Will it blend?

[n2doc]

The Most Powerful Wind Turbine Looks Like the Weirdest Too


In the future, we will look at these 885-foot-wide structures in the middle of the ocean and we won't even blink. But, right now, I'm having a hard time imagining them spinning en masse at 20 revolutions per minute.



It's the new Aerogenerator X Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, which will be completed by 2014. Instead of using a traditional vertical structure, this wind turbine will rotate horizontally. Its design will enable it to generate twice the power of previous designs, according to the manufacturer. That's 10 megawatts per hour. The most powerful—and largest turbine in the planet at 413-foot high—now generates a bit over seven megawatts.


Only the 10MW Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine will be able to match its power, at the cost of raising an impressive 606 feet over the surface of the sea. That would be really fun to repair.


http://gizmodo.com/5599241/the-most-powerful-wind-turbine-doesnt-look-like-any-wind-turbine-youve-seen-before

[damntexdem]

1. Buzz saws in the sea.

Watch where you sail. ;-)

[joshcryer]

2. BUT HORIZONTAL WIND TURBINES ARE A NO GO

DON'T BE STUPID THIS IS A SCAM!

[txlibdem]

3. VAWT is the way to go

The nice thing about vertical axis wind turbines is that all the stuff that might need maintenance in the future is at the bottom, not 200 to 300 feet up in the air. Also, with a horizontal wind turbine it takes energy each time the blades need to be oriented toward the wind. Failing to turn the blades into the wind will either cause damage to them or it just won't make any power, both of which are bad for a turbine that is supposed to generate electricity. But with a VAWT there is no need, the wind can come from any direction and the VAWT will work just fine.

There is also a maximum size possible for horizontal wid turbines but VAWTs can be much larger, therefore able to generate more electricity.

Here's a youtube vid of a proposed 2 Gigawatt vertical axis wind turbine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Qs2gFlt-o&feature=related

I thought it was a cool idea. They have a different version on their website http://www.maglevwindturbine.com/

[Nihil]

4. Woah ...

> But, right now, I'm having a hard time imagining them spinning en masse
> at 20 revolutions per minute.

I'm having a hard time imagining the stresses in those rotor arms when
the thing is spinning away in anything other than the placid conditions
shown in the "artist's impressions" above ...

:wow: