On this page we will try to give you some information in English.
But we do not have much information in English, so please be patient.
The information below is from "The English summaries" in our
catalog from 2001.
To our foreign readers.
This publication is issued by the "Danish Wind-historical Collection"
(DVS), a society founded in 1997. The pupose af DVS is to collect and distribute
information on the windpower-development in Denmark from the oast decades of the
19th century until now.
As we suppose, that this
history may interest people outside
Denmark
, we have at the end of each
of the historical chapters on the pages 6-35 included a summary in English. In
some of the summaries, reference is made to numbers on the map on page 41 with
sites, where a few of the historical wind turbines can still be seen.
The
first farm mills (house-mills) 1865-1910
Until 1862, when the Dutch mills dominated the landscape it was a royal
privilege to run a windmill and grind grain. This privilege was abolished in
1862, and farmers began to erect windmills on their farms.
The development probably started in Vendsyssel in the Northern part of
Jutland
around 1865-1875. the
concept was the same as for the large mills – only in a smaller version. The
top of the mill was mounted on the top of the barn roof and the grinder was
placed on he barn floor below the mill (see the drawing on page 7).
The smaller post mills were also called “sailcloth mills” and were primarily
used to grind grain but they also had other uses. Some of them were used to pump
water for the farm and the household.
A post
mill can still be found on the barn from the farm “Østerklit” at Tversted
in
Northern Jutland
(pohots and drawing on pages
6-7, no. 1 on the map on page 41). Another mill has been moved to the open air
museum Hjerl Hede (no. 6 on the map on page 41).
The
small post mill was a simple and sturdy mill and was common in the Northwestern
parts of
Jutland
. Special mills with similar
blade design were used in several places in
Denmark
to pump water for the cattle.
Two mills of this type from 1840 can be seen at Ballum Enge, Højer, in the
southern part of
Jutland
(photo on page 9, no. 11 on
the map on page 41).
Other types of farm mills were invented and statistics from 1907 show a total of
4,617 farm mills. Of these 3,542 were in Juland.
American
inspiration and the beginning of a Danish windmill industry – from 1880.
The wind rose is a windmill with many closely fitted blades. This multibladed
mill was developed in
America
in 1850-1860 and is well
known to most from American Western movies. Daniel Halladay from
New England
was one of the first
manufacturers. The picture from World Columbian Exhibition in 1893 in
Chicago
(photo on page 10) indicates
a considerable American wind rose industry.
American
wind roses were used to pump water and were equipped with a tail wane which
automatically turned them into the wind. Some Halladay wind roses could brake by
folding the blades backwards (see the drawing from 1983 on page 10). Others were
designed to turn the whole wind rose 90 degrees out of the wind at high wind
speeds. Around 1875 steel blades were introduced (until then wind roses had
wooden blades).
The Danish production of wind roses began around 1880. One of the first
factories producing them was the Esbjerg Iron Foundry and Machine Works which
started production in 1876. (see the price list front page from 1886 on the top
of page 11) Other early manufacturers were P. Buaas in
Aalborg
and Hurup Iron Foundry
(1888).
Wind roses were also imported from
America
and
Sweden
. One of the Danish factories
which manufactures the American type steel bladed wind roses after the turn of
the century was H.D. Larsen Iron Foundry and Machine Works in Frederikssund (the
“Dandy” rose on page 12).
There
are hardly any old wind roses of this simple type with fixed blades left in
Denmark
. DVS has some parts from
wind roses.
Wind
roses with adjustable blades for farms and factories – from 1890.
The first wind roses were used for pumping water. They were normally small, only
a few metres in diameter, and had fixed blades. Later wind roses grew bigger and
were used for industrial purposes as well as advanced agricultural tasks. They
were often called “wind rose engines” and were equipped with an automatic
blade adjustment which made them suitable for tasks requirering a stable and
even production.
To get a more stable position in the wind the tail vane on the small wind roses
was exchanged by the yaw blades, which the Scotsman Andrew Meikle in 1750
invented for the Dutch windmills (see the last photo on page 3).
Two of the most important manufacturers were Hurup Iron Foundry and Machine
Works and Fr. Dalgaard, Holbæk Motor factory. DVS is in the position of a very
well preserved wind rose engine from app. 1905 from Fr. Dalgaard, Holbæk (see
photos on pages 13 and 14). It was in operation until a few years before DVS got
hold of it in 1998.
A
reconstruction of a similar wind rose on the
island
of
Falster
was wrecked in a powerful
storm in December 1999 (photo at the bottom of page 13). In 1921-24 different
windmill designs were compared and the wind rose showed an efficiency rate of 17
%, which was three times more than the old Dutch mills.
Wind
turbines for electricity production: Poul la Cour’s experiments in Askov 1891
– 1908.
At the turn of the century, systematic and scientific tests of wind
turbines were conducted at the
Askov
Folk
High School
in
Southern Jutland
(no. 10 on the map page 41).
They are considered the first experiments of their kind in the world. The key
figure was the meteorologist and teacher Poul la Cour and his work was
revolutionary for the understanding of the aerodynamic conditions for the wind
turbine blades.
He carried out experiments with blade models in a wind tunnel as early as
1896-99, five years before the Wright brother’s first flight in the
USA
. Pul la Cour worked together
with the windmill-manufacturers of the time and after testing several wind
turbines he developed the “ideal turbine”. It had a rotor with four blades
and a tip speed ratio of 2.4.
Poul la
Cour’s work was supported by the Danish government. He built two test
turbines, the first one in 1891, and the second in 1897. Furthermore he
experimented with electrolysis of water to hydrogen and oxygen where the
hydrogen was used for lighting at the school.
In 1902,
he started educating electricians to erect and operate rural power plants. When
he died in 1908, there were 30 rural power plants with operating wind turbines.
Poul la Cour was a gifted scientist and an unique public informer with an
impressive social commitment, and his work has influenced Danish wind power
development until today. I the year 2000 the Pul la Cour laboratory has been
turned into a museum. (see www.poullacour.dk
for further information).
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