So we’ve posted a bunch of stuff about the Jiminy Peak wind turbine, from how it works to all the surveys and work they had to do before it went up. What none of these speak to, however, is what an ordeal it was to get the turbine to the top of Jiminy Peak (a ski mountain). Luckily the folks at Jiminy had lots of video, which they sent us and let us post. So …. here’s the turbine going up the hill. (Music is by Sarah Schachner who owns the full rights to it and all that jazz but was kind enough to let us use it for this video. Thanks Sarah.)
Posts Tagged ‘blades’
Getting a Wind Turbine Up a Mountain
Friday, April 17th, 2009Spin
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009How Wind Tubines Work
Monday, April 13th, 2009Our guide Ryan up at Jiminy Peak was kind enough to explain to us how turbines work. I’ll let you watch the video and learn for yourself, but here are a few highlights:
- They run at a constant 22rpm (or as close it as possible), which they maintain by pitching the blades and turning the Nacelle.
- All of this is handled automatically by a weather station on top.
Okay, I’ll let Ryan explain …
FBO: Fan Blade Off
Thursday, March 12th, 2009During our chat with Peter Finnigan in composites he told us a little bout fan blade off. Apparently an airplane engine must be built to not only withstand a blade coming off mid-flight, but it also must be able to ingest that blade so that it doesn’t go flying into the airplane as shrapnel. A few YouTube searches turned up some videos of the test (no idea whether the first one is using GE engines, the second definitely isn’t as they’re testing the engine that goes into the Airbus A380).
Titanium Leading Edge
Thursday, March 12th, 2009This is a blade (not sure that’s the right terminology) from inside a GE90 engine.
It’s totally real except the silver part is paint instead of titanium, which is what it has when it’s actually in an engine. As I understand it, the titanium leading edge protects the composite materials that make up the rest of the blade from impacts.
Mostly, though, I just think “titanium leading edge” would make a good name for a band. (Would be funny to combine with Wikipedia names your band.)