High Altitude Wind Turbine Tower Design

Pierre: Like I said, you obviously have no grasp of the subject matter here. Sorry, but I studied a couple of semesters of fluid mechanics and fluid dynamics at a major university. What you think of as relevant treatment is typical layman’s noncomprehension of the most basic factors.

The difference between you and me in wind energy is that you, like that guy from the old forum, lighted LEDs to prove some minimal level of power output from your first prototypes using model airplane propellers, whereas I, expecting to make significant power from my model airplane propellers, used four (4) car headlights.

The reason you both chose LEDs is it takes almost zero volts and zero current to light an LED, creating the illusion of power where there may be almost no significant power actually being generated. LEDs are the choice when you don’t expect enough power to light anything more - a wise choice for most people.

I brought my early prototype using model airplane propellers out to a windfarm in Palm Springs, and was getting ready to set it up and see if it could light my headlight bulbs, when a utility truck drove up. I thought maybe I was about to get kicked out of the windfarm, but the guy was friendly and said he didn’t mind me being there. He also said the wind speed at hub height had reached 70 MPH. A few minutes later, when I let the prototype spin, it spun up so fast it instantly blew out all four (4) headlights in a blinding blue flash, making a popping noise that rang like a bell in the now-blackened glass enclosures. I had to throw it away from me to keep from getting sliced to bits! I knew I was on my way to making some significant power!

There were several reasons early on that I described the entire field of AWE as populated by “idiots, idiots, idiots”.

One was the way everyone talked about how easy it would be to eclipse existing turbines in the wind industry, when none of them had probably ever designed, built, installed, or operated even a single tiny turbine. So the first indicator was how easy they thought it would be, even though most of them knew nothing of the subject matter.

Then there was the idea that with all that combined supposed mental power, they should be able to use standard engineering calculations to predict how successful they should expect to be, but that didn’t happen either.

In my mind, I never included you in that “idiot” category, since you usually seemed to at least make sense, in general.

Today I am of the opinion that you might want to stick with something you know, something in which you are educated and have expertise, like music. You are way over your head in this discussion, and I wish you would stop now, before you do make a complete fool of yourself.

If anyone ELSE has a meaningful reply to my proposal that the moveable piston is without merit, and maybe has a response to the “thought experiment” I outlined, where we could insert and remove bolts attaching the piston to the cylinder without changing the dominant forces, I would be very much appreciative of an actual response.