Vortex wind turbine towers: synthesis

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Alain Coustou
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Vortex wind turbine towers: synthesis




by Alain Coustou » 30/06/07, 11:16

AEROGENERATOR TOWERS (OR VORTEX TOWERS)

The wind turbine towers (or vortex towers) belong to the family of solar towers whose first project had been developed forty years ago by the French engineer Egard Henri Nazare, forerunner in the field. In comparison with the Nazare project and all its successors, the air-generating towers bring considerable new features, both by the number of forces and natural effects used, by the diversity of the sources of calories envisaged, by numerous details of structure, by the characteristics of the peripheral greenhouses and the caloric storage system and finally by the yield much higher than what can be expected from competing projects. These towers are the subject of a patent in about thirty countries by their two designers: the university researcher Alain Coustou (Lecturer at the University of Bordeaux, specialist in energy, climate and sustainable development ) and computer scientist Paul Alary (Collection Director Eons online editions).

According to their promoters, wind turbine towers are a future solution for the mass production of clean and inexpensive energy.
In countries equipped with nuclear power plants, they could initially increase energy efficiency by considerably increasing the power output of a plant without the consumption of additional fissile material while reducing its thermal emissions and thus make it more acceptable for the population - and completely replace thermal power plants. The oldest or least safe nuclear power plants could thus be stopped very quickly.
In all countries, wind turbine towers can also operate autonomously, only with renewable energy sources, or upgrade industrial cooling water discharges by producing large amounts of electricity, and by diminishing their thermal impact over time. the environment.
In a second step, they can finally ensure the final and smooth replacement of nuclear power and allow the mass production and low cost of completely non-polluting electrical energy, without the use of fuel and without emission of greenhouse gases.

In France, power plants contribute little to the drift of the greenhouse effect: in this country, barely 5% of electricity is produced by thermal power plants, mainly mobilized during peak consumption hours.
However, it is unfortunately not the same at the global level. More than two-thirds of all electric power is produced by thermal power plants, burning coal, oil or gas. This situation contributes to dramatically increasing a greenhouse effect whose consequences threaten to escape control. In addition, the cost of producing electricity from thermal sources tends to increase with rising oil prices, to the detriment of users, whether businesses or individuals.

Developing completely non-polluting plants capable of providing a low cost kW / h is therefore a fundamental issue. This is all the more so as hydropower has almost reached its limits, as solar and wind are both prohibitively expensive and limited availability at best to one-third of the day. can provide only one extra. Nuclear energy is being discussed because of the concerns it raises, particularly with regard to the reprocessing of its waste and the security of its long-term storage.
Fortunately, a solution exists: the one we propose with the project of aerogenerating tower, which was the subject of the grant of a French patent by the INPI (patent n ° 0408809). After a very favorable preliminary report, the world patent was then granted in January 2007 for about thirty countries. Here we present the general principles, description, operation and a number of the many advantages.

I - General principles:

Use of a hollow tower-like structure flared at the base and optimized to combine four or even five forces and natural effects for the mass and permanent production of low cost electrical energy, without pollution, without consumption of natural resources limited and without being penalized by the irregularity of the wind regime as in the case of wind turbines.
The forces and natural effects used are:
1- The chimney effect
2- The greenhouse effect
3 - The "strength" of Coriolis
4- The Venturi effect
5- In addition, the wind is likely to provide a supplement, without ever being necessary to the operation of the tower and it is possible to reinforce the efficiency and the profitability of the installation by using calories low temperatures coming from the industry , nuclear power plants, incinerators or geothermal energy, otherwise largely lost.

II - Description of the structure and functions of its various elements:

The detailed description, the plans and the text of the international patent can be consulted on the site of the designers of the aerogenerating tower:
http://groups.msn.com/ToursAerogeneratrices2/
The use of the Google search engine (advanced search) also allows you to find many references to wind turbine (typing the full expression) or its original designer (Alain Coustou).

