International Research Journal of Power and Energy Engineering

IRJPEE
Vol. 3(2), pp. 125-129, November, 2017. www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 3254-1213x

Conference Paper

Production of Electrical Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev

Windmill
Sujo Oommen
School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, REVA University, Bangalore -64, India
Email: sujo.oommen@revainstitution.org

This paper deals with wind power generation by elimination of gear system. Using magnetic
levitation frictional losses will be avoided and power generated will be improved. Comparing with
conventional type vertical axis wind turbine is more efficient that will capture the wind in all
directions. Due to maglev, it will be able to rotate in minimum speed of 1m/s and produce
alternating voltage. By using permanent magnet (Neodymium) repulsion effect replaces the
bearings to reduce the frictional losses and produce power more than conventional type with cost
effective.

Keywords: Maglev, Neodymium, Renewable Energy, Wind energy conversion system.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, we are looking for production of pollution free
electrical energy sources and can be repeatedly used.
Energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, hydel power
and various types of biomass. Here we are using wind
turbine to produce power from small amount of wind
blowing. Thus, we are going for vertical axis wind turbine to
capture wind in all direction and using magnetic levitation
gear system is fully eliminated, hence power loss by friction
is reduced.
In wind technology, there are mainly two types of horizontal
type (conventional method) and vertical axis type. For small
and medium production of electricity we prefer vertical axis
have its own advantages such as able to capture wind in all
direction, less maintenance, all main parts are located at
the ground level, less noise.
phenomena. Hence gear or ball bearings are total replaced
by magnetic bearings. When the blades start rotating
magnet also rotates, thus field is rotating and coils placed
on the stator is fixed cut the flux. Thus, a dynamically
induced emf is generated (AC voltage output). It explained
by Fig.1 block diagram of electrical power generation by
magnetic levitation. Vertical axis maglev wind mill is able to
produce more amount of energy compared with
conventional method due to the replacement of gear
system i.e frictional losses are eliminated. So medium
generation of power this method is adoptable.

In maglev technology, entire bearing is replaced by

permanent magnets and frictional losses caused by the
gear box system are eliminated. Due to this wind turbine
will be able to rotate at minimum starting speed of 2m/s and
maximum up to 40m/s. Blades are arranged in the rotor
where the circular magnets are placed on the base of the
rotor (turbine). (Vishwa pandya et al., 2017) The turbine is
suspended on the air without any mechanical contact only Fig. 1 Block diagram of electrical power generation by
with magnetic forces. This is due to magnetic levitation maglev wind mill

Production of Electrical Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev Windmill

Oommen S. 126

A. Power Calculation B. Selection of magnets & Arrangement

For the sufficient generation of power there are some
factors have to consider such as the wind availability in an
area and the velocity of the wind. (Minu John et al., 2014)
The wind power increases as the cube of velocity of the
wind (speed) with respect to area. (Harshal Vaidyal et al.,
2016) The motion of the wind is considered as the kinetic
energy (Piyush Gulve, and Dr. S.B.Barve, 2014).
Kinetic Energy K.E = AV3
From Fig 3. (Minu John et al., 2014) B-H curve of different
magnets, neodymium (Nd-Fe-B) have maximum magnetic
flux density so able to produce maximum flux for the
generation of voltage. We selected two different shapes of
Neodymium magnet N35 grade in which 14 circular
magnets and 2 centre magnets.

To convert into Power in kilowatt, a proportionality constant

is added, K= 2.14 x 10-3

Therefore, Power on kilowatt (KW) = 2.14 AV3 x10-3

Where, is Air density = 1.2Kg/3/2.33 x10-3 slugs/f3
A is Area swept out by the blades
V is wind speed velocity in m/s

We can use only a portion of overall wind power, that

cannot exceed 59% of the overall wind.

Magnetic Levitation

Magnetic Levitation means repulsive force characteristics

between the permanent magnets and able to suspends the
object without any contact only with magnetic forces (Minu
John, 2014). We are using neodymium magnets (Nd- Fe-
B) have placed like polarities on the top of each other.
Compared with other permanent magnets repulsive force
is that much strong enough to carry the weight of the
turbine. As the grade of the magnet increases the repulsive
forces also increases. Due to levitation gaer system is
completely replaced by magnetic bearings hence frictional
losses are eliminated and power generation can be
increased by 20%. Hence the starting speed is reduced,
output power will be obtained for lower speed also. As the
mechanical bearing is eliminated lubrication also is not
required and is reliable.
Fig.3 B-H curve of Various Permanent Magnets
The dimension of the magnets is outside diameter of
40mm, inside diameter of 20mm and width of 10mm. these
permanent magnets are plated with nickel to protect and
strengthen the magnet. The magnets used in this design N-
35 grade Nd-Fe-B having a flux density of 2100
Gauss(green colour) from the Fig.4. We are used 2 ring
shaped magnets and 14 circular magnets. The ring shaped
magnets placed on the shaft with like poles repel each
other and circular shaped arranged in N-S N-S like that
shown in Fig.5.

