Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This paper describes a MEng thesis project for a MEng in
Renewable Energy Systems program at the Centre for Renewable
Energy Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. The
aim of this paper was to offer to SAB (South African Breweries), in
Cape Town, a feasibility study for the possibilities of the usage of
wind energy on site.
The small scale wind power technology has a long history
and has been in South Africa for more than a hundred years in the
form of water pump wind mills. All wind mills have an absolute
maximum power output defined by the Betz limit. The choice of a
wind turbine depends not only on this, but also on the wind speed
distribution, the power curve, the location and financing. The small
scale turbines have many different design which are predominantly
grouped in horizontal axis (HAWT) and vertical axis (VAWT)
machines.
The choice of turbine for SAB depends on the available wind
energy, the available budget, the available space and the
application. The aim of the measurements on site was threefold;
find a correlation with existing weather stations in the area like at
Cape Town International Airport, propose a turbine for SAB’s
budget and research the possibility for installing the turbine on one
of the buildings. This is also known as building integrated wind
turbines.
Wind speeds can increase over buildings due to venturi
effects and it could therefore be viable to locate these acceleration
zones and install a turbine there. The data analysis shows that the
wind above the brewery is very well correlated with the wind at the
airport. We can therefore use the average speed values of this
station to predict average power production. This leads to the
proposal of a 1kW or 3kW turbine from a South African
manufacturer: Kestrel. Building integration is however not a good
idea. The wind is too turbulent and can therefore not be used. This
is mainly caused by the fact that the surroundings of the brewery
are too high and irregularly shaped. This makes it difficult for the
wind to “lower” in between the buildings and accelerate.
The wind turbine for SAB is proposed to be installed on the
highest point of the roof and based on the neighbouring average
wind speed values. The wind turbine should be connected directly
to the brewery’s grid with an inverter and would then solely
function as an energy saver. Another important aspect is the
promotional value in the energy efficiency strategy of SAB. / Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/4398 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Brosius, Walter |
| Contributors | Von Backstrom, T. W., Van Niekerk, W., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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