Magenn Air Rotor System , advencement in conventional windmill by FRED FERGUSON (specialists in airships) It contains suitable slides for presentation

1. Department of electrical engineering
Technical seminar on:
.
FLYING WINDMILL
Submitted by:
Atul singh salaria
GCET/20/2015
Government College of Engineering and Technology
Jammu
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2. Energy
 With the developments made in science and technology, mankind
progressed to become a highly advanced race.
 However with the progress of humanity also came a rise in the demand of
energy resources.
 Led to over-exploitation of non-renewable resources and many problems
associated with them.
 A need for developments in renewable energy technology.
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3. Renewable energy
 “Renewable energy”- Any
sustainable energy source that are
replenished on a human time scale
e.g. Solar energy,wind energy,tidal
energy,wave energy etc.
 Dwindling coal, oil and natural gas
caused a surge in development of
renewable energy technologies.
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4. World Electricity Production
 The dependence on
conventional thermal
resources- 68%
 The dependence on
renewable energy
resources- ~20%
 Of that 15% is
hydroelectric
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5. Renewable energy
 Improvements in existing
renewable resources and
development of new renewable
resources is the need of the hour.
 Requirement of advancement in
energy source that has great
potential – wind energy.
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6. WHY WIND ENERGY ?6

7. Why Wind energy ?
 Renewable Source of Energy.
 Reduces dependency on fossil energy supply.
 Contributes to a healthy environment.
 Cost effective energy solution
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8. Distribution of wind energy in INDIA
Distribution of lightning energy in the
world

9. Conventional windmill9

10. Wind speed increases with
height
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11. 11

12. Need for improvement
 Friction generated by the roughness of the Earth's surface will reduce the speed
of the wind by creating mechanical eddies that transport momentum toward
the ground where it diminishes. An increase in height away from the surface will result in a
decrease in the effects of friction.
 Flying windmills have advantages over their land-based counterparts which
is because of factors such as contours of the land and daily heating and
cooling patterns, often face either inadequate wind or turbulent winds,
necessitating expensive designs.
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• No such impediments occur in the jet stream, where air moves near
constantly and at several times the speed that it does at 100 feet off the
ground, allowing much more energy to be captured from each square meter
of wind.
• Flying windmills are even more advantageous as it has ad-hoc generation:
devices with a reasonably simple tether-system do not have to be
permanently installed in one place.
• They could be trucked out to any location that needed them.
• The most important disadvantage of conventional types is that
there is not always (enough) wind. Whereas at higher altitudes,
wind conditions are much better.

14. WHAT ARE FLYING WINDMILLS
 It is a windmill similar to a conventional one in its working principle but here the rotor and generator
will be floating in air just like a hot air balloon.
 The generator will be enclosed in an inflatable structure and this structure is held by a Tether and
tied to the ground.
 Canadian engineer Fred Ferguson, specialized in airships, proposed an innovative system called as
Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS).
 Magenn’s design is radically different from other windmills on the market it would not use propeller
blades. Instead, it would be a helium blimp, with Savouries-style scoops causing it to rotate around
motors at the attachment-points to its tether.
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15. M.A.R.S ( Maggen Air Rotor
System)
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16. Introduction to M.A.R.S
 MARS is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine that rotates about a horizontal axis
in response to wind, generating electrical energy.
 This electrical energy is transferred down the 1000-foot tether for immediate use, or
to a set of batteries for later use, or to the power grid.
 Helium sustains MARS and allows it to ascend to a higher altitude than traditional
wind turbines.
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17. Components
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• Balloon
• Generator
• Wind Vane Stabilizer
• Ropes or Wires

18. Wind vane stabilizer18
• Wind Vane stabilizers are used on both sides of the axis to keep the device stabilized, and
positioned within a very controlled and restricted location

19. BALLOON, ROPES / WIRES19

20. Helium Balloon / Why Helium ?20
 A Helium balloon is a balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than
air. Helium balloons work by the same law of buoyancy.
 Helium sustains the Magenn Air Rotor System, which ascends to an altitude as selected by the operator for
the best winds.
 The woven outer part is actually made from the same material used in bulletproof vests and is lined with a
coating that protects it from UV rays and abrasion. The inner portion is coated with Mylar (the silver part you
see in helium balloons) to prevent the helium gas from escaping.
 Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is
represented by the symbol He. It is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic gas that
heads the noble gas group in the periodic table.
 Its boiling and melting points are the lowest among the elements and it exists only as a gas except in
extreme conditions.

