the tangential direction, thereby confronting and directly driving the vanes  222  for increasing kinetic energy of the rotary shaft  221 . The second nozzle end  531  may be located at a vicinity of the entry port  211 . Preferably, the second nozzle end  531  of the secondary re-entry conduit  53  is tapered to further increase the wind velocity flowing therethrough. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an inflow regulating valve  54  is disposed to be slidable relative to the intake mouth  52  of the turbo blower  51  so as to be adjusted based on the velocity of the main stream such that the volumetric flow of the second side stream admitted through the second uptake port  115  is adjustable. The inflow regulating valve  54  is in the form of a tube insertable into the air channel  10  and having a taper opened end  541 . Alternatively, referring to  FIG. 7 , the inflow regulating valve  55  may be in the form of a rotating plate pivotally mounted at the second uptake port  115 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 8 , alternatively, a plurality of re-entry conduits  24  are disposed to extend into the rotor receiving chamber  28  in tangential directions, and are angularly displaced from one another about 15-30 degrees around half of the surrounding wall of the rotor housing  21 . Alternatively, the re-entry conduits  24  may be arranged to be displaced from one another in the direction of the rotary axis. With the arrangement of the re-entry conduits  24  around the half of the surrounding wall (about 180 degrees), the moment of inertia of the rotor  22  is increased. Hence, the rotational kinetic energy of the rotor  22  may be increased. 
     The airflow introduced into the re-entry conduits  24  may be supplied by an air compressor or a blower such as that similar to the turbo blower  51 . In other words, a plurality of secondary wind-stream accelerating units  5  may be provided in the wind turbine electricity generating device  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , alternatively, the rotor unit  2  may further include a pair of auxiliary fans  27  (only one is shown) such that the rotor  22  is coaxially disposed between the auxiliary fans  27 . Each of the auxiliary fans  27  has a plurality of vanes  271 . Furthermore, a fourth re-entry conduit  56  is disposed to be connected with the turbo blower  51  (see  FIG. 1 ) and extends into the rotor receiving chamber  28  toward the vanes  271  of the auxiliary fans  27  so as to permit part of airflow through the turbo blower  51  to drive the auxiliary fans  27 . Therefore, the outputting kinetic energy of the rotor unit  2  is further increased. The fourth re-entry conduit  56  may be in the form of a manifold of the secondary re-entry conduit  53 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  10  and  11 , preferably, the funnel-shaped wall  11  has a plurality of slits  116  extending therethrough and inclined relative thereto to permit entry of ambient air into the proximity of an inner wall surface of the funnel-shaped wall  11  so as to insulate the main stream from direct frictional contact with the inner wall surface of the funnel-shaped wall  11 . In other words, by virtue of airflow through the slits  116 , the velocity of the main stream in the proximity of the inner wall surface of the funnel-shaped wall  11  can be kept undeterred. The inclined angle (α) of each of the slits  116  relative to the funnel-shaped wall  11  is about less than 10 degrees. 
     Preferably, an outer shell  13  is disposed to surround the funnel-shaped wall  11  to cooperatively define a surrounding clearance  17  in spatial communication with the slits  116 . The funnel-shaped wall  11  further has a third uptake port  117  extending therethrough to communicate with the proximate region ( 11   b ). A tertiary re-entry conduit  63  extends through the outer shell  13  to terminate at a third nozzle end  631  which is located in the surrounding clearance  17  upstream of the slits  116 . A tertiary wind-stream accelerating unit  6  is disposed outwardly of the outer shell  13 , and may be in the form of a middle-pressure turbo blower  61  which has a tubular intake mouth  62  connected with the third uptake port  117 , and an outlet connected with the tertiary re-entry conduit  63 . Thus, a third side stream of wind is taken up through the third uptake port  117  to speed up the velocity thereof such that a third accelerated side stream of wind is delivered out of the third nozzle end  631  into the surrounding clearance  17 , thereby speed up the entry of ambient air into the proximity of the inner wall surface of the funnel-shaped wall  11 . The third nozzle end  631  may be located at a position between the inlet end  111  and each of the first and second uptake ports  113 ,  115 . 
     Alternatively, each of the turbo blowers  41 ,  51 ,  61  may be a high-pressure air compressor instead. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 12 , preferably, a gap reducing unit includes a plurality of gap reducing elements  23  disposed on the vanes  222  and extending toward an inner wall surface of the surrounding wall of the rotor housing  21  to minimize a gap therebetween so as to minimize airflow loss. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  8  and  13 , preferably, a moisture removing unit  7  includes a heat exchanging housing  71  which is disposed downstream of the rotor receiving chamber  28 , and a tubular heat exchanger  72  and a condenser  73  which are disposed in the heat exchanging housing  71  to cool and condense water vapor entrained in hot air flowing in the heat exchanging housing  71  from the rotor receiving chamber  28 . Specifically, the rotor housing  21  has an opening  213  to communicate the heat exchanging housing  71 , and a plurality of reinforcing ribs  26  disposed in the opening  213  and spaced apart from one another so as to reinforce the structure in the opening  213 . Each of the reinforcing ribs  26  may be tapered so as to minimize resistance to the air flowing in the heat exchanging housing  71 . 
     Moreover, the heat exchanging housing  71  has a vent port  711  for ventilation. 