Fig 2: Magnetic Levitation Fig.4 Flux lines around Permanent Magnet

Production of Electrical Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev Windmill
 Int. Res. J. Power Energy Engin. 127

D. Blades Design Details

The blades design details are given in the TABLE. I. (Vishal

D Dhareppgoal and Maheshwari M Konagutti, 2013) The
number of blades used is 8 and angle should be in the
range of 300 to 450 with the disc. As to capture maximum
amount of wind, angle of the blades should be 450 will
makes to rotate the turbine faster. If the no. of blades
increases, it will create turbulence to the system and if it is
less, it may not be able to capture maximum amount of
wind. Side view and top view of the blades arrangement is
shown below Fig.7 & Fig.8 respectively. Due to this deign
even in very less wind it will be able to rotate and produce
energy.

Table I
Type Specification
Cylindrical Outer
400 mm
Diameter of Blade
Cylindrical inner
80 mm
Fig.5 Arrangement of Circular Neodymium Magnets on the Diameter of Blade
base of the Rotor Wings 600 * 120 mm
Angle Cutting 450
C. Coil Arrangement Blade Cuttings 97/100/298.5/301.5/500/503/600

Coils used for power generation is 46-gauge wires of 5000

turns each and have four sets of coils. They are arranged
in the periphery of the stator which is in a line to disc
magnets and raised to certain height for maximum
utilization of magnetic flux. Coils are connected in series
over parallel to obtain more amounts of output voltage and
current. As the magnet fixed to the turbine rotates, a
rotating field is developed and the coils are fixed at bottom
base cut the magnetic flux a dynamically induced emf is
generated in the coil (axial generator). The coils are
arranged near to it for getting flux changes and produce
more output voltages.

Fig.7 Side View of Blades arrangement

Fig 6 Coil Arrangement

Fig.8 Top View of Blades arrangement

Production of Electrical Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev Windmill

Oommen S. 128

Hardware Implentation

The overall structure of the maglev wind mill designed is

shown in the Fig.9 and output obtained using w.r.t speed is
given in the TABLE II. The output produced (4-6V) from the
wind mill is alternating current (AC) is converted into DC
using rectifier circuit. DC obtained from the rectifier module
is doubled by a voltage doubler circuit. This output from
doubler is fed to the inverter module to get AC and connect
to the load (as here CFL).

Fig.11 Voltage Doubler Circuit

F. Inverter Module

Fig.9 Experimental setup of maglev wind mill It aims to convert DC to AC power by using PWM to get
complete the desired output and boost up the voltage by a
E. Rectifier Module & Voltage Doubler Circuit step up transformer to 110V.

A full wave diode bridge module is used for to obtain

pulsing DC (4-6V) shown in Fig.10 helps to increase the
average output voltage. Capacitor of 500 F is used for
remove harmonics. This filtered voltage is doubles input
voltage of 5V to 10V using 555 timer IC, 0.01mF & 22mF
capacitor for charging & discharging form a voltage doubler
circuit and maintains the constant voltage shown in Fig.11

Fig.12 Inverter Module

Table. II
Speed Vs Output Power
Sl.No. Speed in Output Power(mW)
Current(mA)
RPM Voltages(V)
1. 19 1.8 0.1 0.18
2. 38 2.5 0.2 0.50
Fig. 10 Rectifier Module 3. 57 3.6 0.5 1.80
4. 105 4.8 0.9 4.32
5. 124 6.5 1.3 8.45
6. 171 10.7 1.8 19.26

Production of Electrical Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev Windmill


CONCLUSION
This type of turbine can be used for moderate production of
electrical energy. The wind turbine rotor and stator levitated
properly using Neodymium magnet N35 grade which help
the smooth rotation without any friction. We can able to
produce moderate amount of power even with less wind
speed of 2m/s. as the grade of the magnet increases
magnetic levitation also will be more stable, life of the
magnet increases. For the increase of current, gauge of the
wire as well as the number of turns also should increases.
As we are going for vertical axis type it is best to implement
for domestic purpose less expensive compared with solar.
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Int. Res. J. Power Energy Engin. 129
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Accepted 23 October, 2017
Citation: Oommen S (2017). Production of Electrical
Energy by Vertical Axis Maglev Windmill. International
Research Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 3(2):
125-129.
Copyright: 2017. Oommen S. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are cited.