The Wind HOG Motor
High Output Generator
The “HOG” is a “Wind Motor” capable of operating multiple off the shelf and proven, similar or dissimilar generators or Pumps. For example a “HOG” can operate a 480 volt 3 phase generator at the same time it is operating a 220 volt single phase generator along with a 12 volt DC generator and operate a water pump (without electricity) and run a hydraulic press… all at the same time! The HOG’s AC generators put out Sine Wave power not Square Wave power!
Wind Power has been around for many centuries. Today we know it best as powering sail boats and propeller style windmills (Horizontal Axis machines). This has been done for centuries, nothing changed… until now.
The HOG is a Vertical Axis Wind Motor as opposed to a Horizontal Axis windmill. Horizontal machines must always turn into, or directly away from the wind to operate. This turning into or away from the wind creates a stress load on the entire machine known as Gyroscopic Effect. In laymen’s terms it means that once a Horizontal Axis wind mill is rotating in a particular compass direction position, it wants to stay where it is at, it does not want to turn and yet because the wind direction has changed the machine must turn to face it. This turning action causes great amounts of stress over the entire structural portion of the windmill. Causing failures like towers and blades and transmissions and other bearings to fatigue wear out or even explode!
The HOG rotates on a Vertical Axis meaning it never needs to change compass direction thus there is NOGyroscopic Effect or any of the detrimental aspects of it.
A Horizontal Axis machine requires that the generator be located behind the propeller placing the generator high off the ground. This makes the generator difficult to work on, requiring specialized equipment and highly skilled mechanics. All of these things add up to higher expenses for maintenance and repairs and yet the Gyroscopic Effect is working against the machine any time the blades are rotating and wind changes direction.
The generators for a HOG sit on the ground, where they belong, where they can be worked on, where there is NO Gyroscopic Effect! And remember the part about running multiple generators of various types along with water pumps and even hydraulic presses? They all sit down there at ground level as well and if one unit is down for maintenance the rest will still be producing so the likely hood of a system being completely out of service would be unusual.
Yes, the High Output Generator is truly a wind driven motor or Wind Motor that is capable of powering electric generators at much slower and faster wind speeds than horizontal machines can and once again putting out a high quality sine wave rather than the lower quality square wave. Frequency and voltage can be held much tighter and performance is increased from the theoretical 32% on a horizontal axis machine to a theoretical 49% on the HOG.
The HOG uses sails or fins to catch the wind just as the huge sailing vessels did for thousands of years. These very large Wind Collectors permit the High Output Generator to operate in lower wind conditions than a Horizontal Axis machine can. It’s a simple matter of square foot surface of wind catching area and the HOG has a great deal of surface area! In high winds the system has an automatic centrifugal force activated breaking system that holds the fins in a closed position to reduce speed keeping the HOG at a speed of around 7 RPM’s.
Wind energy is everywhere and passes around us all the time but while it has the potential to power things it won’t unless it is harnessed in a sustainable way; the Hog accomplishes this by catching the wind and turning slowly. This is contrary to how a horizontal machines works; Horizontal Axis machines must turn fast to provide the energy needed to run their generator, and that speed in conjunction with Gyroscopic Effect is the usual cause of the systems breakdown. The High Output Generator turns at a much slower rate of 7 RPM’s, far slower than the Horizontal Axis machines do meaning that the wear rate is greatly reduced translating into much less maintenance and down time on the Wind HOG.
The HOG also takes advantage of Ground Effect winds. Ground Effect occurs when wind travels across a flat or channeled terrain and encounters an elevation on the plain or a narrowing in the channel. This causes the wind speed to increase substantially, sometimes doubling. Anytime you double wind velocity you have the potential to extract eight (8) times the power from it. A Horizontal Axis machine has difficulty in dealing with this phenomenon (Ground Effect) unless it is located at the apex of the effect (200 feet in the air) due to the turbulence it causes. One more reason the Vertical Axis machine needs to be high in the air. Compass direction change always causes Gyroscopic Effect but Gyroscopic Effect can also be caused by Ground Effect initiated turbulence.
Cost of a Vertical Axis machine versus a Horizontal Axis machine is comparable… if you base it on Rated Output which is the total output the machine is capable of generating. But that is not even close to being a fair comparison. The HOG puts out considerably more power than a Horizontal Axis machine does in the same wind. It puts out the higher quality Sine Wave power instead of the lower quality square wave power (a huge difference in computers, controllers and motor life). It can run multiple types of equipment, generators and pumps, it takes advantage of ground effect wind instead of trying to avoid it and does NOT require the specialized equipment or people or exorbitant costs for maintenance issues. All maintenance costs are miniscule with the High Output Generator compared to a Horizontal Axis machine.
We can provide numbers based upon an in-depth analysis of your power or water needs along with wind availability. If Wind is NOT the right answer we have other options and will provide you with expert analysis as to which system or technology is the best choice, allowing YOU to make an intelligent and more informed decision.
Please contact us; we believe we can help; the opportunity is yours.
‘Alarming’ number of eagles killed by wind farms, new study finds
This is another piece on the Bald Eagles being killed. There are many other birds and bats as well and it is beginning to become a significant issue. It is very likely to stop new wind farms especially in areas of critical habitat. This is why the Wind Hog is the answer to the problem with our The HOG is a Vertical Axis Wind Motor as opposed to a Horizontal Axis windmill. Killing a Bald Eagle can carry a $5,000.00 fine and 5 years in jail!
Published September 11, 2013
Associated Press
A new study has found that wind farms in 10 states have killed at least 85 eagles since 1997.
A wind farm in Colorado is shown here.
Wind energy facilities have killed at least 67 golden and bald eagles in the last five years, but the figure could be much higher, according to a new scientific study by government biologists.
The research represents one of the first tallies of eagle deaths attributed to the nation’s growing wind energy industry, which has been a pillar of President Obama’s plans to reduce the pollution blamed for global warming. Wind power releases no air pollution.
But at a minimum, the scientists wrote, wind farms in 10 states have killed at least 85 eagles since 1997, with most deaths occurring between 2008 and 2012, as the industry was greatly expanding. Most deaths – 79 – were golden eagles that struck wind turbines. One of the eagles counted in the study was electrocuted by a power line.
The vice president of the American Bird Conservancy, Mike Parr, said the tally was “an alarming and concerning finding.”
Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger jet’s wingspan. Though the blades appear to move slowly, they can reach speeds up to 170 mph at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.