Many inventors have questioned the logic of harnessing wind power by
situating heavy gearboxes, generators, and rotor blades hundreds of
feet in the air, as is the case for conventional horizontal wind
turbines. One alternative design that does away with all these entities
looks as though it is getting traction from both investors and a few
potential customers.
SheerWind in Chaska, Minn., has fielded a wind power idea based on the Venturi effect. Basically it collects wind and compresses it in a funnel-like chamber before sending it to turn the blades of a generator. The generator sits on the ground rather than at the top of a tower. The brain child of Dr. Daryoush Allaei, a mechanical engineer, the wind catcher is called the Invelox. A 90-foot-tall version of the device, says Allaei, could create the same amount of power as a 1.8-MW commercial wind tower. But it would be a third of the height, sit on a seventh of the land, and use turbine blades eight times smaller in diameter than what you'd find on a utility scale turbine. Allaei also claims the electricity would be at least 40% cheaper to produce.
http://machinedesign.com/news/no-more-windmills-wind-catchers-use-venturi-technique-generate-power
SheerWind in Chaska, Minn., has fielded a wind power idea based on the Venturi effect. Basically it collects wind and compresses it in a funnel-like chamber before sending it to turn the blades of a generator. The generator sits on the ground rather than at the top of a tower. The brain child of Dr. Daryoush Allaei, a mechanical engineer, the wind catcher is called the Invelox. A 90-foot-tall version of the device, says Allaei, could create the same amount of power as a 1.8-MW commercial wind tower. But it would be a third of the height, sit on a seventh of the land, and use turbine blades eight times smaller in diameter than what you'd find on a utility scale turbine. Allaei also claims the electricity would be at least 40% cheaper to produce.
http://machinedesign.com/news/no-more-windmills-wind-catchers-use-venturi-technique-generate-power
Comments
Post a Comment