HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Engineering


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #61  
Old Posted Aug 3, 2010, 4:34 PM
brian.odonnell20 brian.odonnell20 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 390
couldn't you have an at least semi wind powered car by putting fans on the sides like they do on the middles of highways to capture the wind and then transfer it to a motor that powers the car ? Its like you could start out with gas to move the car and generate the wind just by moving and switch to the wind power generated form the gas power. anything wrong with that theory ?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #62  
Old Posted Aug 18, 2010, 7:00 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Scotland bids to host world's first floating windfarm


17 August 2010

James Murray

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...-floating-wind

Quote:
The Scottish government yesterday revealed it is in talks with Norwegian energy giant Statoil about hosting the world's first floating windfarm at two potential sites off the Scottish coast. Statoil is currently testing a prototype version of its Hywind floating turbine 10km offshore at Karmøy in Norway and, after a successful wave of tests, is now assessing potential sites for a full-scale floating windfarm. The company is planning to deploy between three and five floating wind turbines to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology and senior executives at the firm met yesterday with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond to discuss the viability of two prospective sites – one off the coast of Lewis and one off Aberdeenshire.

The talks are at a fairly advanced stage with Scottish Development International and Marine Scotland having already worked with Statoil to undertake feasibility studies at the proposed sites. Speaking following the meeting in Norway, Salmond said that the talks had been "very positive", adding that the project had the potential to revolutionise the offshore energy industry. "The Hywind II windfarm project would see a Scotland-Norway collaboration push the boundaries of deepwater offshore wind beyond the 100m mark and open up vast areas of the world's oceans to the development of wind energy for the first time," he said.



A Hywind floating wind turbine prototype - Scotland is bidding to build the first full-scale floating windfarm. Photograph: Øyvind Hagen/Satoil

__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #63  
Old Posted Aug 20, 2010, 4:40 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Windy City's Gusts Supply Power to Stylish Turbines


Aug 19, 2010

By Rachel Arndt

Read More: http://www.fastcompany.com/1683897/l...reat-wind-spin

Quote:
If you say it right, “urban turbine” rhymes. But can it move beyond its oxymoronic wordplay and into the real world? Designers and architects are beginning to say yes.

In Chicago, Greenway Self-Park uses urban wind power and sleek architectural design to spruce up the dull city garage. Greenway Self-Park, which opened at the end of 2009, has 12 turbines--which started moving this summer--attached to its side and is topped with a rain collection system. For HOK, the firm behind the project, green design was an opportunity for good design, something rarely seen in parking garages. That means a screen instead of a wall, giving the 11-story structure both an open look--that admits its automotive contents--and efficient ventilation, which helps lower energy costs.

“With the design, we took away the traditions of parking garages,” says Todd Halamka, director of design at the Chicago office of HOK. He wants to celebrate the building’s function, not hide it.





__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #64  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2010, 9:13 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Wind Power Without The Blades


By Alyssa Danigelis

http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-...he-blades.html

Quote:
Noise from wind turbine blades, inadvertent bat and bird kills and even the way wind turbines look have made installing them anything but a breeze. New York design firm Atelier DNA has an alternative concept that ditches blades in favor of stalks. Resembling thin cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them waving. The designers came up with the idea for the planned city Masdar, a 2.3-square-mile, automobile-free area being built outside of Abu Dhabi. Atelier DNA’s “Windstalk” project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition a contest sponsored by Madsar to identify the best work of art that generates renewable energy from a pool of international submissions.

The proposed design calls for 1,203 “stalks,” each 180-feet high with concrete bases that are between about 33- and 66-feet wide. The carbon-fiber stalks, reinforced with resin, are about a foot wide at the base tapering to about 2 inches at the top. Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge.

“The idea came from trying to find kinetic models in nature that could be tapped to produce energy,” explained Atelier DNA founding partner Darío Núñez-Ameni.





__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #65  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2010, 9:23 AM
Jamesfury Jamesfury is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1
The Wind power is one of the best Non-Conventional resource of energy which needs a lot of research harness to produce power.The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Wind power.
Advantages:
1)The wind is free and with modern technology it can be captured efficiently.
2) Once the wind turbine is built the energy it produces does not cause green house gases or other pollutants.
3)Remote areas that are not connected to the electricity power grid can use wind turbines to produce their own supply.
Disadvantages:
1)The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies from zero to storm force. This means that wind turbines do not produce the same amount of electricity all the time. There will be times when they produce no electricity at all.
2)Wind turbines are noisy. Each one can generate the same level of noise as a family car travelling at 70 mph.

