Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) Major Qualifying Projects April 2012 Design of a Kite-Powered Water Pump and Airborne Wind Turbine Andrew Ross Lybarger Worcester Polytechnic Institute Daniel Joseph Nyren Worcester Polytechnic Institute Jennifer M. Gill Worcester Polytechnic Institute John William Wilder Worcester Polytechnic Institute Kyle Steven Bartosik Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all Repository Citation Lybarger, A. R., Nyren, D. J., Gill, J. M., Wilder, J. W., & Bartosik, K. S. (2012). Design of a Kite-Powered Water Pump and Airborne Wind Turbine. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all/2406 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Major Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract The goal of this project was two-fold, to adapt the existing WPI Kite Power System to pump water, and to develop a new airborne energy system that harvests electricity from the wind using a turbine suspended from a large kite. This project is a continuation of ongoing research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the area of using high altitude kites to extract energy from the wind. These high altitude kites can operate at higher altitudes than wind turbines where there is an increase in wind speed and therefore, available power. The main objectives of the water pump project were to retrofit the existing WPI Kite Power System with a low-cost mechanical water pump for use in developing nations, and to build and test a head simulation valve that can simulate deeper well depths for use in system testing. The mechanical pump and head simulation valve were installed on the existing WPI Kite Power System. Lab testing showed that this system is viable for mechanically pumping water out of a well when simulated kite forces are applied to the end of the rocking arm of the system. The main objective of the airborne wind turbine project was to design an airborne wind turbine that could be supported beneath a high altitude kite. The team constructed and installed a support frame for a small vertical-axis wind turbine to be supported beneath an eight meter square sled kite. Wind tunnel testing and field testing of the vertical axis turbine were conducted. More field testing is needed in the future for the kite-powered water pump and a scaled-up airborne wind turbine. 2 "Certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use.” 3 Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................... 2 1. Motivation ........................................................................................................... 10 1.1. Need for Alternative Water Sources ............................................................ 11 1.2. Need for Alternative Wind Energy Sources ................................................. 11 1.2.1 Kite advantages over traditional large wind turbines .......................... 12 2. Background ........................................................................................................ 14 2.1 Water Pumps ................................................................................................ 18 2.2 African Pumps .............................................................................................. 24 2.3 Current Systems in Africa ............................................................................. 26 2.3.1 Play Pumps ........................................................................................ 26 2.3.2 Pump Aid ............................................................................................ 27 2.3.3 Lifewater ............................................................................................. 28 2.3.4 KickStart ............................................................................................. 29 2.4 Airborne Wind Turbines ................................................................................ 29 3. Project Goals ...................................................................................................... 33 4. Methodology, Kite Powered Water Pump ........................................................... 34 4.1 Choosing a Water Pump............................................................................... 34 4.1.1 Linear versus Rotational Motion ......................................................... 34 4 4.1.2 Borehole versus Force Cylinder ......................................................... 35 4.1.3 African versus American Manufacturing ............................................. 36 4.1.4 Final Considerations and Choice ........................................................ 36 4.1.5 Pump Connection ............................................................................... 37 4.1.6 Pump Jack .......................................................................................... 38 4.1.7 Our Design ......................................................................................... 40 4.2 Installing the Pump ....................................................................................... 42 4.3 Head Simulation Valve ................................................................................. 46 4.4 Simulation ..................................................................................................... 49 4.4.1 Previous Work .................................................................................... 49 4.4.2 Modifications to Simulation ................................................................. 54 5. Design of Airborne Wind Turbine ........................................................................ 59 5.1 Design Concepts .......................................................................................... 59 5.1.1 Alternative Design 1: Pinwheel ........................................................... 59 5.1.2 Alternative Designs 2 & 3: L-Shaped HAWT and VAWT .................... 61 5.1.3 Design 4: The Closed-U Frame .......................................................... 63 5.1.4 Final Design 5: The Yoke ................................................................... 66 5.2 Airborne Wind Turbine Selection .................................................................. 68 5.3 Turbine Support Frame ................................................................................ 72 5.4 Construction of the Support Frame ............................................................... 72 5 5.5 Attaching the Turbine to the Support Frame ................................................. 73 6. Testing ................................................................................................................ 75 6.1 Water Pump Testing ..................................................................................... 75 6.1.1 Off-Site Testing .................................................................................. 77 6.2 Airborne Wind Turbine Beach Testing .......................................................... 80 6.3 Airborne Wind Turbine Lab Testing .............................................................. 84 7. Results................................................................................................................ 88 7.1 Water Pump Results ..................................................................................... 88 7.2 Airborne Wind Turbine Results ..................................................................... 92 7.3 Simulation Results ........................................................................................ 94 8. Conclusions and Future Work ............................................................................ 98 8.1 Water Pump Conclusions and Future Work.................................................. 98 8.2 Airborne Wind Turbine Conclusions and Future Work ................................ 100 References ........................................................................................................... 122102 Appendix A: Messiah College Head Simulation Valve .......................................... 105105 Appendix B: WPI Head Simulation Valve ............................................................. 117117 6 List of Figures Figure 1: Wind speed and Power vs. Height .......................................................... 13 Figure 2: Entire WPI Kite Power System ................................................................ 15 Figure 3: Sled Kite used in WPI System ................................................................. 16 Figure 4: Generator and Flywheel on WPI Kite System ......................................... 17 Figure 5: Sensors Included on WPI Kite System .................................................... 18 Figure 6: Centrifugal Pump ..................................................................................... 20 Figure 7: Discharge Pumps .................................................................................... 21 Figure 8: Gear Pump .............................................................................................. 21 Figure 9: HPLC Pumps ..........................................................................................