You are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

0
0

[–] ZYX321 ago 

I was talking versus 2 blades. Same mass as a balanced single blade, more energy capture. No?

0
0

[–] Grospoliner ago  (edited ago)

I would expect it to be more of a economic factor than anything else. With a single blade, they can counter weight it with cheaper materials than multiple blades. From what I've read though, multi-bladed turbines have increased efficiency, though it becomes marginal after two. For the energy aspect, a single blade will be less efficient than a two or three blade system from the physics of it.

The inertia aspect of it is for the braking system, which with lower inertia, it is easier to start and stop which is better for maintenance and reduced cost.

0
0

[–] ZYX321 ago  (edited ago)

The tower is a huge part of the expense (relative to the cost of a braking system or the blades themselves)... I can't imagine putting something that provides less power output up on the tower would be attractive. A balanced single blade system just couldn't have appreciably less intertia. Braking (as far "I need to stop NOW or SOON"), you don't generally care about braking from a "deceleration" standpoint, you care about braking to prevent acceleration into dangerous speeds, right? You're not taking a heavy intertial mass and trying to slow it down, you're just keeping it from speeding up in heavy winds, in which case the intertia is a help.

IANAP, but... these are "common sense" things in my own head which I might be wrong about... as with most common sense.

0
0

[–] thrus ago 

If they are doing the design based on the need for maintenance over efficient power generation I'm not sure I want that product. How often do most wind turbines need maintenance?