5 ms·

Ok, the air would flow into the channel facing the wind, but wouldn't it also be sucked out by the side channels as the wind passes by? A movement of air create

Ok, the air would flow into the channel facing the wind, but wouldn't it also be sucked out by the side channels as the wind passes by? A movement of air creates a pressure drop proportional to the speed of wind so there would be a sucking force on both sides of the tower (Venturi effect) - did they address that?

jeena 13y ago
I assume you could have something which only lets air in but not out, like a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_valve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_valve but for wind.
- lafar6502 13y ago
  Yes, but they aren't mentioning that, and I suppose this is quite an important ommission. And btw, valves would create additional drag and reduce efficiency of the device.
  - jeena 13y ago
    In their FAQ they say: - What are the details of the system inside? Sorry, we do not comment on the details of the inside of our INVELOX system because they are part of our trade secret. So it is not unreasonable to assume that they have something in there. And they could be needing the valve anyway to close the tube if the wind is too strong to protect the turbine.
    - lafar6502 13y ago
      There's a paper published by sheerwind, detailing the principles of operation - http://sheerwind.com/wp-content/uploads/sheerwind/2012/10/Allaei-Andreopoulos_ASME-ES-FuelCell2013-18311.pdf http://sheerwind.com/wp-content/uploads/sheerwind/2012/10/Al.... There's no mention of any valves, too. But there's a more interesting claim they make: "(...) INVELOX captures the wind kinetic energy and uses the pressure differentials to increase the kinetic energy available to a turbine". I wonder how they manage to increase the kinetic energy of air flow without any external energy source.
      - jeena 13y ago
        The more I read about it the more I get the feeling that their goal is to get as much funding as possible without letting anyone test it, kind of like Andrea Rossi and his cold fusion reactor.

jeena 13y ago

I assume you could have something which only lets air in but not out, like a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_valve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_valve but for wind.

lafar6502 13y ago
Yes, but they aren't mentioning that, and I suppose this is quite an important ommission. And btw, valves would create additional drag and reduce efficiency of the device.
- jeena 13y ago
  In their FAQ they say: - What are the details of the system inside? Sorry, we do not comment on the details of the inside of our INVELOX system because they are part of our trade secret. So it is not unreasonable to assume that they have something in there. And they could be needing the valve anyway to close the tube if the wind is too strong to protect the turbine.
  - lafar6502 13y ago
    There's a paper published by sheerwind, detailing the principles of operation - http://sheerwind.com/wp-content/uploads/sheerwind/2012/10/Allaei-Andreopoulos_ASME-ES-FuelCell2013-18311.pdf http://sheerwind.com/wp-content/uploads/sheerwind/2012/10/Al.... There's no mention of any valves, too. But there's a more interesting claim they make: "(...) INVELOX captures the wind kinetic energy and uses the pressure differentials to increase the kinetic energy available to a turbine". I wonder how they manage to increase the kinetic energy of air flow without any external energy source.
    - jeena 13y ago
      The more I read about it the more I get the feeling that their goal is to get as much funding as possible without letting anyone test it, kind of like Andrea Rossi and his cold fusion reactor.