While testing the turbine on a jig, I realized that there was a need to boost the voltage, I identified two different approaches to solve the problem. the first one, Incorporating gears to speed up the turbine did not come up to scratch as it was crude, noisy and would require strong winds to turn the blades. So I was left with the second option - The electronic voltage boost.
A simple DC – DC conversion should be able to boost my 8 Volts to about 16 Volts. I saw circuit diagrams from numerous hobby sites – but they all had some unique integrated circuits (ICs) like Max (http://para.maxim-ic.com/en/search.mvp?fam=stepup&tree=powersupplies), y, z, that local electronics component stores did not stock.
I had almost given up on this option (planning to return to perfect the gears option above) when I stumbled on a power boost circuit that used a simple 555 timer. The 555 series of ICs is one of the most versatile IC in the whole world – and yes, we do have plenty of them in Nigeria.http://www.elecfree.com/electronic/voltage-doubler-with-ic-555/ posts a simple 555 voltage doubler circuit. See google result - http://www.google.com.ng/search?hl=en&q=555+voltage+doubler+circuit&btnG=Search&meta=
The components are:-
- NE555 timer IC
- 2.2k ohm resistor
- 15k ohm resistor
- 0.01 uF ceramic capacitor
- C2, C3 220 uF electrolytic capacitor
- C4 470 uF electrolytic capacitor
- D1, D2 1N4002 diode
This circuit will now increase the output voltage from 8Volts to about 16volts. Optionally, I can throw in a regulated 14Volts at the end of this to ensure the output never exceeds 14Volts. One problem though is current. Will this circuit provide enough current? I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now, this will no doubt charge a flat battery.
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