Our turbines use a rotor rather than a propeller. The rotor, which is vertically oriented, is currently made out of steel for our 25-100 kw turbines, but is expected to be built out of composites for our larger units up to and including a 500/750 kilowatt model.

Because we use a vertical shaft rather than a horizontal shaft, we have eliminated the maintenance problems associated with prop style turbines on both the main support bearings at the front of the turbine near where the props attach, and at the gear boxes. Our turbines have one large thrust bearing which supports the weight of the rotor and all the weight is pointed straight down on the bearing, eliminating the torsion loads that destroy the parts in the prop turbines. Since our thrust bearing is over engineered to withstand three times the load it experiences, and we have very few moving parts, we estimate our mechanical maintenance will be 1/10 the amount required for standard prop designs.

Our gearbox is mounted directly in-line with the turbine shaft. Because of this, it experiences no torsion loads, removing the mechanical stresses that are inherent with prop style turbines.

All of our electronic equipment as well as the generator is located in an enclosure at the base of the turbine. This makes any maintenance required extremely easy to perform. No crane is needed to remove a generator or a gear box should that become necessary. Also, technicians are not required to climb upwards to 225 feet to access the generators/gearboxes. The base structure is also conducive to installing battery back up as well as hydrogen generation and storage facilities.

Because of the results of advanced engineering studies, that were completed after our original information booklets came out, we do not believe at this time that we will produce a 1 megawatt (1000 kilowatt) turbine. This is for two reasons, one the physical structure will be extremely large, but more importantly, in our opinion it is better to have two 500-750 kw turbines rather than one 1-1.5 megawatt machine. With two, should one break down for any reason, the other is still producing power. Our current estimates indicate to us that we can manufacture and install two smaller turbines equal to the price of one larger turbine.

We have recently been introduced to new generator technologies which we believe will offer us the ability to produce more power from a given turbine size than previously expected, These generators, with direct drive capability, may very well allow for the total elimination of the gearbox, removing what little maintenance that may be needed by that device as well.

Through the use of wind tunnel testing and fluid dynamic modeling, we have been able to identify significant increases in turbine efficiency using this airfoil.

Because of the design of our major airfoil, it is permanently pointed into the predominate wind direct as indicated by wind studies. This allows us to eliminate the associated mechanical failures often experienced by prop style turbines as they rotate to face into prevailing winds.

The design of the major wing shaped airfoil allows for two very important technological improvements. One is that the airfoil actually increases the speed of the wind as it enters the throat of our turbine, giving us increased wind speeds to work with. More speed hitting the rotor equals more power out available. Secondly using this airfoil in conjunction with the positioning of two flat airfoils, as identified by wind tunnel testing and fluid dynamic modeling by the USA’s premier wind consulting engineering firm, CPP, located in Fort Collins, CO, results in lift on the rotor and reduced pressure on the returning half of the rotor as it spins. This translates into less drag and higher efficiency.

When efficiency studies are completed on the current test turbine, the turbine is expected to achieve 45-48% efficiency in extracting the power from the wind. This number, to our knowledge, is not achievable by any other vertical axis turbine in the world, and may exceed even the very best of the prop style turbines.

This turbine can be used to purify water using a cavitation system produced by Global Water Technologies, and the clean, potable water can be stored within the major airfoil, something offered by no other turbine anywhere.

This turbine is designed to operate much closer to the ground than prop turbines do. It does not require the smooth laminar air flows required by the prop turbines. It can handle any turbulence, micro-bursts, or wind shear conditions without negative affects or injury to the turbine.

The robust design of the TMA turbine allows for operation in winds approaching 70 mph for a period of 10 minutes before shutting down. This provides an additional power band (15-20 mph) at exceptionally powerful winds that none of the prop turbines can take advantage of.

TMA turbines have conservatively been engineered to withstand sustained winds of 110 mph. They can be designed and built for even higher speeds such as class 5 hurricanes. Because of this ability to operate in high winds and to physically withstand even higher winds, the TMA turbines are a very good choice for off-shore generation as well as for installation on oil platforms.

Because of the ability to operate in non-linear flow winds, TMA turbines can be placed much closer together than other turbines, both side to side and row to row, ,allowing for more production within a given area of land.

In locations where birds and other avian species are a concern, TMA is pleased to be able to state that in nearly 11 years of operation at our test facility, we have never had a single bird or bat kill. We often see golden eagles, sparrows, magpies, black birds and other bird species flying around our turbines or even landing on top of them.

Prop style turbines require very expensive, very tall cranes for their installation. With these installation costs in mind, TMA turbines have been designed to use much smaller, more readily available cranes for installation resulting in lower installation costs.

Our turbines have the ability to be colored so as to blend into whatever the environment is where they are to be located, or they can be used for large advertising displays should it be appropriate.

Our expected catalogue of turbines is as follows:

A. 1-5 kw units, approximately 8’ tall with a footprint equal to a 8’x8’x8’ equilateral triangle
B. 25-100 kw units, approximately 34’ tall with a footprint equal to a 34’x34’x34’ equilateral triangle
C. 100-350 kw units, approximately 116’ tall with a footprint equal to 96’x96’x96’ equilateral triangle.
D. 350-500/750 kw units, approximately 150’ tall with a footprint equal to 150’x150’150’ equilateral triangle.
E. Larger models will be considered if new generator technologies prove out.

Our turbines will use standard size configurations for broad ranges in order to keep design costs down, providing the ability to pass these cost savings on to the customer. Only the generators will vary for the different turbine sizes as required. If one of our standard sizes won’t work, we have the ability to design a turbine in height and diameter for any given situation. However, there will be an additional engineering charge plus associated expenses for ‘one of’ designs.

Some of the further advantages to the TMA turbine design are the lack of vibration, ground resonance, radar or telecommunication interference, and noise generation.

Yes. TMA holds three US patents as well as numerous foreign patents. New patent applications are being filed world wide on an ongoing basis.