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Vertical Axis Wind Turbine With Push and Pull
Sterling D. Allan writes "After 10 years of prototyping, wind tunnel testing, patenting, and tweaking, Ron Taylor of Cheyenne (windy) Wyoming is ready to take his vertical axis wind turbine into commercial production. Design creates pull on the back side contributing to 40%+ wind conversion efficiencies. Because it spins at wind speed, it doesn't kill birds, and it runs more quietly. It also doesn't need to be installed as high, and it can withstand significantly higher winds (can generate in winds up to 70 mph, compared to ~54 mph tops for propeller designs). Generating costs estimated at 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, putting it in the lead pocket-book-wise not just of wind and solar, but of conventional power as well. Production prototype completion expected in 5-7 months."
...but I don't take anything "Open Source Energy News" posts seriously anymore. It seems like every post that comes from them is a crackpot.
Birds don't move at wind speed. Sounds like a recipe for a collision!
Ron Taylor of Cheyenne (windy) Wyoming is ready to take his vertical axis wind turbine into commercial production......Production prototype completion expected in 5-7 months.
Now being the old fuddy duddy I am (at the tender age of 21) I'm obviously using an old and outdated definition for "ready for commercial production." See, the definition I'm using is one where the prototyping stage is over, and these things are being made in some factory and are about to be sold to companies/people. Now obviously not being up-to-date with the latest definitions, I was quite excited when I read it was ready, only to have my hopes dashed by the end of the summary.
Why don't you call us old-timers when you actually have a commercial product?
if the downwind blade is travelling at windspeed, it is generating no force (and admittedly killing no birds who are flying with the wind, ie balloons). But, that implies that the upwind blade is travelling at twice the windspeed, relative to the wind.
So that little argument is rubbish.
Actually, the whole article is not too bad overall, we certainly see worse in real papers (eg the Guardian's coverage of that hydrogen atom fraud).
I remember a time when stores that sold pet supplies online, and stores that delivered what you ordered online in an orange sack within an hour were experiencing hockey stick growth.
So your point is?
Just looking at the prototype from the article, it looks to me like they have "inlet guid vanes" which would direct the incoming air so that it hits the rotor blades at the correct angle, so there would be no need for variable angle of attack (as there is with propellers...).
I would like to call a halt to posting links from Open Source Energy. The site is run by crackpots and kooks who espouse completely insane ideas that have absolutely no basis in reality. It takes about 5 minutes of browsing for any reasonable person to determine this. Promoting this site is bad for slashdot. I do not joke when I say that posting links to this site is no better than posting links to some "intelligent" design site about new theories of evolution.
For the sake of argument, let's believe the hype just for a moment. From TFA: ...the approximate sixty claims between the two U.S. patents awarded and a third pending, and numerous international patents secured as well. "Our patent attorney is very pleased with how broad our patent protection is," Taylor said.
If the design is so revolutionary, more financially viable than conventional power, and better for the environment, then no doubt they'll make a killing financially whether they patent it or not, as they're the experts and have the lead on manufacturing it. Why bury it under years worth of patent protection, instead of releasing it to all and saving the planet?
I am skeptic; it still looks like a meatgrinder to me. O.k it does not look like the propeller desigh that chops the bird, but when that thing is spinning at speed I am sure it pets the bird in the back as gently as a bud hits you with 50mph windspeed from the back ....
.......
just a visual observation, and probably they threw some chickens into their grinder before they claimed that.
Besides being an asshole critic, I really appreciate the aspect of renewable energy paired with not being a traditional meatgrinder
fact: did you guys know that costa rica is only using wind and water power? In fact we produce as much from these sources that CR exports energy to neighbouring countries; clean energy. In fact, while still considered a developing country, electricity coverage is the best in central AM, technically you have electricity everywhere. For US/European readers it is probably normal, but when you drive around in Panama/Nicaragua you canappreciate grid coverage here.
OK, water energy creates some mess with the environment in some cases especially when you have wetlands, because dams can affect these in a bad way, but still better than burning coal or radiating, etc.
Wind gets the minimal of governmental support, and look at how it's growing.
While that may be true in the US, I think you'll find that Wind gets a lot of governmental support in the EU, especially Germany and Britain.
It makes sense, if you think about it. As far north as most of the EU is, Solar isn't as promising for the EU as it is for the US.
*sigh* back to work...
As silly as that sounds it is true...
e .htm not the real article). Essentially the windmills act like a wind dam and that changes the weather on nearby beaches. I think what the report said is that the beach received more sunlight than it usually would.
About six months past I read in a German paper that in the North where the windmill parks have changed the local climate (http://www.msr.uni-bremen.de/werner/rw/RWOffshor
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
The rotor of a modern 5MW wind turbine is about the same size as an athletics track.
Yes, but it looks like a big propeller: the spokes that the wind is pushing on only cover a small part of that circular area at any given time. The rest is clear air.
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
Put them on the corners of a skyscraper and the power is used only feet away from its generation.
Hmmm--this type of wind turbine could be perfect for the space on top of the planned Freedom Tower in New York Ciy that designers plan to install wind turbines inside that space. It would definitely be less threat to birds flying nearby and the noise level will be substantially lower, too.
I guess you didn't notice that the story was also run by CBS News and Yahoo News, among other mainstream organs.
They're all just regurgitating the same story/press release that originated at the Jackson Hole Star Tribune and was passed along to the AP. All this is is an advertisement for venture capital, the same as the last couple you submitted. Both you and Slashdot should be ashamed at running these adds. as if they were news.
"This is the big issue (pun intended) that many environmentalists don't like about wind turbines--the sheer size of the newest models cause visual pollution and that is the major reason why the planned wind turbine farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket Island has been tied up in litigation."
While I can appreciate what you said, I would argue quite strongly against most of the people you describe being "environmentalists".
I do not believe preserving your property values and aesthetic appeal qualify one to be an "environmentalist".
How pathetic are you that you follow me from topic to topic and waste all your mod points at once modding me down?
It's strange that the sight of sails on boats moving laterally is ok and actually thought attractive by most people, but the sight of sails rotating disturbs some people.
to err is human, to forgive is divine, to forget is... umm...