A / Optimal dimensions envisaged:
- Height: 300 meters
- Diameter at the base: 200 meters
- Inside diameter at the top: 25 to 30 meters
- Glazing area (greenhouse effect) around the base of the building: 3 to 5 Km2 in autonomous operation, much less combining strengths and natural effects with the recovery of industrial cooling calories or from other renewable sources (geothermal energy).
Lower dimensions are possible, depending on available calories and needs, the principle working effectively for any height at least equal to a hundred meters.

B / Description, from base to top:
1) The flared base, which ensures perfect stability to the whole, is painted black. The air inlets with shutters are arranged around the periphery of this base and are surrounded by fences to prevent any accidental entry of birds.
Between each of the entrances begins a partition. The partitions, which simultaneously function as supporting structures, are interrupted in the central part of the tower. They have a curved (planar) shape, in order to initiate a rotational movement of the air sucked into the tower, rotation which increases from the base to the top and is self-sustaining thanks to the Coriolis force. .
2) The base is surrounded by an area of ​​different nature, depending on whether the building is built in a region with water resources.
- In regions with hydraulic resources, basins with black walls and bottom will act as relative heat reservoirs during the night. Each pool may be equipped with a black floating blanket to control evaporation.
- In dry or desert areas, a floor surface covered with bitumen or concrete stained black could perform the same functions.
In both cases, the area envisaged for the capture of solar calories is several Km2 in autonomous use and is dominated by windows slightly inclined from the center to the periphery and generating a greenhouse effect. In practice, the area of ​​greenhouses would depend on average sunlight and the latitude of the place. It could be of the order of 4 Km2 in the south of France for a tower of 300 m.
This area could however be considerably reduced in the case of recovery of industrial calories or from a nuclear power station.

3) The diameter of the tower narrows gradually from the base, a feature that should lead to a considerable acceleration of the rising airflow (combination of the chimney effect and the Venturi effect).
The upper part of the tower is cylindrical or almost cylindrical, possibly slightly frustoconical, preferably painted light in color, for example white.
A device for converting the energy of the air column into electricity, consisting of several stages of turbines or propellers, controlled by sensors and managed by a computer program, is installed shortly before the top of the building. This device may be accompanied by a flare of the tower at its level to better ensure the evacuation of the air column despite the conversion of a significant portion of its kinetic energy.
Finally a divergent fairing at the exit of the turbines would control the disturbances of the airflow at the top of the tower and eliminate any noise, in any case extremely undesirable, since the top of a tower of optimal dimensions would rise to 300 meters and the airflow would be directed to the sky. In addition, if the tower is located near a nuclear power plant, it will have no residents, given the unbuildable area that surrounds it. When the danger to air traffic, it would be zero, since the areas of establishment of power plants are prohibited overflight. The presence of an ascending air plume would even contribute to securing the neighboring power station.

III - Operation:

Greenhouse effect :
The ambient air around the foot of the tower, naturally generally warmer than that of the summit, is raised in temperature thanks to the greenhouse effect provided by the glazed surfaces.
1) A reserve of calories is formed by heating the asphalt floor or covered with black-dyed concrete or, better still, octagonal or quadrangular water basins. The diurnal storage capacity of calories is indeed much greater in the case of basins than it is in the case of bitumen or concrete. These basins themselves are black in color and can be covered with a rigid floating blanket or semi-rigid black, shade that allows the absorption of solar heat. This device would be useful only if it was deemed necessary to reduce the evaporation of the water tanks, either to save it, or to limit possible condensation at the top of the tower.
For the same reason, the flared base of the tower may itself be painted black and insulated by glazing over the entire part whose slope is less than 45 °.
The black zone of absorption and reserve of calories all around the base of the building - that is, in autonomous operation, an area of ​​some Km2 of concrete, bitumen or, better, of basins - is overhung by glazing under which circulates the air that will be heated before being sucked by the tower.

2) This glazing area is encircled by an electronically controlled shutter system to optimize the use of low and medium wind heated air. The maneuvering of these shutters would make it possible to avoid any risk related to the excess of overpressure which could result from violent winds. It would also improve the performance of the tower.

