Post by account_disabled on Feb 26, 2024 23:23:32 GMT -8
Counter-rotating floating wind turbines promise unprecedented scale and power.
Norway's World Wide Wind has a radically different vision for offshore wind . These vertical-axis floating wind turbines (VAWTs) feature two sets of blades, tuned to rotate in opposite directions, and promise to more than double the output of today's largest turbines.
Taking wind farms further offshore with floating wind turbines can certainly help make them less disruptive and open up many more opportunities, but as the ocean gets deeper, conventional horizontal-axis floating wind turbines (HAWTs) begin to make less and less sense. HAWTs need to hold a lot of heavy components (transmissions, gearboxes, generators and their colossal blades) right on top of a long pole, so mounting them on floating platforms that don't want to tip over is a big challenge. .
floating wind turbines
Will floating rotating wind turbines achieve it?
Some engineers and operators believe this could be a niche where VAWTs could shine with their floating counter-rotating wind turbines. Its leaves extend upward, but all its other heavy parts are at the bottom, so its natural tendency is to sit upright. Additionally, they can accept wind energy from any direction, rather than having to turn to face the wind, reducing some of the he Brazil Mobile Number List avier equipment you'd find atop a HAWT.
They are generally much less efficient than a normal three-bladed HAWT, as they absorb less energy from a given breeze, but on the other hand, you can place them closer together without any performance decrease, which means they could absorb more energy.
And so on to the device in question. World Wide Wind has proposed an entirely new type of floating VAWT designed specifically for offshore deployment and massive scalability. In fact, they are two VAWTs in one; the lower one is attached to the outer casing of the tower and is configured to rotate in one direction, and the upper one is mounted on a shaft that passes right through the center of the tower and is configured to rotate in the other direction.
Below the surface, one turbine is attached to the rotor, the other to the "stator", which doubles the relative speed of rotation compared to a static stator and generates a large amount of electricity with which we can burn our toast. The company calls this a counter-rotating vertical turbine, or CRVT.
Again, the heaviest and most maintenance-intensive parts are on the bottom, under the floating pontoon, right near where the straps and power cord attach. But everything isn't designed to sit perfectly upright; These huge towers will tilt in the wind. World Wide Wind says this, and the blade designs, which sweep a conical area, help reduce wake turbulence downstream of each floating tower, allowing operators to cram even more of this stuff into a given site. The tilt ability will also help these things resist sudden, violent wind gusts and damaging vibrations.
It takes huge scale to get the most out of wind energy, and these guys hold nothing back on that front. The largest wind turbine in the world as it stands is the gigantic MingYang Smart Energy - With a height of m ( ft), it has a nominal capacity of MW.
floating wind turbines
World Wide Wind plans to absolutely dwarf that little windmill. This design, the company says, is much easier to scale than any HAWT, and could grow to a ridiculous m tall, with a monstrous capacity of megawatts per unit. In an interview with Recharge, company representatives appear to have suggested a projected levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of less than US$ per megawatt, less than half the LCoE reported by the US Energy Information Administration. projected for the average offshore wind project to be commercialized in
The company tells Recharge that it is working to accelerate development of the CRVT through rapid prototyping. The goals are to have a MW model in operation by , and the large MW machine by
It will work? It's hard to say. The startup does not provide any supporting research or evidence that it has tested microscale prototypes. It's unclear why the company didn't opt for Darrieus-style turbine blades, which connect to the central shaft at the top and tend to be structurally stronger and more efficient.
One wonders about the longevity, as all VAWT blades are subject to strong forces from all angles as they rotate, and about the efficiency losses, lifespan and replacement procedures of the giant bearings you would need to sustain and make. rotating a -meter-long shaft inside a -meter-long counter-rotating tube, with the mass tilted off-center most of the time. In seawater, of course, for decades.
Not to mention, it is apparently becoming difficult to find test locations for wind technology in the North Sea, because there are too many other test projects "almost queuing up" in the region, according to Norway's Teknisk Ukeblad.
On the plus side, there's no tie to be seen between the leadership team, so they're clearly feeling confident and relaxed about all of this. World Wide Wind claims partnerships with Uppsala University, Sinted, North Wind, Kjeller Vindteknik, Norwegian Energy Partners and Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster.
