Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Smaller dynamos that could be integrated into existing windmill
systems were developed in the early 1890s by the Lewis Electric
Company of New York, but it was not until the invention of the
propeller-based airplane and its development during WWI that
the propeller-rotor horizontal-axis wind turbines was developed
and inspired growth of a considerable-sized market. Perkins
Corp., HEBCO, Jacobs WEC, and Wincharger Corp. were some of
the more prominent manufacturers of these 2- to 4-bladed
propeller
5
Turbines
descendant from American wind-pumps as well as new propeller-
rotor types were developed in countries in Europe as well.
Germany in particular reacted to the “coal crisis” that began
with World War I with both state and independent initiatives to
promote the adoption of wind energy. German Wind Turbine
Works in Dresden produced American style wind machines for
electricity production while the fundamental science of wind energy
was pioneered by Albert Betz and colleagues at the Aerodynamic
Research Institute (AVA) in Göttingen. Similar eforts involving
both state-funded science programs and industrial marketing
of small wind turbines existed in other European countries
as well through the first half of the century including the
United Kingdom and Denmark.
rotor
turbines
in
the
United
States.
6
Despite the global eforts for
the development and promotion of the technology, however, the
expansion of centralised electricity networks into rural areas all but
eliminated the markets for the technology by the mid-20th century.
Still, motivated in large part by World Wars I and II as well as
general developments in the science and technology of aviation,
there were a few notable attempts at large-scale wind turbine
development in the first half of the 20th century. Such attempts
sought to integrate “fuel-free” wind energy with modern
large-scale electricity networks. The Smith-Putnam 1 250 kW
wind turbine was developed as a collaborative and experimental
initiative privately financed by the S. Morgan Smith Company.
Palmer Putnam, an MIT graduate and engineer, originally
conceived of the idea to build a wind turbine as a way of reducing
his electricity bill and as the idea was developed, the scale of
5
For a thorough treatment on the development of wind turbine science and
technology during the first half of the 20th century in the United States, the
reader is referred to R. Righter's 1996 work.
6
See chapter
The Aerodynamic Research on Windmill Sails of Poul la Cour
,
1896-1900
by Povl-Otto Nissen.
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