3) The installation of the tower on the site of a nuclear or thermal power station would allow the use of the calories of the water of the cooling circuit of the power plant, transmitted to the tertiary circuit. The water of the latter would be diverted under the tower or to the basins outside the tower, from either the nearest base or the more distant depending on the constraints related to the need to maintain the thermodynamic efficiency of the plant . We can consider either cascading water tertiary circuit in the base of the tower (as in the current cooling towers) or above the outer basins, either to mist over the same basins, or to circulate the water of the secondary circuit in networks of fine pipes placed in the basins to transmit the calories directly to the water of the latter. Whatever the modality chosen, the proposed system would at this level fulfill the function which is currently that of the cooling towers and the base of the tower and the directly adjacent green zone would act as a zone of caloric transmission. We are considering various configurations for this transmission. As we said above, the configuration chosen should obviously preserve the thermodynamic efficiency of the plant whose calories would be recovered. The experience and know-how of the engineers who worked on the conventional cooling towers would ensure the optimization of the system proposed here.
This solution would have the double advantage of significantly reducing the area of ​​greenhouses and limiting the discharge of warm water into the wild. Moreover this location of the towers should allow a considerable lowering of the cost price of KW / h which could be reduced by an 2 factor, or even more depending on the prior availability of land, transformer stations and very high voltage lines, some staff costs can also be shared with the power plant. Finally, this use of the hot effluents from the power stations would make it possible both to reduce the water withdrawal in river or at sea - currently of the order of 50 cubic meters per second for each cooling tower -, to limit discharges of water. warm waters in these same rivers or in the sea and render useless the conventional cooling towers. Up to now, the water discharged after the cooling towers of the nuclear power plants is still warmer than when they were taken, 15 ° C for discharges into the sea and 12 ° C for discharges into the sea. river. The solution of the installation of air-generating towers in addition to nuclear power plants is therefore likely to greatly improve the preservation of the environment while ensuring a particularly low cost per kW / h (probably of the order of 2 centimes d EUR / kWh, against 3,5 for nuclear power and 10 to 12 for wind turbines) and ensuring the conditions for sustainable development.
It is therefore the whole nuclear power plant (or thermal) + air-generating towers that would see their improved performance.

But that's not all.
In the case of the availability of a sufficient flow of effluents at relatively high temperature, the misting of all or part of the water directly into the air under the base of the tower and / or above the storage basins of the calories would be likely to improve the transmission of these to the air sucked by the tower. In addition, charging this air with moisture would increase the energy of the artificial wind generated in the air-generating tower, at the cost, however, of a probable and harmless condensation phenomenon above the tower.
Similarly, it is possible to use a thermal spring, geothermal energy or calories of industrial origin (iron and steel industry, foundries, cement plants, incinerators ...) to feed the basins with almost the same advantages in the preheating of water and from the base of the tower. The principle of the aerogenerating tower is valid for dimensions ranging from 100 meters to about 300 meters or more, it is possible to adapt the choice of dimensions of the tower to the importance of recoverable calories, without counting, again solar calories and their storage in basins.

B / Combination of the chimney effect, the Coriolis force and the Venturi effect:

1) Fireplace effect
The warm air trapped under the glass surface and under the flared base of the tower rises into the hollow structure by chimney effect.
This well known phenomenon alone would not be sufficient to ensure sufficient efficiency of the device for a tower whose height is limited to 300 meters. If we limit ourselves to the chimney effect, then we would need an 500 tower at 1000 meters high, as in the solar tower construction projects in Spain and Australia, posing serious construction problems. And even ! The rate of climb of the air column could not reach at best about sixty kilometers per hour and the overall performance would be mediocre ...
This is where the very particular architecture of the air-generating tower comes into play, resulting in maximizing the energy produced by taking advantage of two complementary natural forces.

