Gearing ratios of a magnetic gear for wind turbines

The wind turbine industry is growing at an incredible rate as numerous governments demand an increase in renewable energy generation capacity. The great multitude of turbines on windfarms throughout the world range from ones which are controlled mechanically with gears to ones which are controlled with power electronics and no gears. A drivetrain for a wind turbine which eliminates the problems of a mechanical gearbox and avoids the size and weight issues of directly-driven wind turbines is desired. A magnetic gear is proposed to reduce the size of the generator and achieve similar torque reduction provided by a mechanical gearbox, without the maintenance and breakdown issues. A magnetic gearbox, of the concentric planetary type will be studied for the high-torque, low-speed requirements of a wind turbine hub. Torque ripple is investigated across multiple models to determine acceptable torque transfer performance.