Wind-Generated Compressed Air

Wind-Generated Compressed Air ENERGY Miscellaneous Instead of creating electricity Win-Pressor turbines produce compressed air Ervin Hochstetler has been working on the design for 4 years as an improvement on past designs that used conventional blades which weren’t fast enough to get oil to pistons and tended to burn out compressors “The key is in the blades when powering oil-lubricated compressors ” he explains The Win-Pressor has three high-speed lightweight fiberglass wind turbine blades “We had to customize our blades to get the start-up torque ” Hochstetler says The turbine is designed to start up the compressor in relatively low winds but not exceed the normal operating rpm in high winds The Win-Pressor system allows energy from the wind to be stored for use on days when there is no wind “We have a customer with 14 000 gal of storage ” Hochstetler says noting that customers many Amish use pneumatic tools and air equipment in their businesses Others use compressed air for pumping water or aerating ponds The Win-Pressor comes in two sizes The JKU 1 1/2 hp model $2 995 has an 11-ft rotor diameter Hochstetler recommends a minimum of 3 000 gal storage for it The JWU 5 hp model $4 250 has a 16-ft rotor diameter with recommended storage of at least 5 000 gal They come with condenser tanks and Jenny air compressors that have been customized to work with the turbines and have manual and automatic shutdown features “They come with everything but the tower ” Hochstetler says adding that he can arrange to put up towers if the customer lives near his Unity Maine company Towers need to be at least 50 ft tall “I tell potential customers that if the average wind speed is less than 10 mph I don’t recommend this unit ” Hochstetler says Even where there is good wind customers need a backup unit if they use an air compressor on a regular basis “We use our unit for pneumatic tools for fans in the greenhouses to pump water and to run an air motor under a washing machine but we still have a standby compressor diesel powered ” Hochstetler says While most customers are Amish he notes that the Win-Pressor has attracted worldwide interest for a variety of uses A California customer is looking into using it for separating salt from seawater Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ervin Hochstetler Win-Pressor Co 336 Stagecoach Rd Unity Maine 04988 ph 207 948-4800

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