Re: Is vertical tower next breakthrough in wind power?
- From: daveyl <DavidJLaporte@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 10:52:12 -0800 (PST)
On Dec 28 2007, 8:29 pm, Bill Ghrist <notmyn...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://gazettextra.com/news/2007/dec/26/vertical-tower-next-breakthro...
EAST TROY -- The three blades of a traditional 120-footwindturbine
stood nearly still.
But a few yards away, Adam Fuller's 36-footwindtower turned silently
in the breeze. The only sound came from a small chain around a
sprocket--no louder than a bicycle.
Fuller, a Racine inventor who spent his life savings on the project (he
is living in a motel to cut expenses), thinks he has developed a
windmill design that couldpowerthe future.
"The concept is pretty basic," Fuller said of hiswindtower, which
stands in Marlin Dunham's backyard in rural East Troy. "What made sense
to me is to create a design with a lot of surface area.
"That creates a more efficient machine by creating more drag on one side
and an aerodynamic shape on the other side."
Each of the eight stacked turbines has fourwindscoops. The early
prototype is half as tall as Fuller is permitted, but so far he is
impressed. Since October, it has spun flawlessly and silently in the
light breezes and sustained winds of 50 mph, he said.
"I have indications that it is going to work. It's a good theory," said
Dunham, who powers his home and others with two traditional windmills
and solar panels on his roof.
Easy energy
Fuller claims his patent-pending, all-steel design could be built for
about $150,000 and pay for itself in four years with electricity savings
and payments for supplying energy ontopowergrids.
If it ever is built to a height of 120 feet--about 50 feet higher than
the 72-foot tower he is permitted now--he feels it could produce 30,000
to 75,000 kilowatt hours monthly, enough for 30 to 70 homes. Most homes
use about 1,000 kWh per month.
Rational rotation
Traditionalwindturbines, such as the ones proposed in Magnolia
Township in Rock County, rely onwindglancing off a blade.
Fuller's pinwheel-like design has more points of impact for thewindto
strike. Even a slight breeze turns the blades and produces enough torque
to spin a generator, he said.
"It's a more efficient process. Think of a diesel engine. The load
capability that a diesel engine can carry is much more than a gasoline
engine, but it operates at a much lower RPM than a gasoline engine."
Fuller thinks of himself more as an inventor than he does an
environmentalist. He knew he could make the design and knows it can work.
Along the way, he realized his machine was virtually silent and harmless
to birds.
The blades of traditional turbines can kill migratory birds, he said.
His vertical design is a solid stack, easily avoided by birds.
"I'm going to change everything we know about alternative energy," he
said of the design.
An added benefit is having the generator at ground level, making
maintenance easier. Even bearings high in the tower can be greased from
the ground.
Roping thewind
Fuller hasn't caught on yet with an investment group willing to finance
mass production of his tower.
He has yet to hook up a generator to his unfinished prototype. He
doesn't have the money to buy one that can work on lower revolutions.
But he is hopeful there will be a market. He envisions thousands of
"micro"windfarms with several towers on as little as 3 acres powering
our future.
"I realize the situation that's coming in 20 years, both with global
warming and with current energy reserves," he said. "It's pretty
alarming, when you do some thorough research, the situation that we're
going to be in if there isn't some new technology introduced."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Interested in Fuller's ideas? Want to become an investor? To find out
more, call him at (262) 308-7948.
FYI - machines very similar to the one above have been around for
hundreds of years - -they are the 'first generation' wind turbines,
called VAWT's. See in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine#Vertical_axis
Every year, inventors in the wind energy business make new VAWT's,
claiming all sorts of benefits over prev. designs, because they are
relatively simple compared to the now common 3-bladed designs. But
they almost always wind up being less efficient (see Wiki site for
details, or http://www.windpower.org/en/tour/design/horver.htm).
And PS - cats, buildings, etc. kill more birds than wind turbines.
This is a great example of a great-looking homemade wind turbine, but
designs like this are not the future of wind energy, they are the
past. I wish the best to its creator, but felt the need to point out
some problems with the article, especially since it was also a call-
out to potential investors.
Dave
.
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