1/17/2006: Horizontal windmill

Undertoad · 01-17-2006, 11:37 AM

It took a French-to-English translation of the full story for me to comprehend what this is. It's the first horizontal windmill in France, they say. First one I've ever seen, too.

They're putting on top of a building where it will generate 9000 kW/h -- they don't say whether that's in top gear, or an average. Well, nothing else is going on, on top of most buildings, so why not take advantage and generate a bit of juice.

One interesting thought. The mill is one of the earliest ways that humanity captured energy for its own purposes. Designs for different types of mills are some of the earliest hard core engineering ever done. A tremendous amount of thought went into designing and building the things, over centuries of time. And yet, here is an innovation that only recently happened, due to the need to take advantage of different space with different demands.

There are always new things in the world, you know?

Wormfood · 01-17-2006, 11:59 AM

Hope that roof is not accessible to anyone while they're on.
They look fastrotating. So watch your heads guys...

beavis · 01-17-2006, 12:28 PM

let's hope a bird doesn't get sucked into a wind current up there...

srom · 01-17-2006, 12:37 PM

nine-thousand? that's a lot of lightbulbs...

barefoot serpent · 01-17-2006, 01:32 PM

I think that design will allow it to work with the wind coming from any direction. So it won't need to be able to turn on a vertical axis.

gerstle · 01-17-2006, 03:02 PM

i want one, that's damn cool.

YellowBolt · 01-17-2006, 03:16 PM

9000 kW/h... how much power is that compared to say... a regular generator and a regular windmill?

glatt · 01-17-2006, 03:52 PM

I have no concept of units of electricity. So I tried to Google it to get some idea of how much power we are talking about. According to this, the average household electric power demand in the US in 1997 was 10,219 kWh. So that's roughly what a typical house runs on in a year.

If this thing generates almost that much in an hour, then I'm floored. It just seems impossible to me. What am I missing? It's too good to be true.

Pancake Man · 01-17-2006, 05:21 PM

Is it just me, or could that beat one huge egg?

Wombat · 01-17-2006, 05:30 PM

A few years ago I saw a design for a giant flying one of these. It would fly like a kite, with the powerline doubling as the string to hold the kite in place. It had a generator/motor at each end of the axis. To get it up in the air, power was fed to it and the motors turned it and it flew itself up. Once it was at maximum altitude (really high, in the jet-stream) it would then get turned by the wind and the motors would become generators and it would send power back down to the ground. It could stay up for days or weeks at a time because the wind in the jet-stream is fast and steady. It would only need to be winched back down to ground if a storm was approaching (the generators could be made to work as motors again to power a safe landing).

capnhowdy · 01-17-2006, 06:21 PM

Good chance of putting the $ grubbing power co-ops on their greedy asses.

Prolly cost a fortune to own one.

I bet Howard Hughes would say it's "the way of the future". I think it will wind up on the bench with the 200 mpg carburetors.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-17-2006, 06:30 PM

From the link via babelfish;

Quote:

"It has a power of 9.000 kW/h and should produce the equivalent of consumption necessary for the common parts of the two buildings (of 20 dwellings each one, note) located below"

It looks to me like the shore in the background so they're probably going to have an onshore/offshore winds thing happening, hence the orientation.

richlevy · 01-17-2006, 07:58 PM

I saw the vertical eggbeater versions in a demonstration in 1976. The company claimed they were more efficeint than the propeller design, but all I see are the propeller style windmills, so something must be driving the selection.

BTW, the kite idea sounds interesting, but if enough people did it I could imagine a real hazard to airplanes. It would be like having barrage balloons in WWI and WWII.

milkfish · 01-17-2006, 09:04 PM

I hope they fence the things off so that some mad Don Quixote doesn't get batted off the top of the building.

Saknussem · 01-17-2006, 10:14 PM

Does anyone else want to just throw a huge eggplant through that thing when it is in a gale?

