Developer says 20% blade weight reduction possible

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Increasing rotor blade length increases its swept area, thereby increasing the amount of captured energy. But larger blades add significant weight to a turbine. So reducing wind-structure weights through composite materials is essential to improving overall efficiency. HyperSizer Structural Sizi …

Can an air leak give turbine rotors an efficiency boost?

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: An idea originally developed to increase lift in slow moving aircraft wings and simplify helicopter rotors may soon improve the efficiency of wind turbine rotors and possibly reduce their cost of manufacturing. This "circulation control" aerodynamic technology could let wind turbines produce signifi …

Rotor-Blade Ridges Promise More Turbine Power

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Adding a series of ridges to the edges of a turbine blade could increase annual electrical production for wind farms by 20%, says the design firm for the feature. The idea comes from Humpback whales that tilt their fins at steep angles for more lift in the water. Too much tilt, has the opposite …

Position sensor gives rotors perfect pitch

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Wind power is big in Spain. As of April 2008, up to 40% of the country’s total power was generated by wind turbines. Credit goes to the efficiency of the turbines which glean more energy from the wind thanks to a small blade-pitch sensor, the Vert-X 22 from Swiss-based Contelec, a division of …

Company ready to make blades and molds

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Bayview Composites, a composite tooling and fabrication company in Mt. Vernon, Washingon, focuses on wind energy, marine, aerospace, and other markets. The company makes wind turbine blade plugs, production molds, and accessory molds for the wind-energy industry.  High precision tool paths …

Long and wide CNC machines, finishes turbine blades

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The Third Generation of a Multi-Processing System, RAPA G3, reduces the machining and finishing time spent on large parts such as wind blades. The robotic machine-tool, from IDPSA, Madrid, Spain (idpsa.com) supports a variety of applications and processes such as scanning, measuring and inspection s …

Mixer and Dispenser for Turbine Blade Manufacturing

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The DC12 High-Volume Metering System is intended for dispensing large amounts of adhesive and tooling paste. The equipment, from Graco Inc, Minneapolis, is ideal for applications in the wind-energy market. “This unit also marks the beginning of a more high-volume metering systems in the wind-energ …

Whale Fins Influence Wind Turbine Design

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: What if a company redesigned the typically smooth blades on a turbine by adding a series of ridges, based on whale tubercles – bumps on humpback whale fins?  WhalePower says its new blade design could increase annual electrical production for existing wind farms by 20%. The idea is this: Hum …

A material for large parts, without an autoclave

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Cycom 5320 is a toughened epoxy resin prepreg system from Cytec Engineered Materials, Woodland Park, NJ. It is intended for out-of-autoclave (OOA) manufacturing yet provides the performance of an autoclaved material with the benefit of lower processing costs and manufacturing flexibility. The materi …

Adhesives, sealants, and more for wind-turbine manufacturing

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: To support growth in the wind energy market, Henkel Corp., Rocky Hill, Conn., has developed a range of products for manufacturing and maintaining wind turbines. These include structural adhesives, mold-release agents, machinery adhesives, sealants, grouts, cleaners, surface treatments, tapes, an …