Your Questions About Wind Turbine Generators Types
Sharon asks…
What is the dollar cost of a megawatt wind turbine?
The megawatt size wind turbine seems to be a standard so why not have the cost of these machines available to compare with other type of electric generators?
admin answers:
In terms of the initial cost, just to purchase a commercial scale turbine, the usual price is roughly $1 million per megawatt of capacity. So, a GE 1.5 MW would cost around $1.5 million. Installation and development of the site would be additional costs.
Robert asks…
What type of bearings to use in a savonius wind turbine?
Hi all
I am currently building a savonius wind turbine that will be around half a meter tall. I have the general plan drawn up but just need some answers on what type of bearing to use – I really have no idea about different bearings/lubricants/size restraints etc. Would really appreciate any help that could be provided.
Thanks!
admin answers:
Basically you need a thrust bearing somewhere in the process to take the weight and another one or two bearings to take the wind force and keep it upright. If you are mounting above a generator, there might be a thrust bearing in the generator.
In your design, you have to provide for mounting the bearings. Lets suppose you were putting the unit on a shaft with a pulley on the bottom to drive a pump or generator off to the side via a belt. You would go to www.grainger com or local bearing firm and tell them you wanted a flat mount ball bearing for your shaft diameter – this would be the top support – and you wanted a flat mount thrust bearing for the bottom, as well as a shaft collar all to match the shaft. For your project these might total $15-20.
The simplest possible mount would be a stiff frame rectangle to which you mount the ball bearing in the middle of the top and the thrust bearing at the bottom. What the shaft collar does is screw to the shaft and rest against the bearing, transferring the weight. Since I have proposed a pulley, the shaft would have to be long enough to go through the frame to put the pulley below, so you didn’t have to take the unit apart to change the belt.
To be honest, most ball bearings even if not thrust, will take much more weight than your turbine and you could probably get the shaft collar and two bearings at your hardware store or home center where they are sold as replacements for wheel barrow and cart wheels
for another view
http://www.macarthurmusic.com/johnkwilson/MakingasimpleSavoniuswindturbine.htm
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