2) Force (or effect) of Coriolis
The air that enters the base of the tower is guided by curved partitions that initiate its rotation. These partitions, which arise between each air inlet bay, also perform a carrier structure function. The central core of the tower guarantees the symmetry of the rotation of the ascending air.
Thus is initiated a phenomenon of whirlwind, maintained and amplified by the Coriolis effect, this natural "force" which is at the origin of the direction of rotation of cyclones and atmospheric torrents. We thus obtain a captive and self-sustaining tornado. The hot air is no longer satisfied with rising but is animated by a rapid rotational movement in the same direction as that provided for the turbine stages.
In addition to a not insignificant supplement of kinetic energy thus communicated to the latter, this rotation of the ascending air column makes it possible to increase the number of revolutions per minute of the turbines without increasing the relative velocity relative to the ambient medium. This last point is an important additional aerodynamic advantage for the solution of air-generating towers.

- The "strength" of Coriolis is a consequence of the rotation of the earth. In the northern hemisphere, it tends to deflect moving air masses to the right and rotates them. In nature, this phenomenon is in particular at the origin of the direction of rotation of cyclones and tornadoes. As there is a reversal of this direction of rotation in the southern hemisphere, the Coriolis force weakens as it approaches the equator, at which point it vanishes. On the other hand, as the greenhouse effect is maximal around the aerogenerating towers in the intertropical zone, there is compensation for the weakness of the Coriolis effect in this part of the globe.

3) Venturi effect
The particular architecture of the tower, flared at the base and whose internal diameter narrows as the air rises by chimney effect, causes a considerable acceleration of the rising airflow and rotation by Venturi effect (the same effect that makes the current of a slow river accelerates when its bed narrows). With an inside diameter in the upper part of the tower equal to the 1 / 7th of that of the base, and a temperature difference of about thirty degrees, the speed of the air column would be several hundred km / h It will only be necessary to avoid that this speed exceeds by many mach 0,7 because, beyond, one would arrive at a transonic field posing problems of control of the flow and resistance of the blades of the turbines of 25 meters of diameter.
Thus the energy conveyed by the air column is considerably amplified compared to what would be obtained by simple chimney effect in a tubular structure and constant diameter from the base to the top.

The calculation of the Venturi effect is extremely simple: between the base and the top, the speed of the airflow is multiplied by a coefficient equal to the ratio of the inner surface of the tower to its base / inner surface at the top. For a ratio of the diameters equal to 7, the ratio of the surfaces is equal to 49. By deducting the area occupied by the central core, the half curved partitions of the base and the fastenings of the turbine train, it passes to about 50. Therefore, an upward velocity at the base of only 10 Km / h results in a potential velocity of 500 Km / h at the narrower level at the base of the turbines. Other parameters must of course be taken into consideration: the possibility of obtaining much higher speeds by increasing the temperature difference between the base and the top, a supplement of kinetic energy due to the rotation of the column of air, presence of turbines for the capture of kinetic energy, possible use of compressors and discharge valves, etc.

