tspear
Well-Known Member
I have been peripherally been involved with an wind farm project for a grid less project.
One of the very interesting tidbits was there are two ways to generate constant power:
-- adjust blade angle to rotation speed is constant
-- use gearing to have a constant speed at the generator and allow the prop to have almost any speed
I am not sure how the engineers measure it, but they talk about energy loss. Adjusting the blade angle actually has an energy loss approaching 70% compared to 30% with a gearing system.
Historically I think we have used constant speed props and adjusted blade angles because our direct drive engines had such a small viable RPM range.
With a PSRU, the engine can have a much wider range of operation allowing the prop to potentially be fixed pitch. This would allow for a "tuned" prop...
Has anyone looked into this aspect of efficiency?
Tim
One of the very interesting tidbits was there are two ways to generate constant power:
-- adjust blade angle to rotation speed is constant
-- use gearing to have a constant speed at the generator and allow the prop to have almost any speed
I am not sure how the engineers measure it, but they talk about energy loss. Adjusting the blade angle actually has an energy loss approaching 70% compared to 30% with a gearing system.
Historically I think we have used constant speed props and adjusted blade angles because our direct drive engines had such a small viable RPM range.
With a PSRU, the engine can have a much wider range of operation allowing the prop to potentially be fixed pitch. This would allow for a "tuned" prop...
Has anyone looked into this aspect of efficiency?
Tim
