, “. ~ .- ,_ . * -I ' REFERENCE- .? -BBRARY p ;A ~~~ect;~~~vol ...

fed 10 coils immersed in a bet-water storage
tanKYt%s feature makes the Tvind machine
the worlds largest wind furnace!
,..;
/
Uniyersity of Massachusehs,
Wiry! Furnace .I ”
/
,’ “The’wind furnace is an application of
wind ‘power that is finding w? espreqd ac-’
Ir”l
xeptance. Heat energy is needed to raise
the temperature of water for agricultural and
industrial applications rgnging from dairy
sterilization to washing, laundry. It’s also,~
: needed to warm animal barns, greenhouses’:
and homes. Happily; tiqst of these cIim&e
= control applications require more heat when,
it is windy than when it is not.
In .a wind furnace, wind energy is converted
into mechani&[. power in the rotor
powershaft. This rotary power may then be
* used to make heat from friction (e.g$plas%ing
water with paddles drivetiy’the rotor
power shaft) or from the gjneration of electricity
that can powei electrical resistance
,Lbeaters. t +
Under the direction of Professbr William
Herdnemous, students at theb.niversity of
Massachusetts have built a wind generator
33 feet in diameter mounled’atop a 50-foot
steel pole tower. The electrical outpyt of this
machine is used directly to warm water,
which is then combined with heated water
’
from solar collectors mounted on the southfac@g
wall of the research house. Concrete
tanks in
3
the basement of the, Qouse store
‘S
Tvind School with the #OOO-kW inachine$Jhe backgrouhd. ‘I\~
---._
-.-__ ..? -.- ..
all this hot water.
The fiberglass bladei
producing 50 horsepower
are capale of
(37 kilowafis) in a
---___
---.__
.
\. --~~~-’ 1 ./ _ ’ & 2
i
26-mph wind. Shaft power frcjm th% blades
drives a-generator through a truck differen- * ,_ j , e*
tial anti a chain drive. The generator is controlled
by an electronic load controller that
senses windspeed and rOtor rpm and. applies
appropriate current to the field windings
+
’
“:’ .; ,
l”‘+
.:
-, ,.,
: :-‘p . . -, -_. -, -. . I’-,,
-- 1