Hi, I had an idea that i wanted to float as a relatively inexpensive low-RPM wind turbine. As an extra-class ham radio operator, I'm not totally ignorant of electricity, but this aspect is fairly new to me.
I have a highish-end aluminum and stainless bicycle 8-spd 24-spoke wheel off a road-racing bike that is really of no use to me on my touring bike...it was bought as an emergency-replacement and has since been replaced by a proper touring wheel.
My thought was to obtain 12 strong honking magnets and bolt them around the outside of the rim, every other spoke. I would build a stator out of wood or fiberglass with 12 coils equally spaced around the inner perimeter. mounting them with screw brackets so their spacing from the rotating magnets can be adjusted. Each coil would be wired in series to every 4th coil after, giving 3-phase AC output
This would have the spokes covered by discs to reduce wind drag and be driven via either a chain using various drive ratios based on experimenting, or possibly through a bicycle shaft-drive mechanism with the large flat wheel and stator assembly being enclosed in an airfoil-shaped housing and serving as the tail vane and counterbalance to the turbine itself or perhaps use the wheel as the end of a VAWT
Some of my questions are, first off, is this a good plan as a basis? is my logic of using a big rotor and multiple magnets/coils to make up for lack of rotational speed sound?
is there a way to figure out how big/strong of magnets you need or does it boil down to how much you can afford to buy/move past a coil without stalling the wheel? Does magnet strength/size and coil distance from the moving magnet affect power output and electrical drag equally and proportionately or is it more of a curve? Does it matter if the rotor itself is ferrous or not? This wheel is all aluminum and stainless steel at it's periphery, but I could go with a steel wheel if it mattered, but those tend to be of much less quality including the bearings....although I guess i could mix and match
I'm sure I'll think of many more questions o ask over time, but those are the basics to get me started before spending any money on supplies
I have a highish-end aluminum and stainless bicycle 8-spd 24-spoke wheel off a road-racing bike that is really of no use to me on my touring bike...it was bought as an emergency-replacement and has since been replaced by a proper touring wheel.
My thought was to obtain 12 strong honking magnets and bolt them around the outside of the rim, every other spoke. I would build a stator out of wood or fiberglass with 12 coils equally spaced around the inner perimeter. mounting them with screw brackets so their spacing from the rotating magnets can be adjusted. Each coil would be wired in series to every 4th coil after, giving 3-phase AC output
This would have the spokes covered by discs to reduce wind drag and be driven via either a chain using various drive ratios based on experimenting, or possibly through a bicycle shaft-drive mechanism with the large flat wheel and stator assembly being enclosed in an airfoil-shaped housing and serving as the tail vane and counterbalance to the turbine itself or perhaps use the wheel as the end of a VAWT
Some of my questions are, first off, is this a good plan as a basis? is my logic of using a big rotor and multiple magnets/coils to make up for lack of rotational speed sound?
is there a way to figure out how big/strong of magnets you need or does it boil down to how much you can afford to buy/move past a coil without stalling the wheel? Does magnet strength/size and coil distance from the moving magnet affect power output and electrical drag equally and proportionately or is it more of a curve? Does it matter if the rotor itself is ferrous or not? This wheel is all aluminum and stainless steel at it's periphery, but I could go with a steel wheel if it mattered, but those tend to be of much less quality including the bearings....although I guess i could mix and match
I'm sure I'll think of many more questions o ask over time, but those are the basics to get me started before spending any money on supplies
