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Floating wind turbines for maximum power

inhabitat.com — Floating wind turbines take advantage of air currents along the length of their shaft to generate electricity. Selsam ’s prototypes produce 6000 watts in 32.5 mph winds - six times more power than a similarly sized seven foot single-rotor turbine can produce.

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  • rtknox00, on 05/15/2008, -9/+3Good article but the same story just went popular - http://digg.com/environment/The_Sky_Serpent_Twenty ...
    • MorphicMusic, on 05/15/2008, -1/+6Similar, yes, but different in that they are off different main sites, and inhabitat.com rules.
  • Enderplayer1, on 05/15/2008, -2/+30whenever I see the words "length of their shaft" paired with electricity generation I have to digg it. Have to.
  • whataboutdave, on 05/15/2008, -16/+8This would kill birds like nobody's business. Why not just turn South Dakota into a windfarm?
    • x0rcist, on 05/15/2008, -4/+7Yeah lets gimp our ability to produce clean energy because some birds can't pay the ***** attention to where they're flying.
    • MidnightRealism, on 05/15/2008, -1/+9Most species are capable of adapting to this sort of thing--the turbines are essentially stationary in terms of geographic position, and birds wouldn't want to be anywhere near them. I wouldn't worry too much.
    • D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -1/+4Birds usually aren't attracted to things that move.
    • whataboutdave, on 05/15/2008, -3/+1To everyone who thinks I'm blowing smoke, read this link:

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A399 ...

      Wind turbines can wreak havoc on bat and bird populations. Floating them might have unforeseen consequences. All I'm saying is lets wait to see how the large-scale tests go before hailing this as a great idea.
      • MacEnvy, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Uh huh, that is what your 2004 article says. But every study performed since has determined that windmills aren't a significant factor in bird loss.

        And living next to a large commerical wind farm right now, I can tell you that I've never seen a bird strike, nor seen dead birds beneath the turbines.

        http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_mis ...
  • mcquitty, on 05/15/2008, -0/+29Just make sure they can't be seen from the Kennedy compound and it might get built..
    • Duositex, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1Trust me. I'm a resident of the area. Ted Kennedy is the smallest reason the wind farm will not be build.
  • Peko, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I am not a Wind Engineer but I thought there were some economies of scale with large bladed windmills? Do the height advantages of this design (which are real) make up for any disadvantages in the multiprop littleprop design?
    • ojuice, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Wind turbines are like any other power plant - the bigger the better - which is great because they scale easily. Check out the Enercon 126, it's a thing of beauty. Also, a million little props would be a nightmare to keep in working order, the design doesn't make much practical sense.
    • davidg11, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Um, why not do the obvious? Use a simple buoy that uses the mechanical energy of the waves to generate electricity?
      Waves are constant. Energy 24/7. Water carries more energy than air.

      Here's a link:
      http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/
  • x0rcist, on 05/15/2008, -1/+13They should place a huge farm of these in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
  • justjoehere, on 05/15/2008, -0/+16We need Mr. Fusion.
  • halleyscomet, on 05/15/2008, -10/+4Let's do some quick math

    6,000 Watts sounds impressive until you realize many Dishwashers use around 1,500 Watts. A TV generally uses 200 to 500 Watts.

    A single turbine in 35 mph winds will met the energy needs of two to three homes, as long as no two people run energy hungry appliances at the same time.
    • moolaismyfriend, on 05/15/2008, -2/+3So no energy is stored while people are not using these appliances?
  • debuffplx, on 05/15/2008, -14/+2Wind is gay.
  • moolaismyfriend, on 05/15/2008, -1/+6It's a shame that the efforts to get some offshore wind power in the North East off the coast of Long Island and Massachusetts have failed.
    • buddyfarr, on 05/15/2008, -2/+5you can thank the rich persons that live in that area for that. they don't want their view of the ocean obstructed while they count their money.
      • MorphicMusic, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1PECO dollars...not WIND dollars....***** hippies get your fans out of my back yard
    • DreadPirate, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3Buddyfarr is exactly right. Democrats like the bloated Ted Kennedy were among the many Democrats who fought tooth and nail against this wind farm because it "Might disrupt their view of the ocean". Yet another democrat who refuses to practice what he preaches.
    • davidg11, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1Because there is an easier way. Instead of "unsightly" wind farms everyone can see, you can instead place these energy producing buoys in the ocean, out of sight, which uses the power of waves.