C / The conversion of the kinetic energy of the air column into electrical energy:
The energy of the captive and self-sustaining airspout is collected in the upper part of the tower by a train of turbines or propellers, the whole being specially designed not to "choke" the ascending air column. The turbines are managed by means of sensors (recording speeds of airflow and rotation of turbines) and a specific computer program. Extended to the base of the tower, the central core of the turbine train can also help support the weight of the turbine and allow the passage of cables or an internal elevator. Moreover, being located in the axis of the "eye" of the artificial cyclone, it helps to ensure symmetry without curbing the rotation of the air column.
It is reasonable to predict that more than 75% of the kinetic energy is thus converted into electricity, the remainder corresponding to unavoidable pressure losses or being intended for the self-maintenance of the phenomenon of storm. Without therefore reaching the efficiency of steam turbines or hydraulic turbines (of the order of 90% depending on the type of installation), the efficiency is therefore higher than that which can theoretically be obtained from a wind turbine, limited by "Betz's Law" which demonstrates that a single-ducted, horizontal axis wind turbine will never be able to convert more than 59% of the kinetic energy of the incident wind into mechanical energy. The structure of the tower, the forced acceleration of the air vein, the use of several stages of turbines and the combination of several forces and natural effects as well as recovery calories overcomes this constraint.
In any case, even if "Betz's law" applied to a simplified tower with a single turbine, it would result in an available power more than 4000 times greater than that of a wind turbine of the same diameter as the turbine, the air speed differential between the two solutions being of the order of 16 and the available power depending on the speed of the air at power 3 (a double speed = 8 times more power; multiplied by 16 = 4096 times more power). Between the air-generating tower and the conventional wind turbines, there is in fact a difference comparable to that which exists between a jet plane and light propeller planes. The internal architecture of the tower also has obvious similarities with that of a turbojet engine.
The electricity production thus obtained is permanent. In particular, it is almost completely independent of the wind, unlike conventional wind turbines. Possible fluctuations can only come from variations in the difference between the air temperatures at the base and at the top of the tower.
The system operates in heat accumulation, even in the case of purely solar operation, heat can be accumulated during the day and used at night to generate electricity.
The installed capacity could be several hundred megawatts: of the order of 500 to 700 MW in autonomous operation with thirty degrees of difference between the air of the base and that of the summit, more than 1000 MW in the case an installation close to a thermal or nuclear power plant from which the calories of the effluents from the cooling circuit would be recovered.
However, these calories, currently partly dissipated unnecessarily in nature by power stations, are not negligible. We will give here the example of the Swiss nuclear power plant Gösgen, slightly less powerful than the last plants built in France. The cooling tower of this plant continuously ejects a heat power of more than 2 million kWh in the lower atmosphere, the annual equivalent of 17 billion kWh. But it is energy lost after cooling by the tower.
The recovery of the heat of the secondary circuit of such a plant could hope to reach a power at least equal to 1000 MW, or more, for each wind turbine tower, thus approaching that of a nuclear reactor. It should simply avoid any degradation of the thermal efficiency of the power plant coupled to the nuclear power plant, which should not present any difficulty.

IV - Some bonuses:

The air-generating towers, by their height (of the order of 300 meters for the optimal dimension) and their architecture (a quasi-cylindrical upper part surmounting a flared base) are likely to be used complementary, bringing a complement of utility not negligible to further increase their profitability. Here are a few :
The circular maintenance platform near the summit could be used as a fire station in the forest zone.
Antennas, transmitters and rebroadcasters: radio, television, mobile telephony, etc. The transmitting antennas would benefit from the height of the building to have an increased radius of action and would pose no risk to the population.
In regions with steady wind speeds, rings of annular wind turbines circling the quasi-cylindrical portion of the tower (which would be their vertical axis) would provide a much more economical energy bonus than what is produced by a conventional wind turbine: the altitude of the "free pylon" constituted by the tower would guarantee a greater stability of the flow of wind, undisturbed by the relief of the ground.

Initially, coupling generator towers and nuclear power plants would significantly improve the efficiency of both while allowing the immediate shutdown of some reactors. This would also make it even easier to operate thermal power plants (two-thirds of the world's increasing electricity production, let us not forget!), And to give a serious boost to French economic growth, Europe and the world - and therefore to employment - and to the protection of nature.
Furthermore, the know-how of companies already engaged in the production of conventional electricity, nuclear power or wind should do wonders in the development, construction and management of air-generating towers. A chance, for those who will embark on this new energy revolution, to acquire or maintain a leading position in the world, in terms of energy, while improving their brand image.
Subsequently, when it will be necessary to stop the electrical production of nuclear power plants that have reached the end of their life, the air-generating towers will be there to take over, without social drama or economic problems. It will be enough either to extend the surface of the solar caloric sensors (greenhouses), to favor the implantation near activities generating low recoverable calories, or to possibly preserve one of the reactors of the power station by making it operate at idle only as a low-calorie heat generator (non-boiling water) to feed several rounds. When countries that do not have nuclear power plants, it will always be possible for them to use the calories lost by thermal power plants - and thus to avoid having to build new plants - and solar calories, under the same conditions. industrial or geothermal systems useful for the operation of towers.
The solution "Tours Aérogénératrices" is indeed a solution with universal vocation. And as one of the engineers to whom the project was submitted for expertise has pointed out, it could well be "the invention of the century" and the beginning of "a new economic revolution".

