Waterpod WindPod Turbine: Difference between revisions

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Background

The WaterPod Project [1] is a art exhibition and a leaning experience that will teach people about alternative solutions to environmental problems and sustainability. The barge will travel around the five burrows in New York harbor with a group of artists living aboard it. The barge will attempt to be completely self sufficient and will stop and each of the five burrows for a period of about two weeks and let people on board to lean about what the barge has to teach people.

Team MSB was a group created by the Engr 215- Intro to Design class at Humboldt State University to create a structure for the WaterPod project. Team MSb decided on building a wind turbine for the barge to harness the power of the wind. Team MSB consists of members Mario Barajas, Becca Russell, and Sam Speet.

Abstract

With the increase in today’s population, the WaterPod set out to find an innovative way to use the least amount of resources. The WaterPod is a group of artist who plan to live on a barge with the hope o being completely self-sustained for 6 months. The barge is planning to depart on May 20th and will travel around the 5 burrows in New York teaching about alternative solutions to environmentally harmful lifestyles and sustainability. Humboldt State University Engineering 215 Intro to Design class was contacted to design some of the structures for the artists that live aboard the barge. Team MSB is a team made by the Intro to Design Class to create a wind turbine that would harness the renewable power of the wind and turn it into energy and help to contribute to the energy needs of the barge. The final design was the WindPod Turbine which is a vertical access wind turbine that uses the power of the wind coming from any direction to create energy.

Problem Statement and Criteria

Team MSB sought to create a way to help with the energy needs of the barge using a renewable source of power. The team decided on using a wind turbine hoping to create enough power to add a sufficient amount of energy to the WaterPod battery banks.

• Cost-The cheaper the turbine was the better because it would make it easier to reproduce.
• Level of Safety-Team MSB did not want people to be injured by falling blades or by coming to close to the spinning blades and so safety was an important concern.
• Amount of Power Output- The turbine needed to function and contribute to the overall power needs of the project.
• Level of Educational Value- People would be coming to the barge to learn about sustainability and so the turbine needed to teach people because that was the primary concern of the people behind the WaterPod.
• Durability- The turbine needs to last for 6 months the entirety of the barges journey
• Shipability- The WaterPod is located in New York and so the turbine needs to be transported across country.
• Aesthetics- The turbine needed to draw people into it and so the way it looked was important
• Maintainability- The people living aboard the barge would be artists so making the turbine easy to maintain was important.
• Level of Animal Safety- Team MSB did not want dead birds because of them flying into the turbine.

Description of Final Solution

The WindPod Turbine is a vertical axis wind turbine that uses the power of the wind to create energy which is then stored in the battery banks. The WindPod turbine utilizes the vertical axis because while it is not as efficient as a horizontal wind turbine it requires less maintenance and it is able to catch wind coming from any direction without any needed adjustment. The blades are made of steel reinforced fiberglass. Their are three blades 120 degrees part from each other that catch the wind driving a shaft. This shaft then turns a band on the bottom of the turbine which turns the generator creating power. The entire WindPod turbine is about 13 feet tall and uses guyed wires to help support the structure especially in times of high wind.

Costs

The cost of the turbine was important. We wanted the turbine to be reproduced easily and so the cheaper it was the better. Also the project had total budget of $225. Team MSB wanted to use as many recycled and reused parts as possible not only to save money but to make the turbine more environmentally friendly. The table below is a description of the cost and materials used to create the WindPod turbine.

Next steps

help uploading files. Technical specifications including a schematic (CAD, pictures of the device).

Here is some help uploading files.

Materials

See this example of a cost table for more on tables.

Possible alternative materials

Tools

Skills needed

Estimated time of construction

Possible alternatives devices

Location

References

See Help:Footnotes for more.

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