Donates to sports not science.

[.... callchet ....]

Why didn't he donate for more turbine research. T. Boone Pickens donated $165 million to Oklahoma State for its sports program. I think the wind turbines need a lot of help.

[RC]

1. Pickins is in it for T. Boone Pickins, not for you or me.

Wind energy is a money pot for him.

[.... callchet ....]

2. I think wind turbines need a lot of help.

There is no logical reason for them to have only three blades, other than to sell more turbines to produce the same amount of power.

[RC]

3. There is solid physics behind using 3 blades.

Increasing the blade count yields minimal improvements in aerodynamic efficiency. In other words more than 3 blades costs too much for the extra blade(s) for what you get back in efficiency improvements. Like only 2-3% for the 4th blade. The more blades added the less the improvement for each.

[.... callchet ....]

4. Adding extra blades will improve the torque output

making it possible to produce power at lower wind levels at the same RPM. Or more power at higher wind speeds. There are airplane propelles with two, thee and four blades.

[RC]

5. There is a difference between blades moving air and air moving blades.

google is your friend.

[kristopher]

6. Three blades also 'balance' better

Consider that the diameter of the blades is around 350 feet. The wind speeds at the top tip of the blades are greater than the wind speed at the bottom. This causes stress on the rotor shaft. This stress is one of the primary wear points on a turbine and an odd number of blades reduces it substantially.

[.... callchet ....]

10. More blades produce more torque. Axiom.

The following has no practical meaning: "In other words more than 3 blades costs too much for the extra blade(s) for what you get back in efficiency improvements. Like only 2-3% for the 4th blade". The more blades added the less the improvement for each. There is no data that supports that 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 blades will not produce more power. The extra cost is only a one time cost. The extra power output will always be there. I have searched and can find no data that supports 3 blades produce as much power as 4 or 5 or 6 blades within 3-4%. Balance is meaningless also. There are a significant number of 4 blade airplane propellers that turn faster under thousands of times more load.

[kristopher]

7. You think wrongly...

Wind turbines are a mature technology that really have little room for improvement. While R&D is ongoing, it isn't a critical funding area. However, deployment is critical and Pickens is putting his money where it matters - getting the turbines turning in the wind.

[NNadir]

8. Well look who's giving lectures on "thinking..." If turbines are "mature" that says all we need to

know.

Wind turbines are extremely unreliable, almost worthless in the fight against climate change, and just another part of the planned obsolescence mentality - like the CAR - that is mostly notable for producing heaps of useless and often dangerous waste with short useful lifetimes.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2008/2/26/Video-violent-wind-turbine-collapse

They don't even produce half an exajoule out of 100 exajoules in this country, and already they're killing and destroying stuff at telling rate.

[kristopher]

9. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

Hehehehe.