The parachute-based project continues and is mentioned in the posters mentioned in 10th International Airborne Wind Energy Conference (AWEC 2024) in Madrid - #113 by rschmehl. Here is again the link to the Posters.
And also, from the AWEC2024 Books of Abstracts, PDF of abstract available on:
https://repository.tudelft.nl/record/uuid:f62bca42-2fc8-48c0-b95f-1a6f8e63cdc4
An interesting point:
In the parachute-based AWES, the shape of the parachute and the distance between neighboring parachutes are key factors affecting the flow field, the aerodynamic drag force, and hence the efficiency in harvesting wind energy. It is conceivable that wake separation induced by the parachute cascade could be a major threat to the efficiency of downstream parachutes. However, due to the limited research in this direction, the wake influence on the whole parachute-based AWES unit remains largely unclear.
To tackle this problem, we numerically investigate the thrust coefficient (Ct) of the parachute cascade with a nominal power of 2.4 MW. The impacts of different states of the parachutes (open or closed) and the distance between neighboring parachutes are quantified. The results clearly manifest a large-scale separation flow that significantly damages the performance of downstream parachutes. It is demonstrated that an increase of the distance of neighboring parachutes (to 1000 m) substantially mitigates the wake effect and enhances the lift force of the whole system.
I would not have thought that the wake effect would require such spacing of units in a parachute train. Perhaps the wind, not being able to pass through a parachute, is forced to bypass it much more widely than it would by passing over each of the rotors of the SuperTurbine ™ for example.