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I can't see how this design improves over a traditional three bladed turbine. Kinetic energy is still extracted from a large moving structural element and the f
by barbegal 7y ago
I can't see how this design improves over a traditional three bladed turbine. Kinetic energy is still extracted from a large moving structural element and the forces involved will be much larger to generate the same amount of energy. Turbines are extremely efficient in extracting large amounts of energy while using the lightest weight components.
- house9-2 7y agoHopefully it kills less birds
- IshKebab 7y agoTurbines killing birds is just nonsense that global warming deniers and NIMBYs say. Wind turbines kill fewer bird than fossil fuel power stations so even if these people really did care about birds they're better. But we can tell they don't care about bird because they don't complain about glass buildings, cars, power lines or cats, all of which kill more birds than wind turbines. http://theconversation.com/wind-farms-are-hardly-the-bird-slayers-theyre-made-out-to-be-heres-why-79567 http://theconversation.com/wind-farms-are-hardly-the-bird-sl...
- kevincox 7y agoWhile I agree, and assuming those numbers are correct it is a huge win, this doesn't mean we can't continue to improve over current technology.
- dbrgn 7y agoAccording to the company: - It's cheaper per KWh (they claim 40%, IIRC, but that was in 2015) - It requires less maintenance (no moving parts) - It doesn't kill birds - It's silent (no frequencies >20 Hz) - It's 30% less efficient than a blade design but you can put twice as many in the same area - It doesn't cause the alternating light/shadow effects that huge blades do
- bnegreve 7y ago> It requires less maintenance (no moving parts) They are no rotating parts, but some parts are moving. see here: https://vortexbladeless.com/technology-design/ https://vortexbladeless.com/technology-design/
- barbegal 7y agoI'm skeptical about the cheaper per KWh. A 100W conventional turbine can be purchased for around $200 and has 3 blades around 50 cm in length. The 100W vortex device is 2.7m tall and I doubt can be purchased for less than $600 since the structure is much wider and weighs around 3 times more. 14kg vs 5kg for a conventional turbine. A 100W conventional turbine also only has a couple of moving parts, won't kill birds and is effectively silent. I'm unsure on wether these claims are still true as the device scales up. A device 100m or so tall will have a fast velocity at the tip perhaps as much as 50m/s at a few Hz which is similar to the blade tip speed of a conventional turbine thus having similar potential to kill birds and make noise.
- einpoklum 7y agoWhile I also doubt their claims - the price you want to look at is : (purchase + installation) / average_life_span + maintenance per time unit So, even at triple the cost it could still be worthwhile.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago> It's silent (no frequencies >20 Hz) I hope there also isn't much noise below 20 Hz, as infrasounds are uncomfortable and potentially dangerous.