Wind Turbine Output Boosted 30% by Breakthrough Design
Passive structure design of “Wind Energizer” by Leviathan Energy reportedly increases wind turbine efficiency 30% in field tests.
Technological advancements in wind energy efficiency have generally come incrementally and usually made via a process of increasingly large wind turbine blades. Put simply, the model has been: longer blades = more output per turbine.
But that pattern of incremental improvements may be a thing of the past if Leviathan Energy has anything to say about it. Leviathan Energy has completed initial testing on their Wind Energizer unit and is reporting gains in wind turbine output in the ballpark of 30% — and as much as 150% at lower wind speeds.
The principle theory at work is that by placing passive objects around a wind farm it will change the circulation around a large wind turbine. The advancement is not in the turbine itself, but rather in the area around it, as such, units can be adapted to any wind turbine from any manufacturer.
“This is a disruptive technology,” Leviathan Energy CEO Dr. Daniel Farb told me via telephone from Israel last week. “We are changing the environment of the wind turbine; this is a very different approach.”
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Farb is a bit of a modern day renaissance man. Trained as a medical doctor—an opthalmologist—he also has a business degree, and perhaps most importantly, a real determination to make innovations in renewable energy. “Sometimes people are able to develop ideas that other people that may have missed by taking a fresh perspective on something,” said Farb, whose team at Leviathan Energy also makes a vertical axis wind turbine and small hydroelectric turbines.
The Wind Energizer is a donut-shaped structure made from steel and plastic, but the exact dimensions of it depend on site-specific data, like the tower height, length of the blades, prevailing wind direction and intensity, etc. As determined in the customized modeling process, Farb said that the structure may not even make an entire circle (as is depicted in the images).
“We’re shaping the flow so that the highest velocities hit the blades. By increasing velocity at exactly the right point we’ve been able to make serious advances in the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy,” Dr. Farb explained.
In the initial phase of testing, Leviathan measured an average of 20-40% more output with the turbines using the Wind Energizer, as compared to the control units. At lower wind speeds (0-6 meters per second) the turbines with the Wind Energizer had gains as high as 150%.
Leviathan’s early testing has been conducted on a relatively small scale, using commercially-available small turbines with 3-meter blades. Farb told me that Leviathan is currently exploring opportunities for third-party testing and certification on a commercial scale wind farm.
>>See also : Leviathan Launches US Sales Effort for Wind Energizer
Leviathan estimates that the period of return on investment for the wind energizer to be about four to five years and that wind farm operators would likely see decreased maintenance costs and longer life span because the Wind Energizer balances the velocity load and shearing forces on the turbine.
“If this were implemented worldwide there is no quicker way to grow our renewable energy capacity,” Dr. Farb said.
And if the Wind Energizer performs as well on a large scale as it did on a smaller scale, he may be right.
If you want to learn more about the Wind Energizer, or any of Leviathan Energy’s other products, they will be at the American Wind Energy Association’s WINDPOWER 2009 conference and expo in Chicago next week.
Images courtesy of Leviathan Energy
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I hope Leviathan will consider covering that structure in thin film solar PVs.
Ducted fan technology finally meets wind power.
Nice.
Sounds like the same principle of acceleration that Optiwind is using.
This is really amazing!
I love technology that’s green and clean and that is what this post is all about. Thanks timothy for sharing this! I would really love to see more on this topic on CleanTechnica!!
It looks like this would work much better with a vertical axis wind turbine like what Jellyfish is proposing.
http://blog.mapawatt.com/2009/04/16/jellyfish-wind-appliance/
Will this put uneven stress on the motor shaft (or blades) by placing more force at the 6′oclock position as compared with the 12 o’clock position? Maybe it doesn’t effect the small turbines but what about ones with 100 foot blades.
This is a novel concept, but needs economic analysis before proclaiming EUREKA. The idea of increasing wind velocity to increase output has been at the forefront of this industry for quite some time. To claim this is increasing the effieciency of the machine may be misleading. traditionally wind developer have been chasing higher magnitudes of wind velocity by building taller towers. The picture in this article shows a ridiculously low tower (shoerter than a light post?!). Without proper data it is hard to determine if the velocity gains from this “skirt” are greater than that of building a tower of proper height. How do these costs compare?
This wont’ scale and it will not be as effective for farms as opposed to one off turbines. Still a neat idea. But payback of 5 years? What kind of rip off price does he plan on selling it for?
Thanks for the idea, but if you’re going to rip people off I’ll build one from plywood and a student version of CFX for $100. Any takers?
Also the lower maintenance costs is a bogus claim. I don’t get why you have to be a marketing d-bag a-hole when you have a good idea…
I foresee 2 problems right now. First how tall and how far out will that “skirt” have to be to effect the blades on a larger turbine which leads to the second problem of land use. In a lot of places, farmers till the land right up to the base of the turbines and they certainly don’t want to have to maneuver around these things. Not to discourage thinking but it needs a lot more study.
Slowly but with a steady pull, Wind Power grows! A new battery technology will absorb the highest peak outputs, a new alternator from Vancouver B.C. Canada, promises high outputs at lower wind speeds, the new Chinese Chev “Volt” knock-off plug-in, to be imported 2011 to American shores will increase “Off-Peak” demand and absorb night-time power, the new Tesla cars built in California, a sedan and a sports-car rely entirely on battery power, so the demand will meet the improvements, and we have technological marriages happening before our eyes. We may not need a huge new grid after all! Battery stations for exchangeable batteries will spring up, located nearer wind farms and shorten the grid , batteries can be transported by battery-powered trucks to battery stations nearer market demand,and only a few heavy and lossy land lines will be needed! The “American Dream” is not dying, it is morphing - into something even better!