SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Guardian reports that Vortex Bladeless has developed a new bladeless wind turbine that promises to be more efficient, less visually intrusive, and safer for birdlife than conventional turbines. Using the principle of natural frequency and vorticity, the turbine oscillates in swirling air caused by the wind bypassing the mast, and then builds exponentially as it reaches the structure's natural resonance. It's a powerful effect that famously caused the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, footage of which inspired David Yáñez to try to build a structure to harness this energy rather than prevent it. The turbine "floats" on magnets, which as well as significantly amplifying the oscillation, also eliminates any friction and the need for expensive lubricating oils or mechanical parts. "Wind turbines now are too noisy for people's backyard," says David Suriol. "We want to bring wind power generation to people's houses like solar power."
On the minus side the oscillating turbine design will sweep a smaller area and have a lower conversion efficiency. "The best wind turbine will collect around 50% of energy from the wind," says Suriol. "We are close to 40% with bladeless turbines in our wind tunnel laboratory." To offset this disadvantage, "you can put four, five or six 4kW turbines in the space of one conventional turbine, which need 5 meter diameter space around them," he says. In fact, wind tunnel tests have shown they perform even better placed closer together as they benefit from the vortices each of them creates.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday June 03 2015, @11:59AM
Is it only more efficient at the structure's "natural resonance"?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 03 2015, @09:04PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @12:00PM
The guys over at Humdinger were featured about ten years ago on Slashdot, and they still don't have a product out that one can buy. I wish they'd hurry up; I want one.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday June 03 2015, @12:02PM
"Wind turbines now are too noisy for people's backyard," says David Suriol.
Hmm OK leafblowers and lawnmowers are too noisy for people's backyards but it doesn't even slow down my neighbors. Also screaming little kids. You get enough little kids and there's a continuous scream over a geographic average, pretty annoying.
you can put ... six 4kW turbines in the space of one conventional turbine
So a big fan is too loud (yeah whatever) but quantity six, four kilowatt subwoofers is not going to be disruptive. Well, uh, I'm not convinced.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @12:05PM
> Hmm OK leafblowers and lawnmowers are too noisy for people's backyards but it doesn't even slow down my neighbors.
And they only run for a couple of hours a week at most, not 24x7. Try running a lawnmower at night every night all night and you'll get arrested for violating noise ordinances.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday June 03 2015, @06:24PM
Hmm yes interesting climate based issue.
Where I live the natural flow of things means not much wind at night. Its actually kinda creepy at night when the wind stops when you're camping in the dark.
Another good noise example is air conditioning, although it isn't that loud.
It also helps living in a bad climate where you need to keep your windows closed maybe 10 months out of the year so you don't freeze / roast.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @01:19PM
I can guarantee you that if I tried moving my lawn while I was trying to sleep, I would go out and beat the crap out of me.
(Score: 2, Funny) by TWX on Wednesday June 03 2015, @04:01PM
I guess that having clones isn't working out so well for you, is it?
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS...
and everywhere the language went, it was a total loss.
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Wednesday June 03 2015, @05:10PM
Clearly not. The poor sap has been kicked out of his own bed. I'd run the mower at night too if my clone stole my bed. Or were you going a different direction with that? :)
(Score: 1) by Pax on Wednesday June 03 2015, @06:15PM
Somebody call the Wambulance !! " rel="url2html-28487">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIikqPmbgvI
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dunbal on Wednesday June 03 2015, @01:14PM
God knows how many birds are killed by cars, glass windows and doors, buildings and just general deforestation and pollution, BUT GOD FORBID a windmill kills a bird!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by acp_sn on Wednesday June 03 2015, @01:16PM
WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday June 03 2015, @02:05PM
GOODNIGHT!
