Project Overview

            This design project was embarked upon to create a practical, affordable, and durable machine to provide sustainable alternative energy. This machine is intended to be used in regions in Africa and/or Asia where energy supply is either unavailable or too expensive to be attainable. This project was designed for regions in Africa.

Design Constraints and Project Limitations

Before the mechanical design is discussed, a few design constraints and limitations would be highlighted. The first limitation to this design was the time designated for design, construction/assembly, proof of concept and testing. This project was done for the Drexel University Freshman Design Project and it was to be completed in 10 weeks. As such the machine design was made as simple as possible to make sure it could be completed within the required time.

The project also had a limited budget for required parts. This was not a major limitation as the intended design was meant to be a inexpensive as possible and hence the design is made of cheap parts. This decision did not affect the efficiency of the design but rather makes it affordable for poorer areas in Africa. Finally, the machine designed had to use renewable energy. Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Hydroelectric power were considered as viable sources of renewable energy.

Wind energy was eventually chosen, as it was the least expensive and the most available energy source. Solar energy could not be used because of its general high cost. The limited budget for this project and the fact that the original intention of this project was to create a cheap machine, were the defining factors to the dismissal of solar energy as a viable source of energy.

Hydroelectric power was dismissed because of the lack of adequate water supply to many parts of Africa. African waterways are generally characterized with seasonal flow and high sedimentation levels. Thus the water supply would not be constant throughout the year (due to its seasonal flow) and would have sediments, which could build up and impede free flow through machines that would harness hydroelectric power. As a result of these hydroelectric energy was dropped.

Considering all the limitations and constraints, a Savonius wind turbine was designed as it provided a cheap, affordable and easy constructible option harnessing power from wind energy.  The Savonius Turbine designed is a scaled down model, made for proof of concept due to the time restrictions associated with this project.