AN AUXILIARY PROPELLER ROTOR FOR HORIZONTAL WIND TURBINE GENERATORS

ROTOR D'HELICE AUXILIAIRE POUR AEROGENERATEURS HORIZONTAUX

English Abstract

1. The Auxiliary Propeller Rotor for Horizontal Wind Turbine Generators,
"Booster/ Stabilizer Props" technology applies to up-wind, and downwind
turbine generators. The invention consists of adding an auxiliary
rotor having two or more propellers on the extended shaft or axle of the
turbine, with the main rotor having two or more propellers, having an
allocated space between the two rotors.

2. The space between auxiliary rotor and the main rotor on the extended
shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator is 12-18 inches/30-45 cm,
more or less.

3. The auxiliary propeller rotor and the main propeller rotor are secured on
the same shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator and rotate together,
from the energy of the wind, either clockwise or anti-clockwise.

4. The extended shaft or axle of the turbine generator is shaped multi-sided,
such as hexagonally, to allow easy adjustment of the most advantageous
circumferential arrangement between the auxiliary and the main rotor
propellers. Essentially, there are 6 settings between the two so that the
propellers are not necessarily in line with each other but can be offset so
as to achieve maximum power output from the wind energy.

5. The auxiliary rotor with its two or three propeller blades, more or less,
synchronized with the main rotor with its two or three propeller blades,
more or less, results in significantly greater output, with its lesser blade
diameter than the standard one rotor with two or three propeller blades on
high tower wind generator turbines.

6. The auxiliary rotor propellers and the main rotor propellers that are on
the
same extended shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator, permit many
variations of the propellers such as each having the same or different
length of blades, widths of blades, and number of blades, (3 to 5, more or




less). This plurality of propeller blades on two adjoining rotors with one
half the blade length has the same power output, more or less, as a
standard rotor with two or three blades with twice the diameter on a high
tower supporting the wind turbine

7. The logic is that the blade length of propellers on two spaced rotors on
the
same shaft or axle is doubled, more or less, and is equivalent to one rotor
with twice the diameter of the propeller blade. For example, a high output
turbine wind generator with a tower height of 50 meters has a one rotor 3
propeller blade diameter of 30 meters, it can be substituted with two
propeller rotors each being 15 meters in diameter and the height of the
tower can be reduced by one half, to 25 meters more or less.

8. The auxiliary propeller rotor allows a lower tower height resulting in
lower costs tower construction, and easier to do repairs when needed. The
fabrication cost of the shorter blade propeller is also much less than the
longer blade that requires special alloys to withstand the additional stress.

9. The invention of the "Auxiliary Propeller Rotor" has the following
objectives:
- to significantly reduce the height of the wind turbine tower,
- to increase the effectiveness of capturing the thrust of the wind energy,
- to increase greater electrical output at low wind speed, hence lower startup

speed, and ideal for low wind velocity sites.

10. The technology to slow down the rotation of the propeller blades of
wind turbine generators during high winds are varied. Several high output
turbine generators have a feathering mechanism on the single propeller
rotor, similar to an airplane propeller rotor, that rotates the blade of the
propeller to have a lesser resistance to air.
The old fashioned wind vane which swivels the propellers and turbine
obliquely to high winds is still an effective and simple way to decrease the
speed of rotation during high winds and is the recommended feature for
the "auxiliary rotor" on a wind generator turbine. It is simple, easy to
repair, and will not unduly delay electrical output.

Claims

Auxiliary Propeller Rotor for Horizontal Wind Turbines Generators
"Booster/Stabilizer Props"

The Technology of the Invention in which an Exclusive Property or Privilege
is Claimed is Defined as Follows:

1. A second rotor with two or more propellers, termed rear-auxiliary or front
auxiliary that is installed with a space, in front, or in rear of the main
propeller
rotor that also has two or more propellers, and together are on the extended
(16-24 inch /40-60cm, more or less), shaft, or axle of an up-wind generator
turbine is an exclusive property.

2. A space of between (12-18 inches/30-45 cm, more or less) is allocated on
the extended shaft or axle of the wind turbine between the auxiliary propeller
rotor and the main propeller rotor is an exclusive property.

3. The axis of rotation of the auxiliary propeller rotor and the front
propeller
rotor that are secured on the shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator, and
rotate together either clockwise or counter-clockwise from the wind energy is
an exclusive property.

4. The extended part of the shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator can be
shaped multi-sided such as hexagonally to allow easy adjustment of the
circumferential arrangement between the auxiliary rotor propellers and the
main rotor propellers, so that essentially there are 6 settings between the
two
rotor propellers and instead of being in line with each other they can be
offset
so as to achieve maximum power output from the flow-through of the wind
energy and attain greater energy efficiency is an exclusive property.

5. The auxiliary rotor propellers and the main rotor propellers are on the
same
extended shaft or axle of the wind turbine generator and permit many
variations of the propellers such as each having the same or different length
of
blades, widths of blades, and number of blades, (3 to 5, more or less), and
together achieve a lower start-up speed, more stability in varying winds, and
are ideal for low wind speed sites is an exclusive property.

