Title :
CM-scale air turbine and generator for energy harvesting from low-speed flows
Author :
Bansal, A. ; Howey, D.A. ; Holmes, A.S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Imperial Coll. London, London, UK
Abstract :
We have developed a 2-cm-diameter, shrouded wind turbine with an integrated axial flux permanent magnet generator. The device was fabricated using a combination of rapid prototyping, traditional machining and flexible printed circuit board technology, and employs jewel bearings for low friction. Wind tunnel tests have been performed on prototypes with 6 and 12 blades. The 12-blade design achieves a generator output power of 4.3 mW at a tunnel flow speed of 10 ms-1, and will operate at flow speeds down to 4.5 ms-1. With such a low drop-out speed the device could be used as an energy harvester in duct sensing applications.
Keywords :
permanent magnet generators; printed circuits; wind turbines; air turbine; axial flux permanent magnet generator; energy harvesting; low-speed flows; machining; power 4.3 mW; printed circuit board technology; rapid prototyping; shrouded wind turbine; size 2 cm; Circuit testing; Flexible printed circuits; Friction; Integrated circuit technology; Machining; Permanent magnets; Power generation; Prototypes; Wind energy generation; Wind turbines; Energy harvesting; air turbine; axial flux generator;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2009. TRANSDUCERS 2009. International
Conference_Location :
Denver, CO
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4190-7
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4193-8
DOI :
10.1109/SENSOR.2009.5285378
