Wind Generator Rises to Lower Electricity Costs
By Bob Moore
March 19, 2009
While students, teachers and most other support staff were off enjoying their week off for Spring Break, erection was completed on the new wind generator at the Sublette High School.
There have been quite a few questions come up about the project’s physical makeup and operation. So here are some of the facts:
The wind generator was purchased from Enertech in Newton, Kansas http://www.enertechwind.com/.
It is a Mitsubishi MWT 250 built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, Japan. The generator is a refurbished unit that had been operating in a wind farm in the high Mojave Desert.
The turbine starts generating at a wind speed of 11.5 MPH and cuts out at a 10-minute average of 53.7 MPH.
The wind turbine generator consists of the rotor (blades); the nacelle, which houses the planetary gearbox, generator, hydraulic and lubrication system; and the tower.
The rotor has 3 blades that are each 41 feet 3 inches long and made of fiberglass. Each blade weighs 2200 lbs. The blades rotate counterclockwise looking downwind and turn at a speed of 48 RPM. The blades maintain a constant speed by changing the pitch of the blades in relation to the wind speed. A programmable controller built into the power and control panel does this automatically.
The Nacelle contains the main gearbox, generator and hydraulic system. The gearbox increases the rotor speed of 48 RPM to an output shaft rotation of 1800 RPM for the conversion of the kinetic energy into electric energy in the generator. The generator produces 480 volt, 3-phase, 60-cycle electricity. The total weight of the Nacelle is 32,000 lbs.
The electricity that is produced by the wind generator is fed into the school on the school’s side of the utility meter. So in effect, the electricity that is produced saves the school from having to purchase that amount from the utility company. The utility company purchases any energy we overproduce during times of our low energy usage at a wholesale rate providing the energy is of a compatible quality.
Of all the sources of renewable energy currently being refined in response to the threat of global warming, wind has proved among the cheapest, the most efficient and, in general, the most popular.
Wind is clean, natural, economic and in western Kansas, quite abundant. The school district is grateful to the community for helping us seize this opportunity.
Webmaster's Note: We would like to thank Bob Moore for all the ground and aerial photographs in this article. His co-worker "Sugar" felt very disappointed as she didn't get her picture taken while helping with the assembly, so here is a picture of her standing by her favorite person in the whole world.
Bob Moore & Sugar