6. This plurality of propeller blades on two adjoining rotors with one half
the
blade length has the same power output, more or less, as a standard rotor with
two or three blades with twice the diameter on a high tower supporting the
wind turbine, thus effectively the height of the tower is reduced by one half,
more or less is an exclusive property.

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7. The auxiliary propeller rotors and the main propeller rotor with an
allocated
space between the two, is applicable for down-wind turbine generators, and
for tidal and stream water generator turbines is an exclusive property.

8. The auxiliary propeller rotor and the main propeller rotor, with an
allocated
space between the two, each with it's befitting number of blades, is
applicable to airplanes with one or two motor driven propeller rotor(s), or
with one or two turbo rotor propellers is an exclusive property.

9. The auxiliary propeller rotor and the main propeller rotor, with an
allocated
space between the two is applicable to water conveyances powered by one
or more separate propellers, such as boats and ships is an exclusive property.

Page 6

Description

CA 02477595 2004-11-30
An Auxiliar~peller Rotor for Horizontal Wind Turbine Generators
"Booster/Stabilizer Props"
DISCLOSURE
a) Field and Background of the Invention
i) Humans have used wind as energy for thousands of years. Ancient
Persians have used wind energy to pump water before the birth of
Christ. Wind-driven ships explored the world, before the advent of engine
power. For hundreds of years, the huge wind mills in Holland provided
power to grind the grains and also to drain the seawater when reclaiming
the land, and still do, from the sea. The old fashion pioneer wind vane
windmills used traditionally in the early 1900's by the farmers and
ranchers in the United States and Canada to pump water, are still used
today.
ii) The top base of the existing wind turbine generator structure is usually a
round plate, which when set on a plate on top of a tower, 40-60-80 feet,
permits the easy rotation, plate to plate, of the structure such that the
propellers are always perpendicular to the wind movement for maximum
power from the wind. Any deviation to the oblique from the perpendicular
to the wind reduces the speed of rotation of the propellers and is one
method for slowing the rotational speed of the propellers in high winds.
iii) The wind turbine generators on towers are isolated individually or
together as a community labeled as a wind farm and these farms are
common in California with 4,000 or more turbines providing electricity to
cities and local communities. Wind farms are being expanded nationally
in European countries, especially Denmark, Germany, Holland, Sweden
and England. Canada has great potential and is slowly expanding the use
of wind turbine generator to supplement hydro and nuclear power.
iv) Most of the modern turbine generators, as seen in photographs, have one
propeller with either 2 blade or 3 blade rotors, and the rotor blade
diameter may vary from 10 feet to 12 feet to as much as 60 to 80 feet
more or less, on a tower 150 feet, more or less. Some wind turbine
generators have one rotor with a multitude of acute angle vanes, (pioneer
wind pumpers on farms and ranches) or recent models (Hornet Wind
Turbines) with as many as 4 to 6 propeller blades on the same rotor.
Initials 9-~~ Page 7 of 8

CA 02477595 2004-11-30
v) Most manufacturers of wind turbine generators use the 2 propeller rotor
and the 3 propeller rotor as the most efficient, as observed in wind farms
in the US and Europe.
vi) However, the Hornet Wind Turbines of the US has demonstrated that a
rotor with 4 or 5 blades has a higher torque at lower wind speeds, less
variation in rotation, resulting in more constant energy output favorable
for generating electricity.
a) Search of Patents
I) Reviewing certain wind turbine generators patents filed with the
Canadian and with the US Patent office, there is no patent for an auxiliary
propeller rotor with the extended main shaft permitting a significant space
on the main shaft between the 2 propellers. Certain patents show 2
propellers adjoining each other, with no space on the shaft between
them, but rotating counter revolution to each other, one propeller is
secured on a main shaft while the other propeller is secured on an outer
tube outside of the main shaft and each counter rotating to the other.
II) United States Patent No 6,713,893, Efficient Wind Generator. The wind
generator has a first rotor disposed with a first axis of rotation.... and a
second rotor disposed with a second axis of rotation different from the
first axis of rotation, each rotor providing power to the field rotor of a
generator.....electrical energy is generated.
Note: there is no obvious space between the two rotors.
III) Patent CA 2193972. The Multi-Unit Rotor Blade System Integrated
Wind Turbine.
The described wind turbine has a set of propeller type wind force
collecting rotor turbines composed of an up-wind auxiliary rotor blade
turbine being disposed on the front end of the combined bevel-planet gear
assembly, and a down-wind main rotor blade turbine. These rotor blades
rotate in opposite directions with respect to one another.
IV) Aircraft Propeller System.
A lightweight counter-rotatable propeller system driven by a rotatable
shaft...system includes first and second counter-rotatable propellers, each
propeller including a plurality of blades mounted on first and second hubs,
respectively.
Initials ~~~~ Page 8 of 8