CSU is officially on the leading edge of wind energy. That's thanks to Dr. Majid Rashidi, mechanical engineering professor and his wind turbine system. Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. Rashidi
developed the patented machine, with two additional patents pending, that is both cost effective and commercially viable. He believes that there is a better way to harness the power of the wind, especially in geographic areas with
lower wind speeds, and has conducted extensive research focusing on the potential of wind amplification structures that are capable of increasing the velocity of wind speeds.
On May 12, 2009, Cleveland State University hoisted its first wind tower amplification system to the rooftop of its Plant Services Building located at the corner of Chester Ave. and E. 24th Street.
The system, designed by Dr. Majid Rashidi of CSU’s Fenn College of Engineering, is a wind deflecting structure with small-scale turbines that can generate power at low wind speeds.
Prominently displayed, the 25 foot in diameter cylinder - adorned with the Cleveland State University logo - sits on a 30-foot tall base. Four turbines, six feet in diameter, will soon be anchored to two arms that can rotate as the wind direction changes. A standalone turbine will also be erected and used as a control to measure the difference in power capacity of the traditional turbine versus Dr. Rashidi’s system.
The patented wind amplification turbine system, developed as a cost-effective alternative to traditional power sources, is available for commercial use and plans are currently underway for additional systems to be installed in downtown Cleveland and rural areas of Northeast Ohio.
Made possible by a generous contribution from Betty L. Gordon and grants from the State of Ohio and the U.S. Department of Energy, the wind tower amplification system is a physical manifestation of Fenn College’s cutting-edge research efforts involving alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, fuel cells and nuclear.
Although still a prototype, the elegant helical (spiral) tower has the potential to blow Northeast Ohio towards a bright new future in wind energy.
Interest in wind turbines on Lake Erie is steadily growing, and area leaders think Northeast Ohio can become a world leader in alternative energy development, spurring jobs and research. That’s good news to Dr. Rashidi, a specialist in machine design.
“The helical wind harnessing system of CSU is not a competitor of the large-scale, conventional windmills that are intended for Lake Erie,” he notes. “Our system complements the conventional giant windmills for urban use.” Unlike traditional wind turbines that need lots of open space on land or on water, his design features a helical wind deflector that can be mounted atop a building in an urban area. “The idea came to me like a flash late one night in the summer of 2005,” he recalls.
“An Ohio-based company had a 1996 patent it was trying to develop, and I told company officials it was not cost effective and would bankrupt them.” Instead, he offered to invent something to meet the firm’s needs.
His cutting-edge structure looks like a giant corkscrew. Once built, it could have just two turns with four electric generators (two mounted within each turn), or it could be a 10-turn helix with 20 electric generators. The design in its current configuration could produce up to about 300 kilowatts of electricity. Dr. Rashidi is working on the design to increase the power rating to 0.5 megawatts of electricity, while reducing the spire’s weight and manufacturing costs.
“The operating principle of this system is based on air velocity amplification,” Dr. Rashidi explains. “When air or any fluid flows onto and around a structure, the flow stream lines assume a velocity profile according to the shape of the structure. As a result, the flow velocity may be amplified at certain locations near the structure.
“On the other hand, the energy carried by the wind at any particular wind speed is a function of cubic power of its velocity,” he adds. “Therefore, a gain of factor of 2 in wind velocity yields a wind energy gain factor of 2x2x2 = 8.”
Dr. Rashidi envisions a lightweight structure that puts his tower ahead of other urban wind harnessing designs. High manufacturing costs and technical problems with traditional designs have kept wind energy restricted to areas outside of cities; high maintenance costs and ineffective energy conversion add to the problem.
For example, in a typical windmill system, large blades run at a relatively low speed and require a gearbox to speed up the blade. The gearbox, connected to an electric generator system, is prone to frequent costly maintenance and failures.
But Dr. Rashidi’s design eliminates the gearbox and directly couples the blades to new kinds of electric generators that are available off the shelf and are more cost efficient. In addition, the tower would store energy via hydrogen fuel cells, providing energy for peak and emergency times. Currently, when electrical energy is produced, it is used almost immediately with little residual energy capable of being stored.
Another benefit of Dr. Rashidi’s design is that the individual panels that make up the spire structure would make it easier to transport.
Cleveland State plans to construct the first prototype, proof-of-concept unit of this design and mount it atop a campus building, perhaps the four-story maintenance building.
“I’m in almost daily meetings with the University Architect’s Office, and we have received $400,000 in state appropriations to mount the tower, as well as $150,000 from the Ohio Department of Development,” Dr. Rashidi says. He calculates that the tower will boost generator power to six to eight times more electricity than stand-alone generators of the same size.
Dr. Rashidi’s wind tower can be a huge asset to homes, city streets, hospitals, public spaces and secured areas -- any place that relies on dependable power.
“Everyone at the University, from the president on down, has been very supportive,” Dr. Rashidi says. “It’s exciting to realize that work being done at Cleveland State mayhelp solve a global problem.”
