Wind turbine system

Abstract

A wind turbine system for producing compressed air from wind energy. The wind turbine harvests energy from wind to produce mechanical energy. A compressor receives mechanical energy from the wind turbine to compress air to an elevated pressure. Thermal energy may be removed from the air, and the air is stored in a storage device, such that the air may be released from the storage device on demand.

1 . A system for producing compressed air from wind energy, the system comprising:
 a wind turbine that harvests energy from wind to produce mechanical energy;   a compressor that receives mechanical energy from the wind turbine to compress air to an elevated pressure;   a cooler that removes thermal energy from the air; and   a storage device that receives the air from the compressor such that the air can be released from the storage device on demand.   
   
   
       2 . The system for producing compressed air from wind energy, wherein the cooler removes the thermal energy from the air before the air is received by the storage device. 
   
   
       3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the cooler is positioned to remove thermal energy from the air prior to the air being received by the compressor. 
   
   
       4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the cooler comprises an evaporative cooler. 
   
   
       5 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the cooler comprises a heat exchanger through which a working fluid is passed to remove thermal energy from the air. 
   
   
       6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the cooler comprises a coolant outlet configured to introduce cooling fluid directly into the air. 
   
   
       7 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein the coolant outlet comprises one or more nozzles configured to introduce cooling fluid into the air as a spray. 
   
   
       8 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein the compressor is configured to compress the air and the cooling fluid together. 
   
   
       9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the compressor is a multi-stage compressor. 
   
   
       10 . The system according to  claim 9 , wherein the cooler comprises an intercooler that removes thermal energy from the air after being compressed by a first stage of the multi-stage compressor. 
   
   
       11 . The system according to  claim 9 , wherein the multi-stage compressor comprises two or more compression stages, and further wherein intercoolers are positioned to remove thermal energy from the air after the air is compressed at each of the more than two compression stages. 
   
   
       12 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the compressor receives the mechanical energy from the wind turbine before the wind energy is converted to electrical energy. 
   
   
       13 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the compressor and the cooler are positioned in a nacelle of the wind turbine. 
   
   
       14 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cooling fluid that receives thermal energy from the air when passed through the cooler, and that rejects thermal energy to the earth.   
   
   
       15 . The system according to  claim 14 , further comprising:
 an underground storage vessel for holding at least a portion of the cooling fluid.   
   
   
       16 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cooling fluid that receives thermal energy from the air when passed through the cooler, and that rejects thermal energy to atmospheric air   
   
   
       17 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cooling fluid that receives thermal energy from the air when passed through the cooler, and that rejects thermal energy to water.   
   
   
       18 . A system for producing compressed air from wind energy, the system comprising:
 a wind turbine that harvests energy from wind to produce mechanical energy;   a compressor that receives mechanical energy from the wind turbine to compress air to an elevated pressure; and   a storage device that receives the air from the compressor and that stores compressed air at a working pressure, such that the air can be released from the storage device on demand, the compressor receiving the mechanical energy from the wind turbine before the wind energy is converted to electrical energy;   wherein the working pressure is greater than 10 atmospheres.   
   
   
       19 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the working pressure is between about 10 atmospheres and about 100 atmospheres. 
   
   
       20 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the working pressure is up to about 240 atmospheres. 
   
   
       21 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the compressor comprises a multi-stage compressor. 
   
   
       22 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the compressor comprises a plurality of oscillating vane type compressors. 
   
   
       23 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein each stage of the multi-stage compressor has a similar pressure ratio. 
   
   
       24 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein each successive stage of the multi-stage compressor has a smaller pressure ratio than any prior stage of the multi-stage compressor. 
   
   
       25 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein a pressure ratio of the compressor is selectively controllable such that the elevated pressure is less than about 5 atmospheres greater than the working pressure as the working pressure varies. 
   
   
       26 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein a pressure ratio of the compressor is selectively controllable such that the elevated pressure is less than about 1 atmosphere greater than the working pressure as the working pressure varies. 
   
   
       27 . The system according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a compressor cooler for removing thermal energy from the compressor.   
   
   
       28 . The system according to  claim 27 , wherein the compressor cooler comprises a cooling fluid jacket incorporated into the compressor. 
   
   
       29 . A method of producing compressed air from wind energy, the method comprising:
 harvesting wind with a wind turbine to produce mechanical energy;   compressing air to an elevated pressure with a compressor driven by the mechanical energy;   removing thermal energy from the air; and   conveying the air to a storage device after removing the thermal energy.   
   
   
       30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein removing thermal energy comprises removing thermal energy from the air before the air is compressed by the compressor. 
   
   
       31 . The method according to  claim 30 , wherein removing thermal energy comprises removing thermal energy through evaporative cooling. 
   
   
       32 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein removing thermal energy comprises introducing a cooling fluid directly into the air to remove thermal energy through sensible heat exchange. 
   
   
       33 . The method according to  claim 32 , wherein introducing the cooling fluid comprises spraying the cooling fluid into the air. 
   
   
       34 . The method according to  claim 33 , wherein compressing air comprises compressing air in multiple stages. 
   
   
       35 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein spraying the cooling fluid into the air comprises spraying the cooling fluid into the air between stages of compression. 
   
   
       36 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein compressing air comprises compressing cooling fluid and air together. 
   
   
       37 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein compressing air comprises compressing air in multiple stages. 
   
   
       38 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein removing thermal energy from the air comprises removing thermal energy from the air with one or more intercoolers between stages of compression. 
   
   
       39 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the mechanical energy produced by the wind turbine drives the compressor prior to the mechanical energy being converted to electrical energy. 
   
   
       40 . The method according to  claim 29 , further comprising:
 removing thermal energy from the air with a working fluid, the working fluid rejecting thermal energy to the earth.   
   
   
       41 . A method of producing compressed air from wind energy, the method comprising:
 harvesting wind with a wind turbine to produce mechanical energy;   compressing air to an elevated pressure with a compressor driven by the mechanical energy; and   conveying the air to a storage device before the wind energy is converted to electrical energy; and   storing the compressed air in the storage device at a working pressure greater than 10 atmospheres.   
   
   
       42 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein storing the compressed air comprises storing the compressed air at a working pressure between about 10 atmospheres and about 100 atmospheres. 
   
   
       43 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein storing the compressed air comprises storing the compressed air at a working pressure up to about 240 atmospheres. 
   
   
       44 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein compressing the air comprises compressing the air in multiple stages. 
   
   
       45 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein compressing the air in multiple stages comprises compressing the air in multiple stages with similar compression ratios. 
   
   
       46 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein compressing the air in multiple stages comprises compressing the air in multiple stages with decreasing compression ratios. 
   
   
       47 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein compressing the air comprises a compressing the air to a selective pressure that is less than about 5 atmospheres greater than the working pressure. 
   
   
       48 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein compressing the air comprises a compressing the air to a selective pressure that is less than about 1 atmosphere greater than the working pressure.