      http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/
  • MikiMac, on 05/15/2008, -10/+1SHAFT
  • bstew22, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I saw something on turbines using the ocean current anchored to the sea floor to generate electricity and cool housing near shore. Wouldn't that be better than creating a wind-turbine that needs to sink itself during a storm? hmm, I don't have the link and i'm at work, i'll have to research it when i get home.
  • pyrothepenguin, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2dont you mean floating wind SOLAR Geothermic wind turbines from space??? those put out way more energy...
  • buddyfarr, on 05/15/2008, -0/+232.5 mph winds. you can't use that in the midwest for most of the year. winds don't get that high unless there is a storm. good for the oceans though.
  • L0C0loco, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Not really enough info in the 'article' to fully analyze this, but at first glance I see a problem. The wind speed varies with height and I can see the higher props naturally spinning faster than the lower props. So if there is not some sort of sophisticated (read expensive and prone to be high maintenance) control of the prop pitch, the lower props will end up putting energy back into the wind or prevent the higher props from extracting all that they can. Without more details I suspect a floating load of crap here.
    • elementop, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1No, I think it would be possible to electrically isolate the lower turbines with diodes. It's basically the same as how you keep a battery bank attached to a wind turbine from turning the turbine into a fan when the wind isn't blowing.
    • Koookie, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1You can rectify the ACs to DC, sum the currents, and then invert the resulting DC to AC.
  • Jsmuli2, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3It looks like fish will get their revenge on the birds.
  • domfosnz, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2what's the ROI on that? Looks like a lot of expenditure - for the power it will generate.
  • VeritasAequitas, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1what about prop wash? that many in a row, wont that cause an issue?
  • knumbknuts, on 05/15/2008, -2/+2The air behind each will be too dirty, the balloon will need maintenance, and this thing would be *****, *****, *****, in strong winds like a Santa Ana event, much less something worse.

    This is straight outta Popular Mechanics. I want a falying car, dammit.
  • Janizzary, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3http://www.selsam.com/
  • slantyeyed, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5who'll be the first to protest that it's bad for birds and fish?
    • etsboy1, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Speak of the devil! Theres one just below this post
  • charlietuna, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1The blimp is back!
  • Ramble, on 05/15/2008, -1/+16 kW in 32mph winds?
    That's bleeding awful.
    • ojuice, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Absolutely awful.
    • korvan504521, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Yeah that is pretty bad. 50 Amps at 120 Volts. Thats barely enough for a single house. Unless I'm just way off their numbers seem strange.
  • swrostmore, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Selsam desperately needs to hire a new graphic artist for their promotional renders. If any execs are reading this, make me an offer.
  • bklny, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1sounds like a wet dream
  • MatildaMiller, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2Selsam also announced that they are dangling 100 foot long chainsaws from their blimps. "We figure we'll generate so much power that we might as well put a little extra for use on all the migratory birds who don't get cut down on the first pass. The Geo-Saw, as we call it, should ensure that not a single airborne critter ever makes it past our green solution."
  • Hewbie, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3now blades can rock back-and-forth in 360 degree killing more birds nice one
  • bigbill780, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3I think this is a really cool innovation. Why not add hydroelectric turbines for the below water anchoring system too?
  • pygmy, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4zeppelins... its like we're living in the future
  • csrajuse, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I do not know how many birds will be there in middle of the ocean. The greater problem here is the design shows that it needs to be connected to the bed of ocean. That need some serious work. The currents of ocean could be really strong.

    It is an interesting idea but I a floating pentagon with solar panels and vertical wind mills on them in some tropical climate (near to equator) is much safer idea.
  • AmericansRevolt, on 05/15/2008, -0/+0seriously, why couldnt you put solar panels on that blimp, run all the windmills AND have tide/current turbines below, all on the same line? i wonder how much energy you could create with one... not to mention the fact that you will always have some sort of power generation if you have all three ready to go.
  • colab, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Interesting... yet still pales to this floating turbine concept:

    http://www.magenn.com

  • SwiftKick34, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I don't see how this would be practical with helium leakage.
  • davidg11, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Hmmm...lightning, hurricanes, waterspouts, aircraft. Ya, I can't see any problem with this design..
  • davidg11, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I prefer the design by Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq symbol OPTT).

    It's a simple buoy, in the Ocean, and uses the power of the waves to generate electricity. Water will always provide more force than wind. And there is always wave action. There isn't always wind.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWnJ7ZqUwJo

  • craiginct, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Wow, what pretty drawings - All that wind and no sailboats.
  • bincoder, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Multiple blades have been done to death for eons. Look at the turbines in your local powerplant, they don't just blow some steam at a single blade and call it a day. Multiple fans with changing diameters in a single turbine do raise efficiency, but since being used in power generation and jet engines for decades is far from being new.
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