News

Director visits Mesabi Wind Turbine Project

December, 2011

Wind energy researchers from UMN visited Mesabi Range Community and Technical College (MRCTC) in Eveleth, MN.  The purpose of the visit was to inspect the Vestas V27 225 kW wind turbine that MRCTC recently installed and to discuss its use for potential collaborations.  Both UMN and MRCTC are interested in installing a hydrostatic transmission (HST) in the wind turbine and conducting research. 

MRCTC offers a two year training program for wind turbine technicians and installed the V27 to offer their students hands on experience.  The turbine was purchased used directly from Vestas in Denmark and is designed to operate at 50 Hz AC output.  Some method of converting the output to the 60 Hz power used in the US is needed and an HST accomplishes that plus offers a test bed for research in applying HSTs to wind turbines.  UMN is soliciting support from its industry partners to build, commission, and perform research on the HST.

Participating in the visit from the UMN ME department were Prof. Kim Stelson, Dr. Feng Wang, Rahul Dutta and Brad Bohlmann.  The Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory’s Eolos team was represented by Matt Lueker and Chris Feist.

The photo shows CCEFP’s Director, Prof. Kim Stelson, exiting the tower of the V27 wind turbine at MRCTC.