In conclusion, the wind turbine towers are the perfect solution in every way. Not only will they produce electricity massively and at a particularly low cost, but they will guarantee sustainable development using no fossil fuel. The environmental danger of the air-generating towers is zero. The captive tornado can not escape because it gives up most of its energy to the turbines. In addition, the device emits no gas, minimizing damage to the environment.
All reasons that should lead to a rapid decision in favor of the development of air-generating towers, first by constructing an evaluation model, possibly in the form of a simplified and relatively inexpensive modular structure, and then by implementing en route to an ambitious construction program in France and around the world.

Alain Coustou - 13-06-2007


PS: The invention is the subject of an international patent, protecting it in France and in thirty countries in Europe, Asia and North America.
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by elephant » 30/06/07, 14:07

Thank you for this excellent article.

Do you know where is the 1 tower project of the Australians? I think building permits were issued in 2006?
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by Willaupuis » 30/06/07, 21:09

uh I'm probably going to say something stupid but hey itches my mind when "re" reading the article. my crazy idea:

could take advantage of a mountain to create the same effect by digging a vertical tunnel to have a similar effect :?:
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by elephant » 30/06/07, 22:54

Why not ? But I'm afraid it will be difficult. Hard, hard career in the rock :D

(and in addition you will have all the ecologists in the area who will moan and you will ruin their beautiful mountain. : Mrgreen: )
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by Christophe » 01/07/07, 12:37

Last edited by Christophe the 19 / 05 / 08, 09: 43, 4 edited once.
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by Christophe » 01/07/07, 12:40

I take this opportunity to share with you another document about solar towers (the idea is not new at all) especially about the work of Edgar Nazar in the 60 years at 80

https://www.econologie.com/tour-solaire- ... -3493.html

I quote:

What we call today the aerothermal plants or vortex tower, (Atmospheric Vortex Engine), whose principle is based on the domestication of ascending vortices or mini cyclones, should be distinguished from simple single-flowed solar systems (Australian 1000 m tower project in particular), but with much lower efficiency, and questionable profitability.


The power plant aerothermal experimental venturi-shaped Nazare wanted to build a height and a base diameter of 300 m, a diameter at the venturi neck of 30 m and, for a temperature difference (delta t) of 30 ° C between the upper and lower layers of the atmosphere , an electric power of 200 MW (megawatts) approximately.


To date, the only known achievement of solar chimney is that of Manzanares in Spain. This experimental tower built in 1982 by the German design office Schlaich Bergermann & Partners consists of a cylindrical chimney 200 m high, 10 m in diameter, in the center of a circular solar collector 250 m in diameter ( 6000 m2 of glazing 2 m above the ground) and allowing to heat the air.
Its power is 50 KW.


But what is the solution that is currently being developed? The most crappy ... : Evil: : Evil: : Evil:
Last edited by Christophe the 05 / 10 / 07, 12: 50, 1 edited once.
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by Alain Coustou » 06/07/07, 01:40

elephant wrote:Thank you for this excellent article.
Do you know where is the 1 tower project of the Australians? I think building permits were issued in 2006?


Thanks for the compliment.
The German-Australian Enviromission project has been revised downwards and plans are being redone for a 500 m concrete tower, with a reduced production capacity of 80% compared to the original project, which is technically almost unachievable. The construction is pushed back to 2010 according to my information and the tower would produce only 40 000 Mw (against 200 000 for a solar tower of 1000 m).