21. Tether /ropes & wires
 A tether is a cord or fixture that anchors something movable to a reference point which may be
fixed or moving.
 Energy generated by a high-altitude system sent to the ground surface by tether.
 A tether is a long cable usually made of thin strands of high-strength fibers or conducting wires.
The tether provide a connection between generator and ground grid.
 The electrical current that is generated travels down the tethering lines to a transformer at the
ground station, then is redirected to the power grid.
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22. LIFTING MECHANISM
 The Helium gas creates a lift force that is in excess of the total weight of the system. The
helium provides at least twice the positive lift versus the overall weight of the MARS unit.
 Additional lift is also created when the rotor is spinning in a wind. The aerodynamic effect that
produces additional lift is called the Magnus Effect.
 Magnus Effect: This effect was discovered in mid-1800’s that creates lift when a spherical or
cylindrical object is spun while moving in a fluid.
 The combined lifting effect from buoyant (helium) lift and aerodynamic (Magnus) lift help
stabilize the Air Rotor against "leaning" in the wind. In tests, an Air Rotor went straight up and
held a near vertical position in various wind speeds, since the Magnus effect increases as the
wind speed increases. Research indicates that maximum lean will never be more than 45
degrees from the vertical.
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23. Lifting mechanism23

24. WORKING
 The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes
electricity. Utility-scale turbines range in size from 50 to 750 kilowatts.
 The wind rotates the turbine at a speed of 30 to 60 rpm.
 A reduction gear box is provided to increase the speed to 1200 to 1500 rpm for the
generator to produce electricity.
 The wind turns the turbine which spins the generator and the electricity is generated.
 This electricity is sent to ground by the tether and can be consumed readily, stored in
batteries for later use or can be supplied to grid.
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• A 30- by 57-foot prototype generated two kilowatts of electricity during testing, enough for
one house.

27. SPECIFICATIONS OF 100 KW AIR
TURBINE
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28. Advantages over conventional windmill
• Greater handling and transportation
costs
• Location specific installation
• Transmission losses
• 2-d blades
• Cost factor
• Expensive infrastructure and much
noise
• Lower handling and transportation costs
• Installed anywhere at all, no location
constraints
• Lower transmission loss
• 3-d balloon
• 40-50% cheaper energy,Low cost
electricity - under 20 cents per kWh versus
50 cents to 99 cents per kWh for diesel
• Not expensive setupandLess noise
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29.  MARS units cannot be installed within five miles of the boundary of any airport.
 Initial cost is high.
 Helium gas leaks at a rate of 0.5 % per month. The drawback of the technology is that the
balloon has to be re-filled with helium every 6 months, seeing as the gas leaks.
 Another disadvantage of floating windmills is that they have to be taken down in extremely
powerful winds, whereas common wind turbines are simply shut down.
LIMITATIONS29

30. Applications
 Can be used off-grid for cell-towers, exploration equipment, communities, farms
and factories
 Can be rapidly deployed to disaster areas for power to emergency and medical
equipment, water pumps, and relief efforts
 Wind farm deployment
 For military purpose
 In developing nations where infrastructure is limited or non existent it can easily
provide electricity
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31. Applications31

32. Conclusion
 In case of flying windmills the MARS system is very simple to install, requiring minimal on‐site work.
 Despite its large size, no cranes or oversized vehicles were required to deploy the system, nor are they
expected to be required for larger units.
 High‐altitude wind power using tethered wind turbine devices has the potential to open up a new wind
resource in areas that are not served by conventional turbines. This Kind of technology can reduce our
 dependencies on fossil fuels reduces which are depleting at a rapid rate.
 As there is no pollution in this system Green Energy can be produced which can reduce greenhouse
gases.
 As it can be near demand centers, cost on power lines is reduces.
 If this technology is implemented it can eliminate power problems of all Nations in coming years.
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33. Reference
References:
 Kamini.N.Shelke,”Magenn Air Rotor System(MARS)”,vol no:2,Issue 6,December
2012.
 Rakesh Chaudhari,”Electric Energy Generation by MARS”Vol no 4,issue 2,April
2015.
 Aldo U Zgraggen,”Automatic Retraction and Full Cycle Operation for a Class of
Airborne Wind Energy Generators”,IEEE transactions on control system
technology,”vol 24,no 2,March 2016.
 S.Ramya,”Flying Windmill”,IJARSE,Vol no 4,special issue (02),Feb 2015.
 Suvriti Dhawan,”Airborne internet Providing Tethered Balloon system”,vol
no:4,issue no:12,Dec 2015
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