Wind turbine with bicycle wheels

This instructable uses bicycle wheels to create a wind turbine. Some construction ideas come from A Home Power Plant - Wind Power Generator Revised
by bhunter736
Making a simple Savonius wind turbine
http://www.macarthurmusic.com/johnkwilson/MakingasimpleSavoniuswindturbine.htm
The timber frame idea comes from wind turbine by faroun
Faroun Savonius Wind Turbine
plus other net published constructions I can't remember plus some original bits.

Step 1 Make base and top frames.

Create two 700mm square frames
These frames to hold the axle bolt and make the whole construction simpler. I used 25mm pipe. Add an angle iron section across the the centre with a hole drilled at the centre able to take the wheel axle.
Fortunately I have a mate with a welder and is much better at it than me. Thanks Chris

Comments

[bbion]

dear engineers please design a portable windmill so i can take a wheel...of my bicycle ...duriiing nite ...to recharge... battery....at nite---10 lbs extra? with a bike wheel windmill

[alaskanbychoice]

How about a genertor attached to the wheel while you ride so that it is charging on your way to your destination ?

[mahesh.ganpate]

how much energy produce this wind mills

[timmi]

Hi Does anybody know what would sort of motor would be best for my wind turbine (perhaps that I could get from an appliance around the house etc)? Thanks Tim

[dsandds2003]

Looks GREAT and is a great idea. I could see this with a dc motor and maybe an Car alternator but to make alternator work you would need it to generate about 1600 rpm to get anything out of the alternator. Thinking a dc motor would work best. However this is a GREAT IDEA and leaves allot to experiment with as well. Now if I could just get the video to work.....

[frednerk]

the video should work if "Open with" Quicktime. It was done from a still camera rather than a video camera.

[fbuzzell]

Check out TMA's VAWT for air foils in combination with vertical turbines. They report efficiencies at 40+% with the airfoil design

[frednerk]

Foils have been on my mind. My father in law is a model plane enthusiast so I have three wings made from hot wire cut foam, (his incomplete projects), but I won't be able to get them in until mid next year

[SplineGod]

Also if you left the tire on you might be able to use that to drive a small generator or DC motor by direct contact with the tire using friction.

[frednerk]

have tried solid rubber cord glued with superglue driving a generator. That works but I am waiting to get it into the field to to actual testing

[freakinbill]

Instead of fabricating the buckets from flat sheet metal why not use air-conditioning ducting or stove pipe?

[bhunter736]

Looks fantastic. I love the view of the veranda. The turbine seems so at home there. I love the fact that the baffles seem to help in a real world test too. I have not been able to answer that question with any certainty. I cant wait to see what kind of output you end up with. They are mesmerizing to watch arent they? : )

[frednerk]

Thanks! The baffles idea comes from one of Faroun's projects I think. I haven't tried it without them but I would like to see the difference. I am going to replace the timber frame with pipe and fencing clamps. Yes it can be mesmerising. The view is Balmoral, Brisbane, Australia.

[faroun]

i do belive that i am the first to frame it and Direct the wind to the blades now, how about this idea, take a v belt and place it inside the rim with the pointy edge to the outside and then use a pm alternator or treadmill dc generator and place a pully on it and spring load it to the v belt. if you go to my project you will see that i did the same using a timing belt and it works. easy and you have the rim already. regards Faroun

[frednerk]

I hadn't considered using the rim as the drive but it would give a significant gearing advantage. My current plan is to use the bike chain to drive off the largest rear wheel cog. Fortunately the derailer cog off the bike fits the shaft of my fixed magnet generator exactly which gives a reasonable gearing ratio to up the revs. I will probably still need a spring loaded system to keep a little tension.

[DanLoney]

This is a really cool idea, does that get spinning very fast in the wind? i was thinking of using that design for mine, i was just going to use 1 bike wheel for a horizontal design, instead of a VAWT. i wanted to just screw in a hub on top of the piece of wood across the wheel and put blades on it but i wasnt sure all that weight would make it spin very fast. Great works that looks very cool ~DanLoney

[frednerk]

Mine only spins relatively slowly but if you use smaller diameter bike wheel with the same height blades it should spin faster. I did try this with one bike wheel and vertical blades when I was getting under way. I used cardboard for blades in testing. It went fairly well. If you use a horizontal design it may be more important to "balance" the wheel. ie after it is built spin it slowly and adjust the weight distribution of the whole construction. Have fun I just like to "Try it"!!!

[bhunter736]

True. Also, when the time comes, you can probably just use a treadmill motor as the generator. The torque should be pretty good, even with only one tier it should self start too. : )

[faroun]

nice work, i like the simple i dea of using bicycel parts and such. in my project i have created the wind direction idea to achive more tork and Yes it does work, cause at the same time where the back of the blade there is a vacume. in my project i am aiming for 400 watt but i am still at 180 at 20mph wind so i am working on another custom alternator, what are you aiming for? regards

[frednerk]

Thanks! I have not connected it to the enerator as yet. I need to get a electronics kit which will convert low voltage up to >12V for charging. As far as the back of the blade goes I have made a couple of "wing" shaped blades which should help with this problem and increase the efficency. I am going to fit them to a one wheel version hopefully today If it works I'll post it if it doesn't I'll send you a simple way of making "wing" shaped blades for savonius's if you would like, if you can improve on it I'd like to know.

[GorillazMiko]

Cool idea. IF I were to try this, I would probably do something terribly wrong, but you are just amazing. Great job.

[frednerk]

Thanks but there was nothing super precise about it. Fortunately I have a mate who could weld better than I can which is what holds it all together.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Wow, why didn't I think of this?

[chuckr44]

Great idea since the bike wheels already have ball bearings. And you can hook the rear wheel sprockets to your generator.