1st Permanent Magnetic Suspension Wind Power Generator Debuted

GUANGZHOU, Dec 28, 2005--The world's first permanent magnetic suspension wind power generator debuted in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China on December 26.

Its cost is only one tenth of the traditional wind power generator. Moreover, it can generate power by utilizing breeze, that is to say, wind of lower speed in cities can also be used to generate power.

In the past, wind power generators can be only built in the fields with large amount of wind. Experiments show that under the same condition of wind speed, a permanent magnetic suspension wind power generator can generate 20 percent more power compared with a traditional power generator.  China's coastal and western areas are abundant in wind resources, so they can build wind power plants on large scale in the future.

As permanent magnetic suspension wind power generators have advantages in using wind of low speed to generate power, they will be mainly used in two sectors in the future: urban street lamp, speedway, sightseeing lamp system, and large-sized power grids.

via TMCnet

Can anyone answer this question:  Are they talking about anything new?  Using magnetic suspension bearings in a wind turbine would be new, and presuably costly and complex, but is something has been lost in translation and they are talking about a magnetic effect in the generator that wouldn't be news.  The reference to permanent magnets makes me think its the generator.  I couldn't find anything else about this through any searches that I tried. I guess this confirms my lack of understanding of motors and generators.

More blogs about wind power, renewable energy, energy, technology

Comments

[Elliott]

I think they are using magnetic bearings instead of mechanical bearings in the wind turbine. According to Texas A&M University, "Applications for magnetic bearings include: Turbo Generators, Electric Motors, Energy Storage Flywheels,Machine tools, Nautical Propulsion Systems, Wind Turbines, Applications with Heavy Shafts or Axles." See: http://tlo.tamu.edu/tlo/documents/INDR/1722.pdf

For an nice FAQ intro to magnetic bearings, see: www.skf.com/portal/skf_rev/home/technology?contentId=079612&lang=en

A company called Composit Power claims: "Concerns about wind speed and therefore location for siting a wind farm can be abated with the development of Composite Power Corporation's unique wind power generator. This wind power generator rests on a horizontal platform much like a water tank and the concept operates through the integration of proven technologies in the fields of magnetic levitation, induction generation, energy storage and composite wind turbine blade design. The anticipated advantages of Composite Power Corporation's wind power generator are: low facility costs per kilowatt hour production, minimal maintenance, no wearing parts, no braking or feathering required, lower wind velocities for start up, insensitive to shifts in wind direction, more aesthetically and environmentally acceptable and low noise generation." See: www.compositepower.com/company_info3.html

[JesseJenkins]

CompositePower offers very little information on their wind turbine design.

Here's a skeptical discussion of the company in general and the following is an excerpt on CompositePower's wind turbine. Doesn't look to promising.

"There also are questions about the wind turbine Composite Power envisions. It would spin on its side, rotating on a vertical axis like a merry-go-round and looking more like a water tower than a windmill.

The new turbine, with dozens of vertical blades, would generate power at much slower wind speeds because it would avoid friction by using a sort of magnetic levitation system, according to the company.

Each turbine would generate an average of 20 megawatts or more, the company claims -- more than 30 times the output of any commercial wind turbine sold in the country today.

The wind industry is highly skeptical such a machine could produce that much energy given the dimensions Composite Power is talking about. The output of a wind turbine is largely a function of the amount of area it sweeps, and a turbine as much as 80 feet high and 150 feet in diameter wouldn't be large enough.

"It sounds like a real stretch," said Alan Laxson, a wind researcher with the federal government's National Wind Technology Center in Colorado. "There's not even that much power in a column of wind like that. It sounds like somebody dropped a decimal point."

Robinson said the turbine is still in the research and development phase. But a year-old business plan promised a prototype would be built at a site near Arlington, Ore., followed by construction of a wind farm that would generate 50 percent more power than the Stateline Wind Project west of Walla Walla, the world's largest."

[steve]

If a horozontal cylinder is placed or I realy should say welded to a metal platform,
(A)opposing magnets bolted verticaly according to pr2 by internal measurements with gaps between the opposing magnets pos neg not less than one millapart and a magnetic disc of internal cylindrical width separated by a non conductive rezon between the inner cylinder at floor level pos, then drop gently a solid cigar bolted with magnets equal to the inner external wall,(however carfully) lowered down the inner sacktom of the magnet chamber,not a coiled one leckys ,then the turning of a fans pushed by the wind then turnes a pully which turns a generator which makes small electricity,the electricity is then input into the chamber of opposing magnetics with a lid obviously bolted down to enclose the cylinder which is also manetised to the opposite of the botom neg then the shaft will float,the cylinder wll begin to rotate by the emfs input.Normal Right.But the extreme power coming out of the regulator is re-fed into the inner magnetic shell to re feed the magnetic force and so thus the cylinder inside will begin to spin faster and also float hence(no friction).Above the magnetised disc that is resoned from the outer wall,the so called spherical motion will become perpetual inside.Time to turn the wind fan off and re_feed ending by tapping the output source from the perpetual magnetic ring. warning dont wear a pacemaker or jewelery,and keep it cool on the outside. Just a thought,as a rule of HUMAN NATURE knock it before you try it.

[Eron]

Yes I se the point. If the Earth cansit inside the van allen belts and spin so can we make a renewable enery using the wind to start it all off . THIS IDEA IS DANGEROUSE HOW WOULD WE SLOW THE INTERNAL VELOCITY SO AS TO CONTROL IT.

[steve]

turn your telivision on

[Windsor]

Windsor Supplier and manufacturer of generator including small generator,
petrol generator, diesel generator, industrial generator, silent
generator, electricity generator, air cooled generator, gensets
1kva, 2kva, 5kva, 10kva, 50kva, 100kva, 250kva dg sets.

[new balance]

For the pursuit of light and heat, people would rather give up his life. Life is sweet. But the cold and lonely, but not the astounding.Do you think so?

[Suspension]

Suspension

Whether you are a road rider or a racer correct suspension setup is the key to fast smooth riding and consistent lap times. To get the best out of your bike it needs to be set up for the conditions in which you will be riding. It is considerably easier to set the bike up for the Track as you know what conditions will be like for the next hour or so and thus you can dial in the optimum settings for the that particular situation.