Clean and Green Technology

A new concept in wind power harnessing is described which significantly outperforms traditional wind turbines of the same diameter and aerodynamic characteristics under the same wind conditions and it delivers significantly higher output, at reduced cost. Its first innovative feature is the elimination of tower mounted turbines.
These large mechanically complex turbines have the enormous towers used to hoist them into the sky, are the hallmark of today’s wind power industry. The second innovative feature of the project is that it captures wind flow through an omnidirectional intake and thereby there is no need for a passive or active air control. Third, it accelerates the flow within a shrouded Venturi section which is subsequently expanded and released into the ambient environment through a diffuser simulating the performance of this wind delivery system and its interaction with the wind at the front end and with a turbine at the back end.
The objectives of the present work are to model and understand the flow field inside the structure where the actual wind turbine is located as well as the external flow field which not only provides the intake flow but also has to match the exhaust flow of the system. The results show that it is possible to capture, accelerate and concentrate the wind. Increased wind velocity results in the significant improvement in the power output. This results lead to the design of the demonstration facility which has provided actual data which verified the significantly increased power expectations.