Wind energy has become a legitimate source of energy in recent decades as larger and more efficient turbine designs have produced ever-increasing amounts of energy. But even though the industry posted a record global investment of $ 99.5 billion in 2014, turbine growth may be reaching its limits. Vortex says its bladeless turbines will generate electricity 40 percent less than the cost of conventional wind turbine power.
Transport is increasingly difficult due to the size of the components: individual blades and towing sections often require specialized trucks and straight and wide paths. Today the wind turbines are also incredibly heavy. The generators and gearboxes that are on support towers to 100 meters of the ground can weigh more than 100 tons. As the weight and height of the turbines increase, the material costs of wider and stronger bearing towers, as well as the cost of keeping the components housed so far from the ground, are reducing the efficiency benefits of the turbines bigger.
The alternative energy industry has repeatedly tried to solve these problems without success. But the latest entry promises a radically different type of wind turbine: a bladeless cylinder that oscillates or vibrates. The Spanish starter Vortex Bladeless has developed turbines that take advantage of vorticity, rotational movement of air or other fluids. When the wind passes through one of the cylindrical turbines, cut the windward side of the cylinder in a rotating vortex or vortex. This vortex then exerts a force on the cylinder, causing it to vibrate. The kinetic energy of the oscillating cylinder is converted into electricity through a linear generator similar to that used to harness the energy of the waves.
David Yanez, one of the company's co-founders, came across the concept as a student studying the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington. The bridge collapsed in 1940 due to the excessive vibrations formed by the rotational movement of the wind as it blew past the bridge and is a failure of textbook engineering. Yanez, however, learned a different lesson. "This is a very good way to transmit energy from a fluid to a structure," he says.
The lightweight Vortex cylinder design has no gears or bearings. Yanez says it will generate electricity 40 percent less than the cost of conventional wind turbine power. The company has received $ 1 million in private equity and government funds in Spain and is seeking another $ 5 million in venture capital funds. Yanez says the company plans to launch a four-kilowatt system in 2016 and a much larger megawatt device by 2018.
It can be understood in the following video: