Wind Lens Turbines Could Boost Energy Generation 3X

Japanese Scientist Yuji Ohya has developed a new version of wind turbines for energy production. By comparison, these units generate up to 3 times the amount of power from the wind. His "lens" design is really efficient, and one, measuring at 112 meters in diameter, could provide enough power for an average home. Japan's efforts for developing alternative energy tech is obviously accelerated now after the Fukashima disaster. I deally, these units would be linked together in a honeycomb design, and set out on the ocean where there are consistent wind currents.


This "lens" is pretty remarkable in it's simplicity and results/ As the vid demonstrates, simply adding the lens more than doubles the existing fans in a matter of seconds. I am surprised this has not been discovered before now, being such a simple modification. The lens works as a magnifier, similarly as a magnifying glass does, concentrating the source as it passes through.
www.cnngo.com...
Global Wind Power Info
Salute to Japan, who the past couple of years seem to have put out more innovative tech than anyone else.
Source

Peace and may the winds of change bring hope,
spec

I too really want a change for the better in the energy industry. but it just seems to me that wind is not the way to go. I mean look at the size of those things! They're huge! and one of those giant windmills only creates enough energy for 1 home! That just doesnt sit right with me. I really think we need to concentrate our time/ money into capturing the suns energy. I would assume the maintence cost on photovoltaic arrays is cheaper than those massive wind farms. .....Just my two cents. Cool pics, it would be amazing to see a cluster of thoses generators out on the water though. Staight out of a sci-fy movie.

reply to post by Talltexxxan


Yea I guess one per household would stack up pretty fast! I hope they could at least be supplemental and placed in productive wind areas, like the oceans. With so much ocean surface on our planet, surely wind tech and wave tech Here in my home state could bring efficient energy. All of those desert areas for solar too could be used. Maybe one per household on a smaller scale could at least help provide some energy. I am with you too in thinking/hoping solar power will add much to the energy needs of today's world. Recent Solar Development
One thing cool about this new wind turbine is it's directionality, in that it moves to face the wind constantly.

Thanks for the comment,
spec

hahaah yeah only enough power for one home. I think it would be more though. Probably a thousand.

The Thing that gets me is that it might produce three times the amount of energy, But it will cost heaps more too because look at how much more resources are used to make it.

A normal wind turbine has a pole in the ground, a turbine central and 3 fins.

This has three poles holding the central turbine, 3 fins, a big circular thing with two sides, two metal scaffolds holding it up, and a metal scaffolding along the bottom.

I don't really get it. The illustrations show something like a ducted fan but that's not really anything new.
www.ifb.uni-stuttgart.de...

The increased efficiency is questionable.

reply to post by DaRAGE

I agree for the most part, but if the tech moves closer towards 1 fan per home and people in wind conducive areas utilized them, it could be savings for individuals as well as collectively. I know I'd like to have one.

spec
ETA: yes, I se that typical wind turbines are 50-60 meters, so these things are pretty big, and yea that would cost more, but in general, it seems one would still be a good investment in the long run, helping some become self sufficient, other than any tax/licensing fees maybe.

reply to post by Phage

Hey Phage, it's 'new' to me, but apparently not new overall. Thanks for the link though and I am curious what makes you question the increased efficiency? I am just going by the demo in the vid, is that example disingenuous or inaccurate?

Thanks,
spec

Originally posted by Phage
I don't really get it. The illustrations show something like a ducted fan but that's not really anything new.
www.ifb.uni-stuttgart.de...

The increased efficiency is questionable.

I think it is the total configuration that provides 3 times the energy versus having each windmill as a stand alone unit.
Given that they need one unit per home, I would think that is far behind current technology as a couple hundred turbines are currently able to power a small metro area.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Are you talking about the animation showing the lens in opposing direction as opposed to the real demonstration?
If so, the live demo is the right one, as for one he proved it, and two, the air is concentrated towards the fan.

But of course, the animation does show how a vacuum low pressure area can be created on the opposite side helping the air speed through toward that vacuum.

One or both is right.

On further realization, I noticed his hair blowing which indicates the animation is correct, I would have assumed the opposite to be logical.

Sometimes my logic is illogical

reply to post by Toadmund

I was referring to the actual demo instead of the animated. So one challenge beyond cost, was a steady base that can stand the tough marine environment and 2 things came to mind, one funny and one serious. How bout putting them atop the giant floating island of plastic waste out there?
2nd, perhaps combining them with wave buoy tech could be an idea, increasing energy production from 2 sources at the same time:


spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

I have my doubts about how the demonstration would scale up. Aerodynamics are tricky. For example, there is a factor called the Reynolds number. It's a value which represents the relative viscosity of air. The smaller an airfoil is, the greater the relative viscosity of the air, so the more it is affected by the foil. I'm not sure the same increase in output seen in the demonstration would be seen in the real world. When wind tunnel tests are made with scale models there is a lot of number crunching done to show what the effects of full scale model would be. Putting a meter on the generator doesn't quite make it to that standard.

Like I said, the basic design is nothing new. You don't see a lot of ducted fan turbines around. You have to wonder why if the difference is that great.

An 112-meter diameter turbine that's alleged to be 3-times more efficient (and larger) than a large-scale regular HAWT yet states that only powers 1 home??? I think that output figure is missing some zeros at the end.

A more efficient use of construction materials would be a ballasted wind-turbine tower bouy with a tidal-turbine below the waterline to make use of the potential generation capacity from both wind and water mediums combined

reply to post by timski

I was wondering that too timski, and there seems to be too many 'cans' and 'coulds.' There is not much info on the numbers and output, but after digging I found some more info. This tech and story is more directed towards Japan, according to Yuji, and their terrain and current situation. Also, it sounds like this effort is more for bettering existing ideas and turbines instead of offering a revolutionary device to save us all, like I am always hoping for. I am not that well versed in science as many here are, so maybe someone can make better determinations from this pdf that shows the intent and some results, with better specifics:
HERE

6. Conclusions

A collection-acceleration devise for wind, “the brimmed diffuser”, which shrouds a wind turbine,
was developed. Significant increase in the output power of a micro-scale wind turbine was obtained.
With a relatively long diffuser (Lt = 1.47D), a remarkable increase in the output power of
approximately 4–5-times that of a conventional wind turbine is achieved. This is because a
low-pressure region due to a strong vortex formation behind the broad brim draws more mass flow to
the wind turbine inside the diffuser.
For the purpose of the practical application to a small- and mid-size wind turbine, we developed a
very compact brimmed diffuser (wind-lens structure). Using this compact brimmed diffuser, we
achieved two-three-fold increase in output power as compared to conventional (bare) wind turbines,
due to concentration of the wind energy. We are now developing a wind-lens turbine of 100 kW at the



Energies 2010, 3

648
rated wind speed of 12 m/s. The rotor diameter will be 12.8 m, which is much smaller than a
conventinal wind turbine of the same rated power; two-thirds the size.
Incidentally, if we adopt the swept area A* instead of A (due to the rotor diameter), where A* is the
circular area due to the brim diameter Dbrim at diffuser exit, the output coefficient Cw* based on A*
becomes 0.48–0.54 for those compact wind-lens turbines. It is still larger than the power coefficient
Cw (around 0.4) of conventional wind turbines. It means that the compact wind-lens turbines clearly
show higher efficiency compared to conventional wind turbines, even if the rotor diameter of a
conventional wind turbine is extended to the brim diameter.
For the examination of practical application, an international project and a local project using 5 kW
wind-lens turbines were initiated. Six units of 5 kW wind-lens turbines were installed to build a wind
farm for an irrigation plant in a desert area in northwest China, and their effectiveness for the greenery
project has been examined. Three 5 kW wind-lens turbines have been recently installed in seashore in
Fukuoka city, Japan, aiming at the efficient utilization of wind energy.

spec

reply to post by Phage

Thanks Phage, I see what you are saying. I found some more info posted above or HERE
Anything impressive in your opinion?

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

I had just found that file and was getting ready to comment on it. As usual, what gets published for general consumption is not quite the same as what the scientists actually say.

For the practical application to a small-size and mid-size wind turbine, we have been developing a compact-type brimmed diffuser. For the 500 W wind-lens turbine, the length of brimmed diffuser Lt is 1.47D and still relatively long as a collection-acceleration structure for wind (for Lt, see Figure 8). If we apply this brimmed diffuser to a larger wind turbine in size, the wind load to this structure and the weight of this structure becomes severe problems.

I don't know where that 112 meter figure came from but it doesn't seem to match what is being worked on. At the time of the paper a 12.8 meter rotor was being worked on. While the 5 kW version has a shorter shroud, I think it remains to be seen how the increased efficiency scales up and if the engineering requirements of the larger machines will still make them practical.

On a small scale it seems to work. The "trick" being the brim on the trailing edge of the shroud. I'd like to see a comparison to ducted fans without the brim though, to see if it provides a significant improvement over them.