Norway's World Wide Wind has a radically different vision for offshore wind . These vertical-axis floating wind turbines (VAWTs) feature two sets of blades, tuned to rotate in opposite directions, and promise to more than double the output of today's largest turbines.
Taking wind farms further offshore with floating wind turbines can certainly help make them less disruptive and open up many more opportunities, but as the ocean gets deeper, conventional horizontal-axis floating wind turbines (HAWTs) begin to make less and less sense. HAWTs need to hold a lot of heavy components (transmissions, gearboxes, generators and their colossal blades) right on top of a long pole, so mounting them on floating platforms that don't want to tip over is a big challenge. .
floating wind turbines
Will floating rotating wind turbines achieve it?
Some engineers and operators believe this could be a niche where VAWTs could shine with their floating counter-rotating wind turbines. Its leaves extend upward, but all its other heavy parts are at the bottom, so its natural tendency is to sit upright. Additionally, they can accept wind energy from any direction, rather than having to turn to face the wind, reducing some of the he Brazil Mobile Number List avier equipment you'd find atop a HAWT.
They are generally much less efficient than a normal three-bladed HAWT, as they absorb less energy from a given breeze, but on the other hand, you can place them closer together without any performance decrease, which means they could absorb more energy.
And so on to the device in question. World Wide Wind has proposed an entirely new type of floating VAWT designed specifically for offshore deployment and massive scalability. In fact, they are two VAWTs in one; the lower one is attached to the outer casing of the tower and is configured to rotate in one direction, and the upper one is mounted on a shaft that passes right through the center of the tower and is configured to rotate in the other direction.
Below the surface, one turbine is attached to the rotor, the other to the "stator", which doubles the relative speed of rotation compared to a static stator and generates a large amount of electricity with which we can burn our toast. The company calls this a counter-rotating vertical turbine, or CRVT.
Again, the heaviest and most maintenance-intensive parts are on the bottom, under the floating pontoon, right near where the straps and power cord attach. But everything isn't designed to sit perfectly upright; These huge towers will tilt in the wind. World Wide Wind says this, and the blade designs, which sweep a conical area, help reduce wake turbulence downstream of each floating tower, allowing operators to cram even more of this stuff into a given site. The tilt ability will also help these things resist sudden, violent wind gusts and damaging vibrations.
It takes huge scale to get the most out of wind energy, and these guys hold nothing back on that front. The largest wind turbine in the world as it stands is the gigantic MingYang Smart Energy - With a height of m ( ft), it has a nominal capacity of MW.
floating wind turbines
World Wide Wind plans to absolutely dwarf that little windmill. This design, the company says, is much easier to scale than any HAWT, and could grow to a ridiculous m tall, with a monstrous capacity of megawatts per unit. In an interview with Recharge, company representatives appear to have suggested a projected levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of less than US$ per megawatt, less than half the LCoE reported by the US Energy Information Administration. projected for the average offshore wind project to be commercialized in
The company tells Recharge that it is working to accelerate development of the CRVT through rapid prototyping. The goals are to have a MW model in operation by , and the large MW machine by
It will work? It's hard to say. The startup does not provide any supporting research or evidence that it has tested microscale prototypes. It's unclear why the company didn't opt for Darrieus-style turbine blades, which connect to the central shaft at the top and tend to be structurally stronger and more efficient.
One wonders about the longevity, as all VAWT blades are subject to strong forces from all angles as they rotate, and about the efficiency losses, lifespan and replacement procedures of the giant bearings you would need to sustain and make. rotating a -meter-long shaft inside a -meter-long counter-rotating tube, with the mass tilted off-center most of the time. In seawater, of course, for decades.
Not to mention, it is apparently becoming difficult to find test locations for wind technology in the North Sea, because there are too many other test projects "almost queuing up" in the region, according to Norway's Teknisk Ukeblad.
On the plus side, there's no tie to be seen between the leadership team, so they're clearly feeling confident and relaxed about all of this. World Wide Wind claims partnerships with Uppsala University, Sinted, North Wind, Kjeller Vindteknik, Norwegian Energy Partners and Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster.