Method of configuring a wing-mounted turbine for generating electricity and increasing thrust

Inventors

Whitehouse, Glen R. • Quackenbush, Todd R.

Assignees

Continuum Dynamics Inc

Abstract

A turbine mounted behind an aircraft wing provides a specified proportion of a propulsive force in the aircraft flight direction to an amount of power generated by the turbine when driven by the airflow trailing the wing. The turbine converts a portion of the otherwise wasted energy in the rotational vortices trailing the aircraft wing into thrust that reduces aircraft drag while also providing electricity to power electrical systems on the aircraft. In one embodiment, the method used to construct the turbine saves computation time by using an optimization routine to define a preliminary turbine configuration based on an idealized vortex model and then matches it to the flow trailing an actual aircraft wing. The method is also capable of modeling a turbine construction that will use the energy in the wake solely to generate electricity without increasing drag on the aircraft or solely to reduce drag without generating electricity.

Core Innovation

A method of configuring an aircraft wing-mounted turbine includes modeling the turbine with turbine blades extending from a proximal blade root to a distal blade tip, where the modeling provides a specified weighted combination of a propulsive force in a predetermined direction to an amount of power generated by the turbine. The turbine is constructed so that, when mounted proximate the trailing edge of the wing at a location where airflow trailing the wing is introduced to a turbine inlet, the turbine rotates a turbine shaft using the introduced airflow. The turbine includes an electrical generator operatively connected to the turbine shaft to provide electricity to the aircraft when the turbine shaft is rotated by the airflow.

For an aircraft configuration including at least two wings, a method includes modeling the fluid flow trailing the wings and identifying a preliminary turbine construction defined by preliminary values of a set of turbine parameters. The set of turbine parameters provides a weighted combination of propulsive force along the turbine axis to an amount of power generated by the turbine when the trailing fluid flow is introduced to a turbine inlet. Final values are determined by modifying selected preliminary values to define a final turbine construction that provides the specified weighted combination when mounted proximate the trailing edge of each wing at a location where the airflow trailing the wing is introduced to the turbine inlet, followed by constructing the turbine according to the final values.

The turbine design is further characterized by sets of turbine parameters including at least a number of turbine blades, a turbine radius from the turbine axis to blade tips, blade pitch, and blade twist and chord profiles comprising functions of the distance from blade root to blade tip. Modeling includes a flow trailing the wings and, in selected embodiments, the trailing flow is treated as a vortex using an idealized vortex model. The resulting turbine includes turbine blades with a predetermined airfoil profile mounted to a turbine shaft and arranged around the turbine axis for rotating the turbine shaft in the presence of the modeled or introduced airflow.

Claims Coverage

Independent claim coverage includes three independent methods that configure an aircraft-mounted turbine using modeling of trailing wing airflow or fluid flow, selecting and/or refining turbine blade geometry parameters to achieve a specified weighted combination of propulsive force to generated power, and constructing a turbine having an electrical generator to provide electricity to the aircraft when driven by the trailing-wing airflow. Across the independent claims, at least four core inventive aspects recur: mounting proximate the wing trailing edge, blade-and-generator turbine configuration, parameter selection/refinement for a force-to-power weighting, and modeling of the trailing flow.

The independent claims collectively cover configuring an aircraft wing-mounted turbine by modeling fluid flow trailing the wing(s), selecting and/or modifying turbine blade parameter values including blade count, turbine radius, blade pitch, and blade twist and chord profiles to achieve a specified weighted combination of propulsive force to generated power, and constructing the turbine so that rotating blades drive an electrical generator to provide electricity to the aircraft.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found