DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND ANALYSIS OF A PERMANENT MAGNET AXIAL FLUX GENERATOR FOR SPECIFIC SITE CONDITIONS
Open Access
- Author:
- Christoffel, Tyler T
- Area of Honors:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Hosam Kadry Fathy, Faculty Reader
Dr. Jacqueline Antonia O'Connor, Honors Advisor
Richard Randolph Auhl, Thesis Supervisor - Keywords:
- Wind Energy
Research Turbine
Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Generator - Abstract:
- In a modern energy economy undergoing a shift towards renewable and clean energy sources, it is important that universities maintain the ability to participate in ever-advancing research into these energy sources to keep up with the progress in industry. Here at Penn State, a lot of good work is being done by faculty and students to push the boundaries of our understanding and applicable knowledge about everything from energy production to storage to the most efficient ways to use that energy. One of these areas of advancement is wind energy. With a growing number of eager students and ambitious companies looking to expand their abilities to harness our unlimited supply of wind, it is crucial for Penn State to be able to use all of the resources at its disposal to participate in this quest for new knowledge. One of those resources is a currently underutilized wind turbine at the edge of campus that would be a willing and helpful subject for testing, if not for a mix of mechanical failures and a mismatch with the site’s wind resource. The purpose of this project is to design and construct a new generator for the turbine that will be more effective at generating useful data at the low wind speeds encountered in this area. In pursuit of this goal, a single stage of the generator design was constructed and tested. The generator type being produced is known as an axial flux permanent magnet generator, and while this kind of generator isn’t new, the subject generator model for this project is tailor-made for a specific existing mechanical system.