Pulling Power from the Sky: The Story of Makani [Feature Film]

Chanel's Paris fashion week

http://collagiscope.blogspot.com/2012/10/paris-fashion-week-chanel-and-wind.html

Use of genetic algorithms to design turbine blades

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZUNRmwoijw&sns=em

Maglev Wind Turbine

http://www.maglevwindturbine.com

Demo CGI for proposed 2GW Magnetic Leviatated wind Turbine.

*Efficient Frictionless Power Generation with less maintenance, compared to HAWT.
No oil change or replacement of the bearings, gears.
Since, MAGLEV does NOT require such.

** Current bearing technology has forced wind turbine designers into horizontal spindle three bladed wind turbines. In this design the huge blades are connected to a spindle in the center. The bearings that support the spindle and control the pitch of the blades (which can be hundreds of feet long) see huge pitch-moment loading, some of which is manifest as torque energy that is focused through the center spindle. The target speed for the spindle is 18 or 20 rpm and the bearings holding the spindle are mounted in a huge casting which also contains a large gearbox stepping the speed up to 1800 to 2000 RPMs which allows for the proper surface speed relationship between the coils and magnets. It is necessary to invert or condition the current, which is expensive. This gearbox is full of many large bearings, gears and castings; for a 2 MW turbine the gearbox can easily weigh 30 tons. This gearbox needs to be mounted on the top of a pole more than 150 feet in the air and be able to support the turbine blades under full-force wind conditions.

***MAGLEV Power Generation, the pitch moment ratio is closer to 1-to-1 then the 100-to-1 as with a horizontal spindle design.

An alternative to Windmills

On NewScientist: Wind power harnesses the energy of galloping

THE thought of wind power brings visions of giant turbines, high-altitude kites and graceful sailboats to mind. But the breeze has a more sinister side, full of turbulence that can wreak havoc with bridges and other structures.

Now Hyung-Jo Jung and Seung-Woo Lee at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea, plan to harness these destructive forces to generate energy. They have built a prototype that produces energy using a specific type of unstable airflow called wake galloping.

Wake galloping is a form of vigorous vibration that affects cylindrical parts of structures, such as the cables on suspension bridges, exposed to seemingly harmless airflow. When the wind passes a horizontal cylinder, eddy currents called wake vortices are created on the lee side. These induce a lifting force on a cylinder in the path of these eddies - but only if the two have the same diameter and the second cylinder is three to six diameters away from the first.

The leeward cylinder's weight counteracts the lift by pulling it back down again, resulting in the cylinder repeatedly moving up and down as the wind continues to blow. It is this movement that Jung and Lee hope to harness as energy.

To do this, they built a device containing two 85-centimetre long, 5-cm-diameter perspex rods spaced appropriately from each other. The rod on the leeward side was attached to a magnet, which was free to move within a copper coil (see diagram). As the cylinder moved, so did the magnet, generating a current in the coil.

The team found that even at wind speeds between 2.5 to 4.5 metres per second, when traditional wind turbines are inefficient, the system generated nearly half a watt of electrical power. They think this could be improved if the magnets and coils were optimised. The team report their findings in Smart Materials and Structures (DOI: 10.1088/0964-1726/20/5/055022).

"One of the most promising applications for this is monitoring a structure's health using wireless sensors," Jung says. "The device could supply the monitors with power in a bridge or a high-rise building." And if enough of the generators were grouped together, he adds, they could power a bridge's street lighting.

The pair are now attempting to find what Jung calls the "most efficient size of the device" before they attempt to commercialise it.

Jung and Lee are not alone in harnessing unusual aspects of the wind. Humdinger Wind Energy of Honolulu, Hawaii, led by founder Shawn Frayne, is interested in a similar phenomenon called aeroelastic flutter, in which aerodynamic forces reinforce a structure's natural resonance, causing it to vibrate. The most famous example of this occurred in 1940, when the newly opened Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington state began undulating in a light breeze, earning it the nickname Galloping Gertie. Within four months of completion, the bridge had shaken itself to shreds in a storm.

Frayne has created the Windbelt, which uses aeroelastic flutter to vibrate a plastic ribbon in light to moderate breezes. The vibration moves a magnet through a coil, which generates current in a similar fashion to Jung and Lee's device.

Both will likely find a market, says Matthew Wright of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southampton in the UK. "There are situations where you need a small amount of power, but in a location that's too remote to connect to the grid, or to deliver fuel or batteries to. One of these devices might well find a niche there."

On Slashdot:  Harnessing the Energy of Galloping Gertie"You've all seen the footage of Galloping Gertie, the infamous Tacoma Narrows bridge. This is due to a type of turbulence called Wake Galloping, caused by airflow creating lift on the lee-side of cylinders (or cables on suspension bridges.) Now researchers in South Korea have developed a way of harnessing the turbulence to generate electricity. Their device works most efficiently at wind speeds too low for conventional wind turbines."

Wind Power FAQ

Helix Wind has an excellent FAQ on where web site.
The really applys to anyone interested in any kind of wind and even somewhat applicable to solar

FAQs

1. How do I get a permit?
2. Does Helix qualify for a Federal Tax Credit?
3. How does Net Metering work?
4. How much does electricity cost?
5. What is kilowatt hour?
6. Vertical versus Horizontal Turbines
7. What are the dimensions?
8. How tall is the mounting pole?
9. What are rotor startup/shutdown speeds?
10. Is it safe for Birds and Bats?
11. Does the turbine make noise?
12. What are the mass & loadings?
13. How close can these turbines be mounted to each other?
14. Can I sell electricity to the grid ?
15. What safety features are there?
16. Does it have accreditation?
17. How do I calculate my Helix investment payback ?
18. What are the economics of Small Wind?

Windmill Efficiency.

I have been searching for articles on making efficient wind mills.

This seems like a really obvious thing, but apparently no one is doing this right!

Some articles below show this.

http://nov55.com/wdm.html
http://www.energyadvocate.com/fw91.htm
http://www.appropedia.org/Savonius_rotor


This seems like a perfect problem to put to a genetic algorithm search.
If I could find a good simulation code, then many different designs not just of blade shape but orientations, configuration. Both horizontal and vertical can be simulated and tested quickly.

I am definitely seeing a trend where very old wind mill designs are cheaper easier and more efficient then these modern high tech mega windmills.

Where modern windmills seem skewed towards large construction projects.
It would seem something is broken in the wind industry.


Some additional interesting articles:

• Reciprocating wind generator - From
  
  
  
• Cretan Sail based windmill designs.
  
  

A few more ideas.

• You know about shark skin has dimples that reduce drag, Using these in water pipes, ship hulls and propellers should make these more efficient.
  
  
  

  Its dermal denticles decrease drag and turbulence by directing water flow over the body, which allows surrounding water to pass over the shark more effectively. SPEEDO Introduces Fastskin -- the Fastest Swimsuit Ever Made

  
  Would this work with Air? For Windmill blades, and aircraft propellers and wings?
  
  
  
• Energy storage is a big deal. Can we store compress air underground generated from a windmill or solar (sterling cycle) and then have generators that convert this compressed air in to power on demand?

UPDATE:
  I found a few more good links on this.
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/disted/ph162/l11.html
http://www.energyadvocate.com/fw91.htm