With climate change, wind speed is increasing and this is putting undue stress on wind turbines. The video below shows what happens to wind turbines due to wind and what happens after a storm.
The power of the wind increases proportionally to the cube of the wind speed (v3). This means when wind reaches storm speeds the power exerted on the structure increases enormously. As an example when wind speed increases from 60 km/hr to 120 km/hr its force on the structure increases by 8 fold. Since wind turbines have to withstand high wind speeds, their structure is beefed up to withstand those forces. This is why the main column and the foundation costs of a typical wind turbine constitute almost 2/3 of the cost of the turbine.
How can we make turbines withstand high wind velocities? By making them smaller of course. Just like closing an umbrella makes the wind profile of the umbrella smaller, we need to reduce the wind profile of the turbine.
We have developed a very effective storm protection technology and combined with vertical axis wind turbines. The resultant combination turned out to be very effective for reducing weight and cost of wind turbines. The technology is patented and applicable to many applications ranging from offshore power generation to powering marine vessels. F you are wondering what a vertical axis turbine is please watch the videos below.
What you see below is 1.5 MW VAWT turbine in action.
Our innovation is to add a mechanism to close the wings of the turbine like an umbrella. This way, during storm conditions Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) gets reduced to a mere pole size. Additionally by changing the opening of the wings you can regulate the speed of the turbine.
The first graph shows the turbine in closed form, second in open form, this in speed regulation mode.
The ability to change the geometry and reduce the turbine into a pole reduces the structural strength requirement which in turn reduces its weight.
Weight reduction and the ability to change size also reduce structural requirements on the foundation of the wind turbine. Rather than using tons of cement and steel, it may be possible to dig a deep enough hole in the ground and place the turbine in it. This technique is being used for erecting power poles and may very well be used for wind turbines.
The following Oxford study shows VAWT turbines are more efficient than HAWT turbines even without the storm protection feature. Storm protection feature reduces weight and cost and makes offshore applications even easier.
WHAT IF WE PLACE NEW TURBINE TECHNOLOGY ON BUOYS
Power generation near inhabited areas
One of the biggest problems with current classical HAWT (Horizontal Wind Turbine Technology) is the noise it generates. The noise is due to blade tips reaching the speed of sound. Just like the cracking sound of a whip which is generated by the tip of the whip reaching the speed of sound, the blade tips of the wind turbine generate noise. This is why birds can not hear blade tip coming and gets destroyed by big turbines. The noise and light modulation of the classical turbines forced the wind turbines away from inhabited areas.
Vertical axis VAWT technology does not suffer from this problem because wing tips don’t come close to the speed of sound. VAWT is omnidirectional (dose not care the which direction wind comes) and also serene to watch. These features make VAWT ideal for near inhabited areas. With lower capital costs, lower weight, and carbon-friendly construction, it would be feasible to erect VAWT with storm protection near inhabited areas.
We are looking for partners to establish this patented technology widely all around the world. We believe our technology may bring renewable energy closer to people and benefit the whole of humanity while our earth is suffering from climate change.
Power generation onboard marine vessels
Putting a wind turbine on a marine vessel seems strange at first sight, but if you think about it this is what we have been doing for centuries. This is a modern version of “sail” we have been using in ships. With classical sail, you need to change the orientation of the sail depending on the direction you want to travel. Now our innovative storm-protected wind turbine technology offers a modern alternative. The new design is an excellent omnidirectional sail that you do not need to orient toward the wind.
Additionally, you can fold the turbine down while passing under bridges and it would tuck away conveniently without disturbing the functionality of the ship. The design below is capable of generating 4.5 MW power which is enough to propel the ship at a decent speed.
Considering that 5% of the world’s carbon emission is coming from marine vessels, this can be an excellent way of cutting CO2 emissions.
We are looking for open-minded ship manufacturers to work with us to proliferate this design before our world is exhausted of its last breath.
Offshore power generation on buoys
Offshore power generation is an excellent way to generate power. But we want to take this one step further. We want to put them on buoys and drag them wherever they are needed. With classical HAWT this is a problem because they are top-heavy and can only tolerate +-5 degrees of sway without losing serious energy production capability. Also, they are heavy and this makes the whole concept more difficult.
Now with our innovative “whirling dervish” turbine, this is much easier. Since the turbine is lightweight it is much easier to put it on a buoy. Additionally, VAWT design is much more tolerant to sway than HAWT. Research indicated that up to -+15 degrees of sway is tolerated by VAWT without losing serious energy generation capacity.
We are looking for brave manufacturers to work with us to help proliferate our technology all around the world.