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday June 04 2015, @06:15AM
Do you live close to a windmill that you have to beat in volume, or why are you shouting?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @02:02PM
I'd be a lot happier if they killed outdoor cats.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @04:29PM
iomn a indror csat yuo insednserrtivcew xcodf
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @05:12PM
Ideally that is the sound the cat would make as it was being destroyed by the turbine.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Wednesday June 03 2015, @05:07PM
I love animals of all types. A cat eating a bird / rat / mouse is natural. There is a good bit of controversy as to whether feral cats are good for the ecosystem. It doesn't help that the Smithsonian has spent a good bit of time spinning out negative stories that aren't based on good science. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/feral-cats-kill-billions-of-small-critters-each-year-7814590/?no-ist [smithsonianmag.com] Apparently some people go crazy. http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/11/a-dc-bird-researcher-is-convicted-of-trying-to-poison-cats.html [latimes.com] And you thought that the neighborhood cat lady was bad. I'd be much more worried about a person who is poisoning animals.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @05:37PM
A human poisoning animals is natural, since humans are animals and part of nature.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday June 04 2015, @12:22AM
By your reasoning any act could be considered natural and part of nature. Poisoning animals isn't a typical human trait. Eating animals and deforesting could be construed as typical human activities. Though eating plants and planting trees could also be construed as typical human activities as well. The main difference is that Humans actually have the ability to improve the world around them even though it may not be in their nature. So, poisoning animals isn't a natural human activity. Unless you count Native Americans or other People who used poison to hunt.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @02:21PM
A very informative web page about that topic. [10000birds.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 03 2015, @03:55PM
Killing birds is only OK if you're doing it for fun.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by efitton on Thursday June 04 2015, @12:41AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY [youtube.com]
Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons In The Park
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday June 03 2015, @05:29PM
Windmills tend to be placed at funnel points for winds, which also tend to be funnel points for migrating birds.
(Score: 1) by Corelli's A on Wednesday June 03 2015, @02:14PM
I thought we (i.e., humanity) figured out some time ago that the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was NOT an example of resonance. Even the Wikipedia article linked in the summary explains this point, although it does also mention that many textbooks wrongly describe resonance as the cause.
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 03 2015, @09:27PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @03:00PM
How does it smell?
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Wednesday June 03 2015, @03:25PM
Awful.
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Wednesday June 03 2015, @03:41PM
So they "promise to be more efficient" which to me says "they are not as efficient...yet."
But the question is whether or not they could be, and if so, by how much? Efficiency is a tricky thing, because it's not just the efficiency of this turbine vs. that wiggle-stick. It's also the efficiency in terms of watts / m^2 of land, watts / $ used to produce the device, and the amount of loss involved in 6 sets of wires instead of 1 (not to mention several more that I'm sure I haven't thought of).
Either way, I'm all for wind power, and research of this kind is of vital importance. But I'm not convinced this generator is the future...yet.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2015, @07:00PM
Efficiency is power out vs power in. Those other things are effectiveness.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday June 03 2015, @03:43PM
more efficient, less visually intrusive, and safer for birdlife than conventional turbines.
People not wanting to look at wind turbines ranks higher on our list of priorities than fricasseeing birds? Really?
Reminds me of my father who works for the government deciding where to place power lines. He says nobody ever wants a power line to run through their back yard. Oh my god, it's such an eyesore...it'll make my property value go down...put it in someone else's yard!
#firstworldproblems
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by CoolHand on Wednesday June 03 2015, @07:04PM
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 03 2015, @04:04PM
I like wind farms. The sight of wind turbines turning on the horizon mesmerizes me. It's the Buck Rogers future and I get to live in it.
But there's a different aspect of wind farms I don't like, which is that it's yet another form of centralized control. Don't pay the utility? No power for you! Don't like that they just jacked up your rates 20%? Tough cookies, no power for you!
I'd much rather see ways for the average homeowner to harness wind power for household use. Current incarnations of rooftop units are frustrated by the laminar flow of the landscape. Perhaps this is a different approach that could better harness the eddies and whorls that characterize the windscape of the home.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by Absolutely.Geek on Wednesday June 03 2015, @09:40PM
If you really want to go off grid then small solar + small wind + battery + petrol / diesel backup generator. Don't rely on a single source.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2015, @01:23AM
I would really like to do that here in Brooklyn, because we pay more than $0.35/kwh. I put our household on an energy diet and have gotten our monthly usage under 200kwh, but we still get held over a barrel for $70+, more than half of which is for the maintenance of their power lines. But we live in an apartment with no ability to put what we want on the roof. I fantasize about converting the abandoned satellite dishes on the fire escape into solar concentrators that drive stirling engines, but of course that wouldn't even put a dent in it. Sigh.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by Absolutely.Geek on Thursday June 04 2015, @03:44AM
Ah I see what I did there; as someone who lives in the wide open spaces of NZ in a house with plenty of roof space I made a bad assumption. I was also thinking of my uncles farm which is off grid out the back of Masterton because the cost of getting a power line there was way too much.
