Objective
Wind powered storage heating system for commercial greenhouses. The system comprises an 18.3 m diameter 160 kW wind turbine driving a hydraulic mechanical/thermal power conversion drive. Hot water is produced from this energy conversion, and either stored or used directly for greenhouse heating. It is the objective of the project to demonstrate how existing greenhouse oil heating systems may be supplemented by the proposed system. The estimated yield is 182000 kWh.
Project realized with the exception of the wind turbine due to the bankruptcy of the wind turbine manufacturer. Completion of the project was not possible due to inability to find such type and size of wind turbine in the European Community market. However, an assessment should be made of the effectiveness of direct heat generation by a wind turbine and the applicability of such a heat output as an alternative or supplement to an electrical output.
The wind powered greenhouse heating system is based on the Aeolus 183 wind turbine with a hydraulic thermal energy conversion system. The Aeolus 183 has a rated power of 160 KW at a rated windspeed of 13.6 m/s and a rotor diameter of 18.3 metres. It is a downwind self orientating machine. It is supplemented by a water based thermal store, micro control system and a water-to-air heat distribution in addition to the existing greenhouse heating system. The store size is 1 000 KWh for 22 m3 at 80 C. The Aeolus energy conversion system consists of a wind driven shaft connected to a hydraulic pump and thermal energy is dissipated to a heat exchanger via a hydraulic flow constrictor.
The temperature of the delivered hot water is controlled to the maximum the store is designed for, by regulating the water flow rate through the supply heat exchanger. With a mean annual windspeed of 5.5 m/s at the place of installation at Efford, Horticultural Research Station, Lymington, Hampshire, the estimated annual yield is about 182 000 KWh. The estimated cost per unit of energy generated is 0.21 UKL while for a conventional solution is 0.34 UKL. Thus the payback time is about 6 years but estimations show that a commercial exploitation of the system could reduce it to about 3.5 years.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
DEM - Demonstration contractsCoordinator
GU12 4RQ Aldershot
United Kingdom