The project of the engineer Edgard Henri Nazare is in fact the ancestor of all projects of vortex towers.
Compared to the Coustou-Alary vortex tower, however, it had many shortcomings. Currently, the company that inherited the Nazare plans (the Sumatel), is experimenting with a model of 60 m on the geothermal site of Bouillante in the West Indies. The objective is to build a tower of 300 m (almost all projects of vortex towers seem to converge towards this height considered optimal), the upper half of which would be in the form of a Laval nozzle (rocket nozzle) and from which a permanent tornado from 10 to 20 Km in height, whose aim would be to suck air from the tower and thus turn the turbines placed at the periphery of its base. The structure of the Nazare-Sumatel tower is therefore very different from that of the Coustou-Alary tower and its security is much more problematic. I tried to draw Sumatel's founder's attention to the risk of seeing the tornado create by his turn to escape control (I'm not the only one), but he is keen on his idea.
However, this risk is totally non-existent in a tower like the one I developed with Alary and a small team of engineers. The energy of the tornado is largely absorbed by the turbines placed in the upper part (the slowing down of the air column is compensated by the flaring of the upper fairing) and, moreover, a double crown of shutters controls the admission of air to the base of the tower and the periphery of the greenhouses.

To answer the suggestion of Willaupuis (a device dug in a mountain or mountainside), he reassures himself, she is not stupid at all! There have been projects of this type, but that would pose enormous problems for obtaining the optimal geometry.

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by Christophe » 06/07/07, 10:52

Alain Coustou wrote:the tower would produce only 40 000 Mw (against 200 000 for a solar tower of 1000 m).


Uh it's not rather 40 Mw? Because 40 Gw it seems to me a lot ...

Alain Coustou wrote:and from which would leave a permanent tornado of 10 at 20 Km of height, whose aim would be to suck air from the tower and thus turn the turbines placed at the periphery of its base.


Wow ... a tornado fe 10 to 20km high generated not a "small" tower of 300m! : Shock:

How is it possible to generate as much energy? There is a phenomenon of amplification?
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by Alain Coustou » 06/07/07, 16:46

Christophe wrote:
Alain Coustou wrote:the tower would produce only 40 000 Mw (against 200 000 for a solar tower of 1000 m).

Uh it's not rather 40 Mw? Because 40 Gw it seems to me a lot ...
Alain Coustou wrote:and from which would leave a permanent tornado of 10 at 20 Km of height, whose aim would be to suck air from the tower and thus turn the turbines placed at the periphery of its base.

Wow ... a tornado fe 10 to 20km high generated not a "small" tower of 300m! : Shock:
How is it possible to generate as much energy? There is a phenomenon of amplification?


Oops ... Of course, it was a slip. This is obviously 40 Mw.
For the Nazare-Sumatel tower, the Sumatel engineers are counting on a tornado initiation effect by the rotating air coming out of the upper half in the shape of Laval nozzle. For them, there is a "virtual" extension of the tower and the appearance of a real and gigantic tornado that nature will take care of itself to amplify and perpetuate.
Needless to say, I remain very doubtful and that, if such a thing happened, I do not believe it without danger. The tornado could separate from the tower and ravage the neighboring areas before choking. Or even worse, it could swell and encompass the tower itself.
It must be said all the same that Sumatel is not alone in counting on the suction effect of a tornado thus generated. The Canadian Michaud had developed an even more "crazy" project thirty years ago, with the air being rotated in an even larger structure and much more open towards the sky, but without the Venturi effect. However, his project did not give rise to experimentation, unlike the Nazare towers (a 6-meter scale model was tested in France by Sumatel, but of course without the appearance of an external tornado, the possibility of which remains to be proven. ) and wind turbine towers whose two engineers who work with me tested an experimental model of 3 meters heated at the base by a gas train.
In any case, even if the additional "vertical" energy communicated by the Coriolis effect was negligible, it will not be the same for its rotary component, which will significantly improve the efficiency of the turbines of the wind turbine tower. And for that, no need to let the "tornado" of the structure escape ...

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by elephant » 06/07/07, 18:55

And apart from the risk (as for any large building) to see a plane crashing on it, what are the risks for air navigation? Do not we risk seeing a micro climate appear? Or disturbances at medium altitude?
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