https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Masterton/@-40.9469568,175.8942586,10z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6d413ec2d8c79e93:0x500ef6143a29916 [google.co.nz]
You pay a lot for your power $0.35US seems very high; I pay between $0.16NZD and $0.28NZD ($0.1143USD - $0.2USD). 200kWh/mth is very good. I am averaging 150 in a small (120m^2 = 1291.67ft^2) house. But I have a wood burner as my main source of heat and gas for water heating.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2015, @12:40PM
Wow, 150kwh? How do you manage that? I have a fridge, run-hot server, a cable modem, and a couple wifi routers. That's it. Everything else is off except for the few minutes it's needed.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by Absolutely.Geek on Thursday June 04 2015, @10:36PM
Wood burner for heat in winter and no air con in summer (30 degC max). Hot water is handled by natural gas, so no electricity spent there. Both my partner and I work so during the day nothing is on but the fridge and my server. Most of the lights in the house are now LED downlights 36W (6 x 6W) in the lounge, 50W (5 x 10W) in the bathroom, with more being replaced as we renovate. I have a newish 4k TV that has a low power draw, and I read a lot.....we eat out probably too much so the electric oven / stove only gets used 2 - 4 times a week.
We always dry our clothes outside on the washing line; I understand that is not possible in an apartment but the dryer does suck up a fair amount of power.
Kiwis generally use around 7 - 10kWh a day, we are a bit below that. I know that people in the US are using on average 30kWh a day......probably due to climatic differences.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Thursday June 04 2015, @10:12AM
Follow the coast SW out of Buffalo, NY, look north across the lake, they are HUGE! And awesome. You can hear them from the shore and they are a very long ways away. It was one of the nifty things I found when I took random roads across the country last time. Fantastic. I suspect you will appreciate it if you are ever in that area.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2015, @12:45PM
It's been a decade since I was in the Buffalo area, but I did do a cross-country road trip about 5 years ago and marveled at how many turbines I saw all the way from Iowa to Nebraska to Wyoming to Montana. I love the mountains and untrammeled nature, but somehow the sight of turbines against that backdrop is additive. It's one of the reasons it was hard for me to understand why the rich people on Cape Cod fought that offshore wind project so bitterly.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Thursday June 04 2015, @09:37PM
I suspect we have a similar mentality. It is not about their beauty, though they can be, it is about how they are a technological marvel for us in this environment. They are still fairly new and they are septic in an otherwise confusing view that is loaded with fractals and myriad colors. They contrast what we expect and even provide audio stimulation - and vibrations in the air and ground if you get close enough (not recommended). Seeing them so far away on the lake and then being able to hear them on the small road that circles the lake was really enjoyable. The wind whips across the Great Lake (strangely it seemed to stay steadily to the north but that sort of makes sense given the size of the lake and the effect that will have on local climates and wind direction/force) and the windmills hum at great speed.
What did bother me is that the windmills in some areas were, somehow, disabled. The wind was certainly strong enough but they appeared to be locked into a stationary position. Why? I never did get an acceptable answer. I found this a number of times but Kansas was the most memorable. It is notable because I got "kicked out" of Kansas and told never to return. I would not let them search my vehicle. The officer tried to claim refusing to search was actually probable cause to search. I informed him that I am an old man and not some dumb teenager and that it was a good effort on his part but I am not that stupid. So, I was right next to Missouri anyhow, he directed me to the highway and told me I was to never return to Kansas. That is, obviously, not binding but it would be damned amusing to go to Kansas and just happen to run into that officer again but, ah well, I digress even further.
I do try to remain on topic for the first day of a thread. After that I consider it fair game and anyone who begrudges open communication is silly.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 1) by penguinoid on Wednesday June 03 2015, @09:57PM
This cutting edge new turbine has no blades. It must have been designed by a pretty sharp fellow.
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.