AEROMAG Corporation of Prescott Valley, AZ requires a working model of a Lakota Compressed Air Energy Turbine (CAET). The Lakota is an existing wind turbine, which will be retrofitted to power an air compressor. Lakota CAET is the integration of an air compressor and the existing Lakota wind turbine. Lakota CAET will facilitate compressed air energy storage for a variety of applications.

The design and implementation of Lakota CAET will address several issues. A mechanical link will be required to join the shaft output of the turbine with the mechanical input of a compressor. The compressor selected must be capable of producing compressed air over a wide range of turbine speeds. Approximating the peak efficiency of a chosen compressor to the peak efficiency of the existing Lakota turbine will optimize Lakota CAET. When the Lakota CAET project is completed, a working prototype capable of generating and storing compressed air will allow for the testing and optimization of Lakota CAET for different applications.

The faculty advisor of Lakota CAET Team is Dr. Earl Duque, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University.