MOL tests wind generator on ship

MOL tests wind generator on ship    Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said Monday it will carry out what it described as the first trial of a wind power generator on board a freight vessel, aboard the wood chip carrier “Taiho Maru.”
   Such devices are believed to be common on sailing yachts.
   MOL began developing the system in 2002 in conjunction with the Tokai University Research Institute of Science and Technology, and Nishishiba Electric Co. Ltd.
   The 3kW-rated trial windmill device will power the ship’s bridge air conditioning during a voyage from Japan to Australia commencing Wednesday.
   The generator’s straight wing vertical axis design was developed by Kazuichi Seki of the Tokai University Research Institute of Science and Technology. Its “compact shape and omnidirectional nature” allows it to generate power no matter what the wind direction, said MOL.
   The current 2 meters high, 2.5 meters wide size of the device can be scaled up in due course, MOL said. The Japanese group envisages that it may be used on a wider range of vessels as an environmentally friendly supplemental power source for the crew quarters in the future.
   On April 14, researchers from Tokai University, Nishishiba Electric and MOL will present the system in Japan during a lecture at the New Technology Seminar of Sea Japan.