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Instead of just building
a tower, why not design a giant tube down the center of a high rise
structure? Instead of up, mist water at the top and use the weight of the
cooled air to drive a downdraft turbine. The water can be
condensed and reclaimed at the bottom and then percolated with thermal
solar energy back to the top. Rain water could be collected on the roof
and utilized to help offset evaporative losses over time. A pleasant
by-product would be an air-conditioning of the ground level air in the immediate
vicinity of the building.
-j
-----Original Message-----
From: RC Macaulay [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 5:35 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Mountainside solar towers Windfarms
The cost of construction of a windfarmis partially offset by tax
incentives. The cost of maintenance is high. Notice how many towers are out of
service at any time. The stress of the windshear as the prop passes the pylon
is a cause of blade fatigue.
Jed mentioned there is no better way to capture the wind with present-day,
off the shelf technology. True and the incentives exist to keep building them
although there is a better, more efficent, less expensive and lower maintenance
way using available technology. That should count for something.
The technology is available, albeit it in bits and pieces... to use
inclined updraft tubes for electric power generation. The base of the
tube could beconfigured similar to the shape of a chambered nautilus
and have an offset turbine shaft that fully captures the cross section of the
opening while achieving null on the backside of the rotation. to lower drag.
Seems more feasible than building a 3500 ft tall solar wind tower at 500 mil
plus.
Richard |
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