i have results at 100 meters, the video shows the power generation. it does not fail because of the money. it is currently stalled because of the lack of approval
Hi. I agree with @Windy_Skies - get more results before you relocate. Relocation will add friction to your development process.
Of course if you find some free help in such a location that would be nice, but getting that is probably hard or requires significant luck.
I like what you are doing, so I will ask you some tough questions; can you provide some number input cost, mass, details and output average power?
The reason I am going there is not that you need to optimize or even provide good numbers at this point. But I must establish that this is a method capable of providing cheap energy, as opposed to just providing some energy.
I think this is where I would work on improving the system as well. Perhaps get a power sensor or even better a current/voltage/power/windspeed log
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thank you for your cooperation. i don’t have any figures, but the fraunhofer institute has calculated that the entire world energy requirement (electricity, mobility and heat) can be generated 100% with awe for 3 cents per kw / h
I would not be so quick to accept that statement. What about solar? What about finding wind sites? What about danger to nearby activities in event of crashes? What about the mass of kite and tether and tether drag relative to the altitude of AWE power production?
My point being we are not yet in a place to make speculative extrapolations. We are just where we are looking at; can we even make a little power comparable to materials and other costs invested?
I think for what you are proposing, you have not even provided me with a clear physical explanation of how you extract power from the wind, making it very difficult to assess your concept
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the fraunhofer institute is responsible for what it publishes. i have built a system that works in real life and not just on paper. as soon as i can test at higher altitudes i will do it. everything is transparent, it can be copied and repeated.
@thomas_neemann , welcome to the forum, and congratulations for your working system.
Please, can you detailed the components (pilot or lifting kite, power kite(s) (how many kites, and how is their path?), ground station…), then the modus operanti (how does the “torsionsfeder” system work?), respectively step by step, and stroke by stroke? I think videos and Freecad show advanced details, but a basic description would be helpful. Thanks.
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yes, with pleasure. here is a first attempt:
the lifting kite creates an upward force. the spinnaker generates horizontal force. the resulting force has the direction of the rope. the gust of wind tensions a torsion spring in the test system. the generator shaft is rotated at the same time. when the gust of wind subsides, the spring pulls the kite back and the generator shaft is rotated in the other direction.
the system should be at the top 365/24 and is started manually with the rope unrolled, so that no big drum is necessary
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Thank you for the explains @thomas_neemann. Now I begin to understand better.
Do you plan to use only one kite, for simplicity, generating both lift (upward force) and drag (horizontal force) such like a parasail-like, or more simply by modifying the spinnaker bridle in order to provide some lift?
Schleppdrachen?
Vorsegel?
It more or less reminds me of the experiments I tried using some kind of parachute. But I did not go as far as you, and by far: there is no generator…, but each anchor is a dog leash comprising a spring, working in such a way that the spring is tensioned during gusts and released during lulls.
those were the first attempts. it may be that something is possible. i got the best results with these 2 kites. a pump mechanism with elastic bands seems to improve the efficiency. here is an attempt:
Besides that I think that such a system would be profitable where there is turbulence, close to the ground, or a few hundred meters high where Low Level Jets start, or even much higher towards the Jet Stream.
that’s how I see it too. a friend of mine is a pilot, he says there is often turbulence at around 400 meters. However, an automatic take-off and landing system makes sense at altitude.
For what I understand and I have experimented this device work like a yo-yo (pumping) system where the reel-in (recovery) phase is assumed by the spring and during lulls, leading to short strokes. There is no crosswind flight, only the traction of the kite(s) going downwind in each power stroke during gusts.
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yes, that’s how it is explained
So to be clear, the amount of energy extractable with this method will depend on the magnitude and frequency of gusts.
Is that correct?
yes, you can say that. the greater the difference in wind speed between the maximum value of the wind gust and the lower wind speed shortly before the next wind gust builds up, the more energy can be obtained.
Initially, it will be easier to try to develop this product by flying close to the ground, taking advantage of the turbulence that, moreover, other wind power systems have difficulty in capturing effectively. Scaling up close to the ground should be feasible to a point.
Perhaps the system comprising the “vorsegel” (power) kite could scale cheaply by using a Stratta-Tarp-Kite and a light generator coupled to a dog leash, or the ground system that is already developed.
I don’t think so, see my previous comment about trees being like pendulums.
Also now aeroelastic flutter springs to mind.
the more it is tested, the better. i have tested for years with a wide variety of constructions. a spring manufacturer told me that torsion springs can only withstand this frequency for a few days. hence the construction with the spiral and the weight. my test system is installed in a chevy g20 van. as soon as I get a permit for 3,000 to 7,000 meters somewhere, I can go there and test.
I think it’s an interesting thing to brainstorm about. I think you can imagine it like a seesaw with a kite on one end and a weight on the other. The generator is the fulcrum. You would like to be able to move the fulcrum to account for different wind speeds, and perhaps also change the weight.
Here’s my submission:
a: drum for kite line
b1,b2: continuously variable transmission (CVT), see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFShKSFnrGw
c: drum for weight line
d1,d2: gearing between weight shaft and generator shaft
e: generator
Note the significant gear reduction from kite line to generator shaft, this increases the stroke length of the kite line.
I think this is another way to do reel-in-reel-out, using the weight instead of supplying electricity to the generator to reel the kite line in. Now you can decide for yourself if you want to generate electricity reeling in or reeling out. Or perhaps both if you can quickly “move the fulcrum”.
yes, i can imagine optimizing the mechanics. the greater the possible power transmission, the better. in order to replace a nuclear power plant, 1000 awe power plants with an output of 1000 kw will be used. the gearbox and the mechanics would have to be designed for this.