01-17-2006, 11:37 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	1/17/2006: Horizontal windmill It took a French-to-English translation of the full story for me to comprehend what this is. It's the first horizontal windmill in France, they say. First one I've ever seen, too. They're putting on top of a building where it will generate 9000 kW/h -- they don't say whether that's in top gear, or an average. Well, nothing else is going on, on top of most buildings, so why not take advantage and generate a bit of juice. One interesting thought. The mill is one of the earliest ways that humanity captured energy for its own purposes. Designs for different types of mills are some of the earliest hard core engineering ever done. A tremendous amount of thought went into designing and building the things, over centuries of time. And yet, here is an innovation that only recently happened, due to the need to take advantage of different space with different demands. There are always new things in the world, you know?

01-17-2006, 12:37 PM	#4
srom a small little word Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New York State and Massachussetts State Posts: 17	nine-thousand? that's a lot of lightbulbs... __________________ "I know enough about cooking. If it tastes bad, then fry it until it tastes good."

01-17-2006, 05:30 PM	#10
Wombat (marsupial with backward-facing pouch) Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Canberra Posts: 251	A few years ago I saw a design for a giant flying one of these. It would fly like a kite, with the powerline doubling as the string to hold the kite in place. It had a generator/motor at each end of the axis. To get it up in the air, power was fed to it and the motors turned it and it flew itself up. Once it was at maximum altitude (really high, in the jet-stream) it would then get turned by the wind and the motors would become generators and it would send power back down to the ground. It could stay up for days or weeks at a time because the wind in the jet-stream is fast and steady. It would only need to be winched back down to ground if a storm was approaching (the generators could be made to work as motors again to power a safe landing). __________________ If you don't do it properly, you'll get to the pub sooner.

01-17-2006, 06:21 PM	#11
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	Good chance of putting the $ grubbing power co-ops on their greedy asses. Prolly cost a fortune to own one. I bet Howard Hughes would say it's "the way of the future". I think it will wind up on the bench with the 200 mpg carburetors. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please. Last edited by capnhowdy; 01-17-2006 at 06:22 PM. Reason: sp

01-17-2006, 07:58 PM	#13
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	I saw the vertical eggbeater versions in a demonstration in 1976. The company claimed they were more efficeint than the propeller design, but all I see are the propeller style windmills, so something must be driving the selection. BTW, the kite idea sounds interesting, but if enough people did it I could imagine a real hazard to airplanes. It would be like having barrage balloons in WWI and WWII. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

01-17-2006, 11:59 AM	#2
Wormfood Superior Inhabitant Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 73	Hope that roof is not accessible to anyone while they're on. They look fastrotating. So watch your heads guys...

01-17-2006, 12:28 PM	#3
beavis butthead died Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: mtv reruns Posts: 88	let's hope a bird doesn't get sucked into a wind current up there...

01-17-2006, 01:32 PM	#5
barefoot serpent go ahead, abbrev. it Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS Posts: 2,623	I think that design will allow it to work with the wind coming from any direction. So it won't need to be able to turn on a vertical axis.

01-17-2006, 03:02 PM	#6
gerstle some guy. Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 21	i want one, that's damn cool.

01-17-2006, 03:16 PM	#7
YellowBolt I lurk with the best of them Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: not close to philadelphia. :( well, not THAT close. Posts: 146	9000 kW/h... how much power is that compared to say... a regular generator and a regular windmill?

01-17-2006, 03:52 PM	#8
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I have no concept of units of electricity. So I tried to Google it to get some idea of how much power we are talking about. According to this, the average household electric power demand in the US in 1997 was 10,219 kWh. So that's roughly what a typical house runs on in a year. If this thing generates almost that much in an hour, then I'm floored. It just seems impossible to me. What am I missing? It's too good to be true.

01-17-2006, 05:21 PM	#9
Pancake Man Hand-of-Kindness Extender Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 131	Is it just me, or could that beat one huge egg?

01-17-2006, 09:04 PM	#14
milkfish A serene breakdown Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northern NJ, USA Posts: 266	I hope they fence the things off so that some mad Don Quixote doesn't get batted off the top of the building. Last edited by milkfish; 01-17-2006 at 09:05 PM. Reason: One word got batted away

01-17-2006, 10:14 PM	#15
Saknussem Coronation Incarnate Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 93	it slices, it dices, the RonCo Wind-O-Matic!! Does anyone else want to just throw a huge eggplant through that thing when it is in a gale?

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