Water damage
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #66  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2010, 4:18 AM
Robert Pence's Avatar
Robert Pence Robert Pence is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Posts: 4,309
Wind Capital Group is in the analysis phase of developing a wind farm in Wells County, in Northeast Indiana. They've projected a development with 100 1.5MW turbines by GE, and have signed up enough acreage to make the project a go.

Here's a crew erecting one of the 60-meter MET towers that will gather meteorological information (wind speed, direction, temperature) to assist in siting turbines in April, 2010. It's powered by a small solar panel and periodically transmits data to company offices via cell phone.

Go an hour or two west of here to Benton and White Counties, where the biggest Indiana developments are working, and it gets really flat.

They assembled the tower on the ground, and then used a gin pole and battery-powered winch to stand it up:



One of the guys commented on how there was no relief from the wind. I reminded him, "Dude, that's why you're here!"







Assembling and erecting the tower took about four days. It will remain for at least a year and possibly as long as three years.
__________________
Getting thrown out of railroad stations since 1979!

Better than ever and always growing: [url=http://www.robertpence.com][b]My Photography Web Site[/b][/url]

Last edited by Robert Pence; Dec 2, 2010 at 4:34 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #67  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2010, 4:31 AM
Robert Pence's Avatar
Robert Pence Robert Pence is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Posts: 4,309
You thought I was joking about it getting really flat an hour or two west? In the northeastern part of the state, at least we still have a few woodlots.

Here are a few scenes from White County.







Here's the base of a 1.5MW turbine.


It's 260 feet up to the center of the shaft, and the blades are 130 feet long, so it's 390 feet to the top of the arc. If I remember correctly, the concrete foundation is 14 feet in diameter and 37 feet deep. That's a lot of concrete!

I thought there would be some sort of lift to access the nacelle for maintenance, but nope! There's a caged ladder. Technicians wear safety harnesses and hook in and climb the whole way.
__________________
Getting thrown out of railroad stations since 1979!

Better than ever and always growing: [url=http://www.robertpence.com][b]My Photography Web Site[/b][/url]
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #68  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2010, 5:30 PM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,325
Very interesting posts Robert_Pence.

Looks as if Tippecanoe County is going to receive their first turbines in the coming months.

Here's an article from today's Journal-Courier.
http://www.jconline.com/article/20101202/NEWS/12020331
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #69  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2010, 12:05 AM
Doady's Avatar
Doady Doady is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 4,700
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesfury View Post
The Wind power is one of the best Non-Conventional resource of energy which needs a lot of research harness to produce power.The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Wind power.
Advantages:
1)The wind is free and with modern technology it can be captured efficiently.
2) Once the wind turbine is built the energy it produces does not cause green house gases or other pollutants.
3)Remote areas that are not connected to the electricity power grid can use wind turbines to produce their own supply.
Disadvantages:
1)The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies from zero to storm force. This means that wind turbines do not produce the same amount of electricity all the time. There will be times when they produce no electricity at all.
2)Wind turbines are noisy. Each one can generate the same level of noise as a family car travelling at 70 mph.

Water damage
I don't that is complete. I just finish doing a paper on wind power in Denmark. Here's what I think are the complete list of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages
1. No greenhouse gas emissions or other pollutants, obviously. No radiation, unlike fossil fuels and nuclear.
2. No water consumption: fossil fuel and nuclear power plants waste water and the water they draw is subsidized (i.e. free). This is a big issue in the Great Lakes where the water levels have been dropping thanks mostly to all the coal plants on the US side (US = the Saudi Arabia of Coal). Plus, water vapour is a greenhouse gas as well...
3. Cheap production of electricity and low electricity prices offsets most of the subsidies consumers have to pay.

Disadvantages.
1. Bird collisions and loss of habitat for certain bird species (esp. offshore wind).
2. Large amounts of decentralized, small-scale generators destabilizes the grid and so large-scale plants would still need to be in operation.
3. Variation in electricity production not matching variation in electricity consumption results in excess electricity, which causes a whole bunch of economic and technical problems.
4. NIMBYism: wind turbines aren't just noisy, and they're also very visible in the landscape.
5. Corrosion and other damage due to salt (offshore wind in the oceans).
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #70  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2011, 5:50 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Ecomagination Challenge: Transit Tunnels That Power New York City?


http://www.fastcompany.com/1722711/e...-new-york-city

Quote:
Submitted by Alessandra Rapaccini and Giacomo Sanna, the CitySpeed Turbine turns transit tunnels into modular turbines that harness wind power from passing vehicles. The potential for energy is impressive--according to the NY/NJ Port Authority, approximately 202,000 cars pass through the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels each day. Combine that with train tunnels, and the device could be a significant energy source.


















__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #71  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2011, 12:37 AM
Alpha Alpha is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,769
Which are the tallest and most powerful wind turbines used in North America?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #72  
Old Posted Aug 9, 2011, 3:34 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
How Schools Of Fish Can Lead To More Efficient Wind Farms


http://www.fastcompany.com/1772186/h...ent-wind-farms

Quote:
A new source of inspiration for wind farm engineers has come from an unlikely place: the sea. By imitating schools of fish, engineers can increase wind farm output--potentially getting up to 10 times more power from the same site compared to traditional wind farms. The biomimicry news comes from a Caltech study (PDF) in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which examined a test array in the California desert that used vertical axis wind turbines (they look like spinning eggbeaters) laid out based on the fluid dynamics of schools of fish.

Today's standard horizontal axis turbines--the propeller-like objects that are most often seen on wind farms--have to be spaced far apart in order to work correctly. This means that the wake generated by one of the giant turbines can interfere with the aerodynamics of neighboring turbines, leading to wasted wind energy. The problem can partially be solved with bigger blades and taller towers that can capture the wind gusts found at higher altitudes--but bigger turbines have other problems, including increased noise and more danger for birds and bats.

The solution, says [study researcher John] Dabiri, is to focus instead on the design of the wind farm itself, to maximize its energy-collecting efficiency at heights closer to the ground. While winds blow far less energetically at, say, 30 feet off the ground than at 100 feet, "the global wind power available 30 feet off the ground is greater than the world’s electricity usage, several times over," he says. That means that enough energy can be obtained with smaller, cheaper, less environmentally intrusive turbines--as long as they're the right turbines, arranged in the right way.

.....



__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #73  
Old Posted Aug 30, 2011, 1:46 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear


Read More: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/resear...er-than-nuclea

Quote:
.....

Now what if a breakthrough came along that potentially tripled the energy output of those turbines? You see where I'm going. We could in theory supply the TOTAL annual energy needs of the U.S. simply by exploiting 20 percent of our available wind resources. Well such a breakthrough has been made, and it's called the "wind lens."

- Imagine: no more dirty coal power, no more mining deaths, no more nuclear disasters, no more polluted aquifers as a result of fracking. Our entire society powered by the quiet "woosh" of a wind turbine. Kyushu University's wind lens turbine is one example of the many innovations happening right now that could in the near future make this utopian vision a reality.

- Yes, it's a heck of a lot of wind turbines (about 2,640,000) but the U.S. with its endless miles of prairie and agricultural land is one of the few nations that could actually deploy such a network of wind turbines without disrupting the current productivity of the land (Russia and China also come to mind). it would also be a win-win for states in the highest wind area — the Midwest — which has been hard hit by the recession. And think of the millions upon millions of jobs that would be created building a 21st century energy distribution system free of the shackles of ever-diminishing fossil fuel supplies.

.....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifF-MOuzM_s" target="_blank">Video Link
__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #74  
Old Posted Aug 30, 2011, 6:01 PM
Wizened Variations's Avatar
Wizened Variations Wizened Variations is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,611
Quote:
Originally Posted by M II A II R II K View Post
Ecomagination Challenge: Transit Tunnels That Power New York City?


http://www.fastcompany.com/1722711/e...-new-york-city









First I want to thank you for your immense contribution to skyscraperpage. You, above all the rest of us here, help keep our heads fed.

Secondly, I would need to get paid to look at this to devote the 'energy' (LOL) needed to prove or disprove the thesis that the gross amount of energy consumed by these devices (not the converted to final form energy) would increase the use of gasoline, diesel, hybrid, etc., of the vehicles. Of course, this would be a rather small percentage increase in fuel use, say 1%. In effect then, this might be viewed as a tax, IMO.
__________________
Good read on relationship between increasing number of freeway lanes and traffic

http://www.vtpi.org/gentraf.pdf
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #75  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2011, 2:00 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Next-Gen Wind Turbines Use MRI Tech To Generate More Energy


Read More: http://www.fastcompany.com/1777209/w...ine-generators

Quote:
What do MRI machines and wind turbines have in common? They both can use superconducting magnets. It's a discovery that GE made after decades of using the electromagnets (made out of coils of superconducting wire) in MRI machines, where they help create images of tissue inside the body. Now GE researchers have scored a $3 million Department of Energy grant to develop lightweight, cost-effective wind turbine generators that use superconducting magnets. And perhaps best of all, the magnets can replace the increasingly prized rare earth metals that are used in today's generators.

Electrical generators are a critical piece of wind turbine technology--they turn mechanical energy gathered from spinning turbines into electrical power. The more effective the generator, the more energy is turned into usable power. Wind turbine generators are often connected to gearboxes, which allow blades to move from low speeds to high speeds. They work well, but there's a catch: they are heavy and require significant maintenance--two factors that make it more expensive to produce electricity as wind farms scale up. Companies like Siemens have started eliminating the gearbox altogether.

GE's proposed generator cost-effectively eliminates the gearbox and increases performance. The superconducting magnets cut down on the generator's size and weight, increase torque, and eliminate the use of rare earth metals--in this case, neodymium magnets doped with terbium and dysprosium--found in today's permanent magnet machines. In layman's terms: an MRI-magnet enabled wind turbine makes more energy, with easier to obtain materials.

According to Keith Longtin, wind technology leader at GE Global Research, a four-megawatt generator in a direct-drive turbine today weighs about 85 tons. A 10- to 12-megawatt generator using superconducting magnets would weigh the same amount. GE also plans to use its DOE grant to reduce turbine-related safety risks. "It's one thing to put magnets in the basement floor of hospital, but it's another to put them 100 meters in the air on a pole that sways back and forth," says Longtin.

.....



__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #76  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2011, 3:10 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Wind power to make up half of Danish energy use in 2020


November 25, 2011

Read More: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-11-...sh-energy.html

Quote:
"Denmark must use a lot more renewable energy and we will have to become much better at using energy efficiently," Lidegaard told reporters. The country aims to be 100 percent free of fossil fuels in 2050, relying instead on wind power, biomass and biogas, the government said on its website where it presented its new "Our Energy" programme. The left-wing government, which came to power in September, has largely overtaken the previous centre-right administration's energy programme "but setting the goals higher", the ministry said. The previous government's plan called for an increase in the use of wind power from 20 percent today to 42 percent in 2020.

.....



__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #77  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2011, 9:54 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Size Does Matter — More Massive Offshore Wind Turbines for Europe


December 3, 2011

By Charis Michelsen

Read: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/12/03/...es-for-europe/
__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #78  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 9:10 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
World's biggest offshore windfarm planned off Scottish coast


31 August 2012

By Terry Macalister

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...t&type=article

Quote:
The world's biggest offshore windfarm could be built off the northern Scottish coast, after a scheme with enough capacity to power 40% of Scottish households was submitted for planning permission.

The £4.5bn complex would have 339 turbines covering 300 square kilometres off Caithness, making it 50% bigger than the giant London Array scheme off Kent. It is expected to be the first in a series of deep water schemes under "Round 3" licensing. The renewable industry has hailed it as a watershed moment but warned these new deep water farms might only be fully realised if the government provides policy stability by pushing through its proposed Energy Bill.

The 1.5-gigawatt farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Renewables, a joint venture between Spanish oil company Repsol, and an arm of Portuguese power group EDP, which has recently become partly owned by China's state-owned Three Gorges Corporation. Dan Finch, project director for the scheme due to come on stream in 2018, said working more than 12 miles from shore allowed it to take advantage of the excellent wind resource in the outer Moray Firth.

"We estimate that the project will be capable of supplying the electricity needs of 800,000 to 1m households ... Each year this development could save between 3.5m and 4.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with coal fired generation, and between 1.5m and 2m tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with gas fired generation," he said.

.....



__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #79  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 1:08 PM
Alpha Alpha is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,769
In Germany, there is a wind turbine under construction, using a 100 metres tall wood tower, see http://www.timbertower.de/projekte/p...-marienwerder/ . Good idea?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #80  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2012, 4:40 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Finally, A More Exciting Design For Wind Power

Read More: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680700/f...for-wind-power

Quote:
It may be full of potential, but wind power is still a young industry with many design challenges that prevent it from scaling up. From an environmental perspective, how can designers and entrepreneurs lower the technology’s impact on local ecosystems? Bird populations in particular, can be harmed by the swiftly spinning turbines. And how can wind power be brought to a wider variety of landscapes, including urban ones, as opposed to the rural, mountainous, or desert areas where you typically find fields of hulking turbines?

A new manufacturer thinks its figured out the answers to these two questions with a new turbine design called the Windstrument. They’re hailing the product as "a truly affordable wind energy system,” that’s "quiet and powerful, bird safe, and scalable." This last attribute is particularly compelling. The technology is compact and unobtrusive enough to be installed in an urban area for smaller-scale use. For homes or businesses who don’t require much power, a pole with a single, four-foot turbine would suffice, and a rooftop mounting option is available. But for the power needs of a whole neighborhood or an industrial complex, for example, many turbines can be added to a single pole, a configuration the company calls a “Windorchard.”

.....








__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Engineering
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:55 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.