The construction of our wind-driven power generator is schematically presented on Picture 1

The system consists of the foot <1> (shown in sectional drawing) that is attached to the generator on one end with the help of hinge connection <2> of the vertical mast <3> with horizontal arms <4>. Device <5> called “sail” is attached to the mast. The “sail” is a construction with surface area that has maximum resistance to the wind stream <6>. The sail can broadly vary in size and shape. Horizontal arms are connected to compensators <7> that can be shaped as cylindrical springs or other compensating devices. The compensators hold the mast <3> with the help of horizontal arms <4> and crossbars <8> in its initial upright position when wind stream <6> does not impact the sail <5>, and return the mast back in its initial upright position after the impact of the wind stream on the sail is over. The purpose of using the sail and the compensators is to make the mast and the horizontal arms tilt back and forth. The horizontal arms are connected to the pumps <9>. The working chambers of the pumps are equipped with intake and exhaust valves. The amplitude of movement of the pumps and compensators is regulated by simple restrictors <10> (in sectional drawing) that are stiffly connected to the base <11> (for example, ground surface), where the foot <1> is placed. To ensure stability of the whole construction, at least three movement restrictors are needed to firmly hold the generator. However, to make understanding of the functional principles of the system easy, only two restrictors are shown on Picture 1. In addition, the wind pump mechanism contains the pressure <12> and feeding <13> mainlines that can be filled with gas or liquid as working substances. The feeding mainline is connected to the intake valves of the working chamber of the pumps and the pressure mainline is connected to the exhaust valves of the working chamber of the pumps. The mainlines are connected to the transforming device <14> that serves to transform kinetic energy of the working substance in the mainlines into mechanical rotation. The construction of this device can vary in its design. For example, if the mainlines are filled with liquid, the transforming device can consist of regulating valves, hydraulic accumulator and engine, etc. The hydraulic engine of the device is connected to the electric power generator <15> directly or through a connecting clutch.

The wind-driven power generating system works as follows. When wind stream <6> impacts the sail <5>, the mast <3> together with the horizontal arms <4> overcomes resistance of the compensators <7> and tilts over the hinge <2>. That causes impact on pumps <9> that changes the volume of their working chambers. As a result, liquid moves through the pressure <12> and feeding <13> mainlines and the hydraulic accumulator in the transforming device <14> is charged through a system of valves. After the impact of the wind stream <6> on the sail <5> is over, the compensators return the mast <3> and its horizontal arms to the initial upright position. Doing this, the compensators tilt over the hinge <2> again, but in the reverse direction, so impact on the pumps <9> occurs again and the volume of the working chambers of the pumps changes again. Thus, the working substance (liquid) is forced through the pressure mainline <12> into the transforming device <14> and excess pressure of the liquid is created in the hydraulic accumulator. When pressure in the accumulator regulated by the valves exceeds certain level, the liquid impacts the hydraulic engine and causes rotation of its rotor. As the hydraulic engine is connected to the turbine of the electric power generator <15>, the generator starts to produce electric power. Electric power will be generated as long as the rotor of the hydraulic engine is moving, i.e. until the pressure in the hydraulic accumulator drops below a certain regulated level. Then the process repeats. Thus, the kinetic energy of wind stream is transformed into electric power.

In locations with prevailing bursting and alternating winds, as well as more or less stable wind streams of constant strength, a combined wind-driven power system can be used. It has two types of sails attached to the mast: active and passive. A passive sail is same as described above and shown in the scheme on Picture 1. This type of sail has surface area and is only capable of resisting the wind stream. In addition to these features, an active sail also transforms kinetic energy of the wind stream into kinetic energy of mechanical rotation. In fact, it can be called a “sail - wind engine”. Such a system is schematically shown on Picture 2.

The mast <3> in this case must be hollow (on Picture 2 we draw a tube, but any other appropriate construction can also be used). Passive sail <А> and active sail – wind engine <В> are attached to the mast. Theoretically, any of the known wind-driven engines can be used as an active sail. For example, in this case we will use a wind-driven engine with a vertical spin axis designed to use the power of resistance to the wind stream. Such wind-driven engines rotate with linear speed which is less than the speed of the wind. However, due to their geometry, they are always in working position irrespective of wind direction. The co-efficient of wind energy utilization for such engines is comparatively low (about 30%), but due to the advantages of the geometry, their spinning momentum is high. To increase the efficiency of wind stream energy utilization (and, consequently, to increase the overall capacity of the power system), we used a simple ring concentrator of the wind stream. The active sail – wind engine is shown in section drawing С–С (see Picture 3).

Inside the ring concentrator of the wind stream <16> with vertical directing paddles <17>, there is a wind wheel fixed on the vertical shaft <18> and consisting of several vertically positioned convex-concave vanes <19>. The paddles <17> are positioned so that the wind stream <6> is directed to some of the vanes of the wind wheel that create rotating momentum irrespective of the direction of the wind and without any special directing mechanism. The vertical shaft <18> can be connected directly to the generator producing electric power. In this case we do not need any additional power transformer. It is also possible to use the hydraulic transformer to transform wind energy into electric power. In this case the vertical shaft <18> is rotating inside the mast <3> under the impact of wind stream power. At the foot of the mast <3>, the shaft <18> is cinematically connected to the hydraulic pump <20> which, through its intake and exhaust valves, is connected to through the pressure <12> and feeding <13> mainlines of the system. When the shaft <18> starts to rotate under the impact of the wind stream <6>, liquid will be streamed into the pressure mainline <12> not only by the pumps <9> but also by the hydraulic pump <20>. The vertical mast <3> in this type of system is stiffly connected to its horizontal arms <4> by reinforced crossbars <8>. As the active sail – wind engine increases the overall sail area of the system, the force moving the mast back and forth also increases.

According to experts’ opinion, modern technologies allow easy and inexpensive construction of such a hydraulic transformer <14> where external losses of the working substance (liquid) is brought down almost to zero, while efficiency of such a transformer will vary between 70-80%. Assuming that efficiency loss due to friction in the hinge connection <2> equals zero, the loss in the compensators <7> is approximately 50%, and the losses in the mainlines, pumps and electric power generator are 5%, we can calculate that the overall efficiency of the wind-driven power generating system will approximately equal 35%. It should be noted that the mast <3> together with the horizontal arms <4> is a simple mechanism (a lever) that is rotating around the fulcrum (the hinge connection <2>). Therefore, the sum of the resultant forces f1+f2 (see Picture 4) that impact the compensators <7> and the pumps <9> will considerably exceed the resultant force F of the wind stream impacting the sails of the system.

If you are interested in checking these theoretical findings in practice, the author welcomes your participation in a mutually beneficial cooperation.

The author would like to emphasize that he does not deny the great importance of the traditional wind-driven electric power production, but offers new promising areas of development of wind power industry.

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