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Posts Tagged ‘vertical axis windmills’

When building windmills, people think about how to increase their efficiency. To do that, they examine the mechanism. The most important parts of a windmill are, of course, windmill blades.

The first thing to consider when talking about windmill blades is their number. The higher number of blades a windmill has, the harder will be for it to work. The old ones used to have four extremely bulky blades. Many of them were use in grain grinding. These days, the most recent windmills have two or three blades.

The length is significant also. If a blade is longer, it covers a bigger surface when it rotates, so they can catch more wind with each rotation. This may lead to more torque. To protect the windmill blades we mustn’t forget about their surface. If we provide them with efficient maintenance, they will last longer and will also be more productive.

Additionally, the shape of windmill blades influences their rotation. There’re a few different shapes of windmill blades: the flat, rectangular ones, the wing shaped ones and the ones with both edges tapered to a slim line or both edges rounded like the ones of a plane wing. In the case of the horizontal axis windmills, the wing shape has proved to be by far the most effective one. The vertical axis windmills works very well with all the shapes of the windmill’s blades, but the best performance is given by the flat ones and the ones with both edges rounded.

About the material with which the windmill blades are made out of, if we think about the old ones, they were usually made out of wood. Although those windmill blades are made of wood, their structure modified over time. They’re much lighter now so that they can spin quicker. An usual material which brings a high performance due to its sharp edges and its light weight is carbon fiber. Another material that’s light, but also low-priced is PVC. It’s a synthetic material often used for windmill blades. New materials are always being tested, in the hopes of finding a more affordable, more efficient solution.

Windmill blades are constantly developing, even though they appeared a very long time ago. At their early stages they were somehow inefficient, but people learned to develop them and to make the windmills a desirable source of energy. A lot more shapes and materials have and will be for windmill blades and people begin using more and more this alternative source of energy that will not only save our money, but also our environment.

Vertical windmills are not a new concept. Actually, despite that we’re accustomed to seeing horizontal axis windmills, the first windmills introduced were the vertical ones. The first functional types were invented in the ninth century, but their design has changed a lot over the years in order to obtain a higher effectiveness from them.

Vertical windmills have plenty of benefits. One of them is the low sound that they make. Horizontal windmills normally are extremely noisy, a fact that’s proven by their settlements in non-populated or low populated areas with not a lot of habitats around. Due to their silent function, vertical windmills are most of the times used by humans for their homes, metropolitan areas or commercial buildings.

Another benefit that vertical windmills have is that they can catch more wind than horizontal windmills. Regardless of the direction from which the wind blows, vertical windmills can capture it and transform it into energy. We can’t say the same about the horizontal axis form windmills.

A vertical windmill is less difficult to maintain. It is also secured to do it, too. We owe this to the truth that the position of the generator is at the ground level. Since it is in such a convenient place and straightforward to repair, we save a lot more time and energy when we give it maintenance or when we repair it.

Utilizing the vertical windmills’ design also brings benefits for the birds. Birds sometimes fly into the horizontal axis windmill. From this viewpoint the vertical axis type is safer and there’re least chances for birds to fly into its blades.

Vertical windmills could also have a highly anesthetic look, as they could be adapted to the adjoining area. They don’t have a pre-established pattern to pursue when building them. You could find them in plenty of shapes.

The most common vertical windmills are the Savonius and the Darrieus. The Savonius windmill is mostly used for pumping the water or for grain grinding. If you consider it from above, you notice that its shape is the one of the letter “S”. Contrary to the Savonius, the Darrieus windmill is used for producing electrical energy and not for pumping water. Its blades are in shape of the letter “C”, providing it the aspect of an eggbeater.

We live in a world where the electrical power is not only starting to become more and more expensive, but we’re also becoming more conscious that many sources that produce it are affecting the environment. Begin thinking at building your own vertical or even horizontal axis windmill so you can save money and help save the Earth in the procedure.