sdg 7 | affordable and clean energy
The device, in its smallest version, is also a means of micro-production of complementary energy to solar panels for self-consumption
Cities are the great consumers of energy and yet they have a very limited capacity to produce it. Something that could change with a Spanish invention that, turning the concept of wind turbines around, aims to get more out of the wind in spaces and places where it is not possible to install windmills.
According to Jorge Piñero, from the marketing department of Vortex, the brand that signs the new device, the project is still in the research phase and the first installations are being carried out and tested, so there is still a long way to go before this option can reach be massive.
While this moment arrives, the proposed wind turbines, which lack the characteristic blades, are an option that has already attracted the attention of companies (public and private) as well as research centers, since it can be an option for the Micro-production of energy and a complement to the installation of solar panels in all types of buildings for self-consumption.
Generating wind power without blades
Vortex wind turbines take advantage of the energy of the wind, but from a totally different approach than windmills. Instead of the blades, what turns to the sound of the wind is its mast.
According to Piñero, the wind usually makes waves when it blows (hence we see the flags wave and ‘draw’ shapes in the air). “When air or water passes through a circular structure, vertices are created along the way. When the frequency of appearance of these vertices coincides with the resonance frequency of the structure, it begins to absorb energy », he details.
With a series of more complex physical processes, Vortex is able to have achieved very high air kinetic energy conversion efficiencies. At this point, it should be noted that the vertex limit is at 49%. From that moment on, the wind turbines stop. To get an idea, today’s mills reach a rate of 40.
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Applying these already mature technologies in the market and other physical principles of fluid dynamics, the geometry of the mast and the materials with which it is manufactured have been maximized so that the wind passes and generates those vertices. “The structure begins to absorb energy by elastic resonance. An oscillation begins perpendicular to the direction of the wind and, by having movement, it can be converted into electrical energy with magnetic instructions”, Piñero deepens.
For small installations
These wind turbines are much smaller in size than traditional windmills. This, together with the fact that they do not have blades, allows them to be installed in smaller areas.
According to the company, the movement generated by these wind turbines is harmless (they ensure that the larger the device, the slower it rotates). In addition, they detail that they are hollow and that the noise they produce is practically the same as the threshold of the wind itself.
These characteristics allow them to be placed in urban or even protected areas. In addition, according to the company, they interfere less with radio signals than other renewable energy alternatives, so they can be placed in airports or military spaces.
Another of its strong points is that they do not need gears to work. “They have a carbon fiber bar that can swing for years at a time without needing to be replaced. And, since there are no moving parts, you don’t need oil or change gears or gearboxes,” explains Piñero.
Regarding the generating capacity of these devices, Vortex facilitates that the smallest ones, about 3 meters high, can provide 100 watts of power. The company is working on the development of other options, with even smaller dimensions (about 60 centimeters), which would generate about 3 watts of power. That is, powers and measures scale squared and cubed. These small size options are designed, above all, to be placed for road signs or systems that consume a lot of energy, but very punctually, or on the contrary, that consume very little, but many times.
Prototype installed at the University of Ávila. /
Meanwhile, the medium-sized ones are designed more for roofs of houses and buildings. According to the explanations provided, these wind turbines can keep less distance than the windmills must maintain so that the work of the blades does not interfere with other mills.
The larger models would be designed more for rural or industrial environments.
A decade to reach commercial viability
Jorge Piñero also explains that there are still several years for this option to become commercially viable. “We have been here for more than nine years, but these projects usually last about 15 or 20 until they reach commercial viability,” he details, recalling that solar panels began to be developed in the 1950s, despite the boom that this technology is currently experiencing.
Despite everything, they already have some installations carried out, both in universities and with other organizations and municipalities in the province of Ávila, among other places. Installations that, at the moment, are more of a prototype and that serve to test the possibilities of this invention. “The more the technology scales, new challenges arise.” Of course, by the end of this year they want to test the viability of a wind turbine between 9 and 10 meters high.
Piñero also recognizes that this concept of ‘mini-wind’ in which the company is working has, at the moment, a very small piece of the cake. “It is a market that barely represents 0.1% of everything that is produced.” he points to him.
As a curiosity, it should be noted that the idea of creating these bladeless generators arose after seeing the collapse of one of the suspension bridges in the United States, Tacoma Narrows, due to the wind. “The frequency of the wind matched the resonance of the bridge and it began to absorb that energy, causing it to wobble.” Some images that served as inspiration to create these windmills without blades.
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