Andy Barton Clark McAdoo Brad Haynes Russ Stanford

Abstract

The project was to make a windmill using magnets. The power source was a fan. Once the

windmill was built it was suppose to be able to light a 1.5V light. We thought this would be easy but it

turned out harder than originally thought. We used a bottle cut into fourths as the blades, ceramic and

rare earth magnets and enamel coated wire as the generator. We were able to light the light with a

strobe light effect; we did not have a constant supply of power so we were not able to keep it lit

constantly. We topped out at 1.41V, .05 amps, and 10.06 watts. We concluded this was less than we

hoped for but we accomplished the goal of the project by lighting the light. This project would need

more time and money to determine if this was a realistic means to acquire power.

Introduction

Windmills have been used all over the world for centuries, more many reasons. They have been

used for mills, water pumps and now for electrical power. The purpose of this project was to create a

small windmill that could generate enough power to light a measly 1.5V light. The limits were you

could only spend $40 and it had to fit inside of a set region. As of the start this seemed like an easy

project to accomplish but looks can be deceiving.

Design Process

Our design process involved several mistakes, but resulted in a strong final product. We began

with a generator design involving several spools of wire on a surface and a surface with alternating rare

earth magnets on another surface. This did not produce sufficient power to light the given bulb. We

then proceeded to a traditional design involving a stack of four larger ceramic magnets within a single

spool. This proved effective. We used a large spool of magnetic wire, around 1000 ft. to provide many

turns in the generator. Our design for the wind turbine was very simple. It involved a 2 liter plastic soda

bottle split into four sections. The curve of the bottle provides ample surface area to capture the wind

and spin the generator. Our design overall was very simplistic and involved very few materials.

What we Built

We, as a group, produced a wind powered electric generator. It consists of three main parts: the

generator, the wind turbine and the support structure. The generator works by rotating four ceramic

magnets along with four rare earth magnets on an axis. This is enclosed by a plexiglass case and

wrapped with around 800 turns of magnetic wire. The rotating change in magnetic fields creates an

electric current in the wire. The turbine was created of a lightweight plastic material. It consists of four

blades attached to a central wooden hub. This turbine spins from the force of the wind. By spinning, it

turns the generator's central axis, therefore creating electricity. The structure consists of a plywood base

and several wooden support beams to elevate the system to an operable height.

Efficiency

In calculating the efficiency of our windmill, we simply calculated our theoretical energy vs our

actual obtained energy. The results were shocking. Using the equation .5 x rho x A x V^3 we found

that our theoretical yield was 125.76 watts. We actually produced .6102 watts giving our windmill an

efficiency of .485%. This low efficiency could be attributed to several factors. First, our magnet in our

generator was off-balance making the structure shake more than was necessary, and disrupting the fan

of our windmill from getting the fastest possible rotation. Secondly, there was a great deal of friction

between the copper rod and the wooden structure. Finally, the home-made fan didn't produce enough

rotation, and also hit the structure if the wind speed was too high. We could have fixed this by

reinforcing the blades with more wooden dowels.

Cost

We used very simple items in the construction of this windmill. The base was made of half inch

plywood which cost us $4.98. The supporting structure was made of 1 x 2 in. pieces of wood which in

total was $2.93. The generator was constructed of plexiglass which we already had, enamel coated

copper wire (28 gauge) which cost around $15, and the magnets were four ceramic magnets and four

rare earth magnets. The ceramic magnets we already had; however, the rare earth magnets cost us

$3.00. Our fan was made from 4 wooden dowels which cost us less than a dollar, a circular piece of

plywood taken from the base, and the blades were made from a 2 liter root beer bottle which cost

$1.50. This kept us under our overall budget of $40 dollars.

Conclusion

Throughout this final project our team worked well together and enjoyed our time with each

other. Overall, we would consider our project to be a success, since we lit the light bulb during our

presentation. Our design was simple, but it proved to be effective. While working on our windmill, we

learned how to create power. We found out how to do this during the process of building the generator.

When building our generator we all learned just how difficult it was to generate power. The process of

building the generator was an entirely new experience for all of the guys on our team. Our team did

not come across too many problems while designing our windmill. Not producing enough power with

our original generator design was the only problem we encountered. However, we overcame this

problem quickly and never looked back. Adding more surface area on our wings was the only thing

that we would have done differently about our project. We feel that since the project was a success we

shouldn’t change much about our simple design.

References:http://www.newscienceprojects.com/projects/KITWG/ - all of our generator designsJoe Barton- ideas on our turbineShield’s (hardware store)- what type of wire and magnets to produce a good amount of power.www.windmillworld.com/windmills/history.htm-history of wind energy