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Invents low cost windmill using bamboo to bring power in the farmland
“We grew paddy in our farmland and wanted lot of water for irrigation. To pump water from ground using the diesel pumps was expensive while drawing it manually was taxing so we thought to do it differently. We wanted to bring power on our farmland in minimum possible cost. Thus it was mandatory to use the natural resources that are available in ample of quantity and less cost,” says Md Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed about the drive behind inventing low cost windmill. The brothers drew working idea from kite that flew in the direction of natural air. “Based on the same principal we decided to make the wind mill using bamboo and tin sheets.”
Md Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed
Brothers belong to an agricultural family residing at Darrand, Assam. The initial prototype was ready in just four days with the help of a carpenter in the year 2008 however to give the windmill a standard design and operations the brothers got the invaluable assistance and support from Gujarat based National Innovation Foundation (NIF-India) and Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network – West (GIAN W). “Their guidance and help was vital for taking our grassroot innovation to be commercially successful product,” asserts elder brother Md. Mehtar Hussain. The low cost windmill was launched in the market for commercial sale in 2011.
“Our windmill is distinctive to the conventional windmill in regard to turbines, blades and mechanism. Our windmill is only 15 feet in height, has only four blades and is portable. Farmers can easily dismantle and assemble the windmill all by themselves. It works on simple crank mechanism and requires not much maintenance. It has worked very well in the salt farms of Gujarat extensively,” claims Mr. Mushtaq.
To fabricate easily and minimize the maintenance cost the design was crafted in such a way that even the local person can assemble and dismantle the key parts of wind mills apart from the base stand and turbine. The modifications have been carried in yaw bearings structure, central head having crank mechanism and tail arrangement.
"The turbine in our windmill can easily adjust itself according to the direction of wind. The blades are made up of 'Fiber Reinforce Plastic (FRP) blades," he adds. It has a furling tail as a safety mechanism to control the wind mill in high wind velocity. It has a floating valve to the reciprocating cylinder at the bottom of pump so the wind turbine starts without pressure and with increasing speed the pumping starts easily.
When asked about the safety in extreme conditions, Mr. Mehtar clarifies, “There is a rotor fixation on shaft, its safety against extreme condition, its strength to sustain the pulsating load and its fixation with crank mechanism and its smooth functioning. It also has a safety system for deactivating the turbine when we want to stop it.”
GIAN filed a patent application to protect the IPR of innovators and transferred the technology to an Ahmedabad-based enterprise, Chaudhary Designers and Fabricators, for large scale commercialization. “Before the commercial launch, GIAN successfully installed and demonstrated six improved windmills in May 2009 at little Rann of Kutch at the salt farms of six farmers. GIAN also conducted users’ feedback study at the end of salt season in 2009. The results have been very encouraging. And after the launch some more windmills were installed in the salt farms,” states Mr. Mushtaq.
The salt farm owners’ were given hands-on training about how to use and maintain the wind mill and minimum regular checkups they have to do by their own. “We explained to them the mechanism of critical components like cylinder which pumps the water and how to change the washers etc. We also gave them training about how to stop the wind mill by using the rope braking mechanism,” he adds.
Speaking of cost-benefit ratio, Mr. Mehtar elaborates, “Every windmill is expected to pump around 3 million liters of brine each year. This will lead to the saving of more than 2600 liters of diesel fuel each year. Reduced fuel consumption will help in reducing emission CO and CO2. This much of fuel saved per year per windmill will result in reducing the emission of CO2 by approximately 7 tons per year!”
Windmill is gaining popularity across the country with successful projects in Gujarat and North Eastern states. In time to come, the brothers want to develop some more low-cost techniques that could make farming production cost as less as possible.
Contact details:
Md. Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed
GIAN (Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network)
Bungalow No: 1, Satellite Complex, Nr. Satellite Tower, Mansi Cross Road, Premchand nagar Road, Satellite, Ahmedabad 380015, Gujarat, India.
