No more blade turbines? O-Wind Turbine promises to capture wind from all angles because it is spherical, revolutionizing wind power. Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen Noorani, students of Lancaster University (United Kingdom) have been awarded the prestigious Dyson Award Uk for this.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
No more blade turbines? O-Wind Turbine promises to capture wind from all angles because it is spherical, revolutionizing wind power. Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen Noorani, students of Lancaster University (UK), have been awarded the prestigious UK Dyson Award for this.
Device that is well suited to city contexts, where buildings often hinder the classic ones in receiving the wind, the spherical turbine could soon become a valid alternative, becoming the main equipment for micro-wind.
The sphere has a single axis of rotation, so it only rotates in one direction. Its size and shape make it perfect, the inventors promise, for the production of small-scale energy, even as a tool for self-production of energy by individual inhabitants of the apartments, perhaps positioned outside the balcony.
The overall structure is apparently simple: it is a sphere with "inlets" and "outlets" for the air, scattered throughout the surface, so that it can pick up wind from any direction and, in its presence, a pressure difference is created which makes the device move.
The turbine rotates in the same direction on a fixed axis regardless of the wind direction and this rotation is used to power a electricity generator, which can be fed into the national network, thus providing financial incentives to users and improving the sustainable energy production of the region.
Also, turning in one direction, it needs less maintenance compared to common wind turbines and is less impactful also at the landscape level, as well as - but all to be demonstrated - perhaps less dangerous for the fauna, also because it is designed for city use, to be placed on the balcony of your home or at the condominium level.
“O-Wind Turbine exploits horizontal and vertical winds without requiring changes in direction. Apartment dwellers could generate electricity efficiently / effectively / sustainably and use independently feed-in tariffs in nearly 80 countries”Reads the award website.
In other words, electricity producers, who could become ordinary citizens, will be able to take advantage of incentives, given that in all respects it is a renewable and clean source and that the energy coming out of these devices can be put on the grid.
After several modifications, a 25 cm cardboard prototype was “fired”, tested with hair dryers and fans, demonstrating in a very simple way its ability to continue to rotate in the same direction even in the event of rapidly changing winds.
Further prototypes were then 3D printed for performance testing in Lancaster University wind tunnels. With very encouraging results.
Read also:
- Mobile Energy: the portable mini-wind turbine with built-in photovoltaic panels
- Revolutionair: design home wind for everyone
Roberta de carolis
Photo: Dyson Award Uk
