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Going Like Sixty
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine - Aerogenerator
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Some eco-engineers are thinking large. Britain’s aero-engineer, Theo Bird, sure is no small thinker. His Aerogenerator design is 475 feet tall (144m). It rotates on a vertical axis like some giant television antenna. It would be built offshore in some of the most ferocious seas on the globe. Using a design like could make reaching the government’s wind power target much easier to reach, with thousands fewer turbines.
One of the problems with horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) is that the generators and gearboxes tend to be in an inaccessible position at the top of the structure's tower. This makes them difficult and costly to maintain, says Bird. Such designs also require gearing mechanisms to ensure they are always facing into the wind.
By contrast, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) can harness the wind from any direction, allowing them to run more efficiently without the need for such mechanisms.
The idea for VAWTs has been blowing around for decades, but despite many advantages the technology has so far attracted little interest. That is about to change, according to Bird. Invented by aeronautical engineer David Sharpe, the Aerogenerator is an adaptation of the egg-whisk-shaped Darrieus wind turbine that solves a number of problems originally posed by the technology.
(guardian)
Via: guardian
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