end of week two

closing the mold

testing the pipes before pouring the foam into the mold

mixing the chemicals that make the foam, the reaction happens in seconds

finished blade

We have had a rough week in the workshop. We were supposed to finish at least one complete turbine, ready for our trip next week. Due to a number of issues, it just didn´t happen.

We did manage however to successfully make a turbine blade(!) as well as complete the two plates that generate the electricity; a metal plate topped with eight magnents set in resin and a resin mold filled with six hand turned copper coils.

To make the most of our unsuccessful week and celebrate what we did manage to complete, we decided to take the weekend off and head south into the mountain town of Huaraz. It´s a seven hour night bus and we are leaving tonight! We will have a long weekend in Huaraz, before taking a night bus back to Trujillo on Monday.

I am super excited for this trip. It will be nice to get away from Trujillo and finally see a little bit more of Peru. Updates to follow!

building a turbine

resin poured and setting

danger! laying the exceptionally strong magnents. there was blood.

gas masks necessary

hand turned copper coils

testing a blade

We have had a slight change of plan. Instead of building and installing one turbine, our group gets to go on a week long tour of northern Peru, performing maintenance on three turbines (in addition to installing our own). Yay!

Whilst it is super exciting to know that we see so many turbines in action, this means we have to bust our butts  in the workshop this week, finishing our turbine before we head off.

There are a number of different parts needed to make the turbine and today we focused on the core. There are two plates that make up the center core of the blade, a metal plate filled with resin and set with eight super strong magnents, and a second plate, filled with six copper coils, the ends of which are soldered together and then the entire plate is also set in resin.

It took us about a day to complete these two simple pieces, most of the work done by hand. The two pieces are arguably the most important part of the turbine, as it is the copper coils passing over the magnets (when the blade spins) that create the electric current. Who discovered that passing a copper coil over a magnet creates an electric charge is beyond me. But it is amazing to see how much science is involved in making this work. Working here has really made me realise how little I know about pretty much anything that has to do with electronics, but it is awesome to learn!

workshop

Back row: Lucas, James, Pit
Front row: Tina, Geancarlo, Isoline, me, Hardy

 

 

 

We spend our days in the WindAid workshop, building the numerous components needed to create a wind turbine. Our group of volunteers are a motley crew, seven random strangers thrown together for this crazy experience.

 

Pit is an electrical engineer by trade and has just completed his PhD at Imperial College. He is an Iron man triathlete who decided to cycle to Trujillo from Huaraz. In what can only be described as an insane adventure, he covered 650km in a week, cycling by himself over the Cordillera. Nuts! James is our ginger Scotsman, who has also just finished his PhD in nuclear engineering. Isoline is a chemical engineer and like me, has also just completed an MSc at UCL. At only 22(!) is the baby of the group. Lucas is our internally conflicted friend; half German and half Greek, he has an undergrad in economics a first MA in Environmental Management and is now working on completing his second MSc which focuses on wind energy. We have Tina, a Canadian flight attendant with an interest in renewable energy. And finally, Hardy who is on a delayed gap year having just completed two years of service in Singapore's army, before studing aeronautics in the Netherlands.

 

The work is super varied, as almost all parts of the wind turbine are made by hand. We mix monomers and polymers together to create a foam core blades, which we sand by hand before coating in carbon fibre and finishing in resin. We weld pieces of metal together to create steel hoops that are used to anchor the turbines. We create copper coils, set them in a resin wheel, which when passed over strong magnets, generate the electrical current needed to create electricity. And that's just in our first few days!

 

Whilst it is all a bit overwhelming (especially given the fact that I am surrounded by chemical, mechanical and electrical engineers), I am learning a lot every day and hope that by the end of my month will be able to accurately describe the process that allows wind to make energy. Wish me luck!