Phone: 91-79-26769686
Email: gian@gian.org
“We grew paddy in our farmland and wanted lot of water for irrigation. To pump water from ground using the diesel pumps was expensive while drawing it manually was taxing so we thought to do it differently. We wanted to bring power on our farmland in minimum possible cost. Thus it was mandatory to use the natural resources that are available in ample of quantity and less cost,” says Md Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed about the drive behind inventing low cost windmill. The brothers drew working idea from kite that flew in the direction of natural air. “Based on the same principal we decided to make the wind mill using bamboo and tin sheets.”
Md Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed
Brothers belong to an agricultural family residing at Darrand, Assam. The initial prototype was ready in just four days with the help of a carpenter in the year 2008 however to give the windmill a standard design and operations the brothers got the invaluable assistance and support from Gujarat based National Innovation Foundation (NIF-India) and Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network – West (GIAN W). “Their guidance and help was vital for taking our grassroot innovation to be commercially successful product,” asserts elder brother Md. Mehtar Hussain. The low cost windmill was launched in the market for commercial sale in 2011.
“Our windmill is distinctive to the conventional windmill in regard to turbines, blades and mechanism. Our windmill is only 15 feet in height, has only four blades and is portable. Farmers can easily dismantle and assemble the windmill all by themselves. It works on simple crank mechanism and requires not much maintenance. It has worked very well in the salt farms of Gujarat extensively,” claims Mr. Mushtaq.
To fabricate easily and minimize the maintenance cost the design was crafted in such a way that even the local person can assemble and dismantle the key parts of wind mills apart from the base stand and turbine. The modifications have been carried in yaw bearings structure, central head having crank mechanism and tail arrangement.
"The turbine in our windmill can easily adjust itself according to the direction of wind. The blades are made up of 'Fiber Reinforce Plastic (FRP) blades," he adds. It has a furling tail as a safety mechanism to control the wind mill in high wind velocity. It has a floating valve to the reciprocating cylinder at the bottom of pump so the wind turbine starts without pressure and with increasing speed the pumping starts easily.
When asked about the safety in extreme conditions, Mr. Mehtar clarifies, “There is a rotor fixation on shaft, its safety against extreme condition, its strength to sustain the pulsating load and its fixation with crank mechanism and its smooth functioning. It also has a safety system for deactivating the turbine when we want to stop it.”
GIAN filed a patent application to protect the IPR of innovators and transferred the technology to an Ahmedabad-based enterprise, Chaudhary Designers and Fabricators, for large scale commercialization. “Before the commercial launch, GIAN successfully installed and demonstrated six improved windmills in May 2009 at little Rann of Kutch at the salt farms of six farmers. GIAN also conducted users’ feedback study at the end of salt season in 2009. The results have been very encouraging. And after the launch some more windmills were installed in the salt farms,” states Mr. Mushtaq.
The salt farm owners’ were given hands-on training about how to use and maintain the wind mill and minimum regular checkups they have to do by their own. “We explained to them the mechanism of critical components like cylinder which pumps the water and how to change the washers etc. We also gave them training about how to stop the wind mill by using the rope braking mechanism,” he adds.
Speaking of cost-benefit ratio, Mr. Mehtar elaborates, “Every windmill is expected to pump around 3 million liters of brine each year. This will lead to the saving of more than 2600 liters of diesel fuel each year. Reduced fuel consumption will help in reducing emission CO and CO2. This much of fuel saved per year per windmill will result in reducing the emission of CO2 by approximately 7 tons per year!”
Windmill is gaining popularity across the country with successful projects in Gujarat and North Eastern states. In time to come, the brothers want to develop some more low-cost techniques that could make farming production cost as less as possible.
Contact details:
Md. Mehtar Hussain and Md. Mushtaq Ahmed
GIAN (Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network)
Bungalow No: 1, Satellite Complex, Nr. Satellite Tower, Mansi Cross Road, Premchand nagar Road, Satellite, Ahmedabad 380015, Gujarat, India.
Phone: 91-79-26769686
Email: gian@gian.org