New approach to wind power (without rotating blades) will exceed efficiency of wind turbines

[Bill USA]

... interesting article....


http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/tunisia-wind-power-saphon.php



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Saphon Energy was founded in 2009 by a Tunisian banker, Hassine Labaied, and his inventor friend of two decades, Anis Aouin. The duo teamed up to create an entirely novel and yet instantly recognizable new type of wind energy harvester that relies on no blades, or moving parts, whatsoever.

Instead, Saphon’s “Zero Blade” technology uses a stationary circular sail, approximately 4 feet in diameter, attached to the top of a pole. As the wind moves the sail back and forth, a hydraulic system captures the kinetic energy and converts it into mechanical energy. The system can also store the mechanical energy as hydraulic pressure, to be deployed later, when there is no wind.

“The sail boat is still the best system for capturing and creating energy from the wind, and it does so without blades,” Labaied told TPM in a telephone interview.

The system is designed to exceed the currently theoretical and physical maximum of wind turbine efficiency, the Betz law, which finds that the top efficiency attainable by a wind turbine is 59.3 percent.

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[longship]

1. Might be an affordable residential solution?

Interesting.

R&K

[kristopher]

3. Guarantee that this is a scam.

[longship]

4. That could very well be.

Sounds too good to be true.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. +1

if it works at all, the tiny, pathetic trickle of power wouldn't be worth it, and the maintenence is going to be very high.

Looks like a scam to me.

[NickB79]

2. It would likely lack the low-frequency hum some complain about

In conventional wind turbines, as well as the flicker/strobe effect from the really big ones. Nice, if it pans out.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Their patent application, referred to on their website, involves a bladed rotating wheel

The technology has been patented on September 22, 2010. The international patent application has been filed through PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) to the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and has been published on March 29, 2012 under the reference WO/2012/039688

http://www.saphonenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=92

http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2012039688&recNum=25&docAn=TN2010000005&queryString=%28IC/F03D%29%2520&maxRec=4314

but their photos of their prototype has no bladed wheel behind the sail:

http://www.saphonenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=91
http://www.saphonenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=105

That last link says the sail follows 'a knot path'. Does anyone understand what they mean by that?

[kristopher]

6. My read of the way it works

The wind is caught by the dish and an imbalance occurs, this imbalance results in motion that transfers the force to one or more of the 4 pistons. The altered orientation of the dish leads to a different imbalance that causes further motion etc etc etc.

I believe "knot path" describes a schematic view of the complex pattern of movement which results from shifting winds acting on the dish in the above fashion.

I have no idea what the blades are but they do not appear to be intended to rotate the wheel or the dish. I suspect it is some sort of stabilizer or apparatus for steering into the wind.

This design suffers from the same limitations that affect vertical axis wind turbines and all small rooftop mounted turbines. The question isn't whether wind can be harnessed in this way; I think you could come up with a number of different approaches that will manage to harness wind energy in one fashion or another. What has to be considered is how will it work to provide a lot of power. Can it be scaled up to large multi-megawatt units? Can those large units be projected high enough into the air to capture the stronger winds away from the friction of the ground?

It seems probable that this design can will be limited in exactly the same ways VAWTs are when those two questions are explored.