Éolienne Bollée

was turned to face the wind and second, an improvement which increased the flow of wind through the turbine was added. The turbines built according to the 1885 patent that were commercially successful. The Eolienne Bollée (book)]

The windpump business

Ernest Sylvain Bollée (July 19 1814 – 1891) and Auguste Sylvain Bollée (1847–1906) took out the original patent No. 79985 in 1868 for a "hydraulic wind engine". Ernest Bollée described himself as a hydraulic engineer in Le Mans, Sarthe. During the 1860s, due to poor health, Ernest delegated control of the three parts of his business to each of his sons. Auguste was given control of the wind engine manufacturing side of the business. The patent of 1885, with the improvements, is No.167726. In 1898 Auguste sold the business to Édouard-Émile Lebert. Auguste is estimated to have made about 260 Éoliennes.cite web | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/family_en.htm | first = John | last = Walter | origyear = 2003 | origmonth = July | publisher = Everything France | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = What is an Éolienne Bolée…? | accessdate = 2008-01-29] Lebert passed the business to Gaston Duplay in 1918 and on January 1 1926 the business passed to the Société Anonyme des Éoliennes Bollée (SAEB). SAEB erected at least three 7 metre éoliennes. Operations seem to have ceased around 1931.cite web | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/design_en.htm | first = John | last = Walter | origyear = 2003 | origmonth = July | publisher = Everything France | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = What is an Éolienne Bolée…? | accessdate = 2008-01-25]

Construction

The Éolienne Bollée was designed to be constructed in a modular form, thus allowing éoliennes of various sizes to be built. The tower could be a standard pylon type, either of triangular or square plan, or a cast iron column with an external spiral staircase. The éoliennes built with this type of tower have a very distinctive appearance. The actual turbine itself consists of two rings, the first being the stator and the second being the rotor. The stator has more blades than the rotor. A new device added to the 1885 patent was a funnel affixed to the stator, enabling the éolienne to capture wind from a larger area than the rotor, and increasing its speed through the turbine. A small fantail operated upwind of the rotor, and through a system of gears turned the turbine to face the wind. Also, through a counterweight system, it turned the turbine out of wind as the wind speed increased, thus preventing damage in very strong winds, when the éolienne would be edge on into the prevailing wind.

The cast iron columns were made in convert|2.85|m|ftin sections of convert|175|mm|in diameter, having twelve cast iron treads or wrought iron steps forming a complete spiral around the column. A half column was available, allowing éoliennes to be built to any desired height.

Unique feature

The Éolienne Bollée is unique amongst other forms of windmill because of the stator. All windmills have a rotor, whether it is the sails on a traditional windmill or the blades of a modern wind turbine. The Éolienne Bollée is the only wind powered turbine where the wind passes through a set of fixed blades (stator) before driving the windmill itself (rotor). Thus in effect it is a form of axial compressor although only having one stage.

Operation

The rotor is turned by the wind, and through a bevel wheel drives a shaft inside the column (if used) or in the centre of the tower. At the lower end this drives a horizontal shaft through a gearbox, which typically drives three throw pump.A pump with three pistons operated by a crankshaft]

izes

The éoliennes came in sizes of convert|2.5|m|ftin, convert|3.53|m|ftin, convert|5|m|ftin and convert|7|m|ft diameter.

;The 2.5 m éolienne.The 2.5 m éolienne has a 24 blade stator and an 18 blade rotor.

;The 3.53 m éolienne.The 3.53 m éolienne has a 34 blade stator and a 24 blade rotor.

;The 5 m éolienne.The 5 m éolienne has a 44 blade stator and a 32 blade rotor.

It was claimed that a 3.53 m éolienne with a 65 mm pump would be able to pump convert|1.4|m3|impgal of water per hour in a convert|4|m/s|mph wind, convert|1.8|m3|impgal of water per hour in a convert|5|m/s|mph, convert|3|m3|impgal of water per hour in a convert|6|m/s|mph and convert|4|m3|impgal of water per hour in a convert|7|m/s|mph wind.

;Pumps

Pumps were available in seven sizes, convert|33|mm|in, convert|42|mm|in, convert|52|mm|in, convert|65|mm|in, convert|80|mm|in, convert|100|mm|in, and convert|120|mm|in diametercite web | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = Some details | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/details_en.htm]

Variation

Lebert built some very similar wind engines with a single rotor, and lacking the stator. Thus they were not true turbines. They were either convert|7.10|m|ftin or convert|8.60|m|ftin diameter. At least three of these are known to have been built.cite web | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = Rival wind-engine designs | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/rival_en.htm]

Purchasers

In the early years, under the Bollée family, the vast majority of purchasers were aristocrats and gentry, only six éoliennes being sold to municipalities by 1888. After Lebert took over, the pattern of sales changed, with more éoliennes being sold for communal water supply, particularly in Indre-et-Loire and Sarthe .cite web | work = The Éolienne Bollée website | title = Who bought them… and why? | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/bought_en.htm]

A few éoliennes were sold abroad, including two to a monastery at Cowfold, Sussex; one to a monastery at Tarragona, Spain; one to a hospital in Tunisia; one to a mine in Brazil and one to Cotonou, Dahomey.

Locations

Some éoliennes have survived and are preserved. In France, the oldest surviving éolienne is at the Bollée bell foundry in St-Jean-de-Bray, near Orléans.cite web | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = How many remain…? | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/remain_en.htm] One is preserved in working order at Épuisay, Loir-et-Cher,Les Moulins de France, p. 68.] and another at the Bollée museum in Orléans. A few have been restored to working order.cite web | work = The Éolienne Bollée | title = News and views | url = http://www.bollee.fsnet.co.uk/Eolienne/newsviews_en.htm]

An Éolienne Bollée described

The éolienne at Épuisay is on a square plan lattice tower of eight sections, convert|21|m|ftin high. The convert|3.53|m|ftin rotor drives a pump which pumps water from a depth of convert|116|m|ftin, the pump itself being at a depth of convert|35|m|ftin. A convert|2|hp|kW petrol engine was provided to work the pumps in times of calm. By wind, convert|2.5|m3|impgal an hour could be pumped.

References

ources

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See also

*Renewable energy

External links

* [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/derelicta/pomponne.htm Éolienne at Pomponne] in French
* [http://www.coeur-de-france.com/fonderie-cloche.html Musée Bollée] in French
* [http://www.thewindpower.net/photos-eoliennes-2773-le-site-web-des-amis-de-l-146-eolienne-bollee.php Gallery] of photos of éoliennes