     Preferably, the condenser  73  is in the form of a plurality of condenser plates which are tilted to face the airflow through the opening  213 . When flowing in the heat exchanging housing  71 , the air with reduced pressure absorbs ambient heat so as to dip the temperature inside the heat exchanging housing  71 . A large amount of water vapor entrained in the hot air is condensed by the condenser  73  so as to drip down, filtered, and collected to become drinkable water. A vibrator or an air blade (not shown) may be used to remove the water vapor from the condenser  73 . 
     Note that part of electric power generated by the generator  3  can be supplied to the re-entry conduits  24  and the tubular heat exchanger  72 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 14 , the second embodiment of the wind turbine electricity generating apparatus according to this invention is similar to the first embodiment, and similarly comprises a wind turbine electricity generating device  101  which further includes a shield cover  85  disposed on the inlet end  111  to shield the wind inlet ( 111   a ). In this embodiment, the shield cover  85  includes inner and outer sheets  851 ,  852  which are movable (rotatable) relative to each other and which respectively have through holes  853 ,  854  for adjustment of the inflow rate of the incoming wind admitted into the air channel  10 . During a very high wind condition, the shield cover  85  can minimize damage to the component parts disposed in the wind collecting unit  1 . The shield cover  85  may be detachably mounted on the inlet end  111 . 
     Additionally, in this embodiment, a universal joint  31  (or a clutch) is disposed to couple the rotor unit  2  and the generator  3  to permit rotation of the rotor unit  2  relative to the generator  3  such that an angular position of the wind inlet ( 111   a ) can be adjusted. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 15 and 16 , in the third embodiment of the wind turbine electricity generating apparatus of this invention, the device  102  further includes a platform  81  adapted to be mounted on a ground, an upright support  82  extending from the platform  81  to support the wind collecting unit  1 , and a resiliently deformable tubular member  80  interconnecting the internal-port end  112  and the surrounding wall of the rotor housing  21  to permit the wind collecting unit  1  to turn relative to the rotor housing  21  so as to adjust an angular position of the wind inlet ( 111   a ). In this embodiment, the upright support  82  has a telescopic stem, such as a hydraulic cylinder, to permit the wind collecting unit  1  to be liftable so as to adjust a tilted position of the wind inlet ( 111   a ) at a desired angle. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 17 and 18 , alternatively, in the fourth embodiment of the wind turbine electricity generating device  103 , a support includes a circular guide rail  83  disposed on the platform  81  to surround the output shaft  25 , and a roller  84  disposed on the wind collecting unit  1  to be slidable on the circular guide rail  83  so as to adjust the upwind direction of the wind inlet ( 111   a ) according to the wind conditions. 
     Furthermore, the funnel-shaped wall  11 , the surrounding wall of the rotor housing  21 , and the housing of the generator  3  may be made from metal covered with a plastic sheet  14  (see  FIG. 1 ) so as to avoid electromagnetic interference, thereby functioning as a damper and a muffler for reducing noise. 
     Referring to  FIG. 19 , the fifth embodiment of the wind turbine electricity generating apparatus according to this embodiment further comprises a wind duct  9  defining a wind channel  91  therein and having a large-diameter entering end  911  which extends in the lengthwise direction and a small-diameter exiting end  912  which extends in the upright direction such that the wind velocity at the exiting end  912  is much larger than that at the entering end  911 . The wind channel  91  has a longitudinal wall segment  913  and an upright wall segment  914 . The wind collecting unit  1  is received in the longitudinal wall segment  913  to have the inlet end  111  oriented coaxial with the large-diameter entering end  911 . The outer wall surface of the wind channel  91  may be made from a heat absorbing material. 
     Further, a heat absorbing unit including a plurality of heat absorbing elements  92  is disposed on the wind duct  9  to warm the interior thereof. In this embodiment, each of the heat absorbing elements  92  may be of a plate made from a heat absorbing material, an electrically heating element used with a solar panel, or an artificially heating plate (such as heated by electric energy, gas, fuel, etc.). When the heat absorbing elements  92  absorb heat energy to raise the temperature of the wind channel  91 , the wind velocity at the entering end  911  is increased to induce a pressure difference between the entering and exiting ends  911 ,  912  so as to pump air flowing toward the exiting end  912  (a stack effect). Thereby, larger amounts of incoming wind may enter the wind inlet ( 111   a ) to enhance the efficiency of electric generation. 
     Alternatively, instead of the heat absorbing elements  92 , a plurality of heating elements (not shown) are disposed to heat the upright wall segment  914 . 
     Further, a blower unit  95  is disposed outwardly of the upright wall segment  914 , and includes a turbo blower  951  which has an intake mouth  952  communicated with the wind channel  91 , and which is coupled with a conduit  953  that extends into the upright wall segment  914  toward the exiting end  912 . 
     Furthermore, a guiding member  93  is disposed rearwardly of the wind collecting unit  1  and is configured to extend in an extending direction of the upright wall segment  914  so as to direct ventilation of the airflow to the upright wall segment  914 . 
     Furthermore, a roller  94  is disposed on the longitudinal wall segment  913  to be slidable on a guide rail disposed on a ground surface so as to adjust the upwind direction of the entering end  911 . Additionally, the upright wall segment  914  is supported by an upright wall  90 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 20 , in addition, an angled roof  96  is detachably mounted on the longitudinal wall segment  913  of the wind duct  9  to prevent snow pile-up. The angled roof  96  may be made from transparent plates to cover the heat absorbing elements  92  while not interfering heat absorbing of the solar panels mounted on the heat absorbing elements  92 . 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.