A new, bladeless wind turbine called the Saphonian could very well change the way we view renewable energy. Saphon Energy, a Tunisian company, recently developed a new wind turbine that promises to be more efficient and less destructive than its predecessors. Using its Zero-Blade technology, it replaces the blade and motors of traditional wind turbines with a sail-shaped body, allowing the new machine to collect energy from the kinetic, back and forth motion of the wind.
The main problems with traditional wind turbines are in their inefficiency and in their energy usage. Namely, current turbines are only 30-35% efficient, and the energy they generate cannot be stored for later use. The Saphonian alleviates those problems. Current tests show that the Zero-Blade technology is twice as efficient as traditional turbines, and the energy is be stored as hydraulic pressure (which can be converted to energy using a hydraulic motor and a generator). As well, Sophonian’s construction and design is at least 45% cheaper than conventional methods, allowing for more investment from other countries.
What is notable about Saphon Energy’s design is in their inclusion of environmental issues. The accidental killing of thousands of birds, the creation of wind turbine syndrome for local residents have all been considered in the Saphonian. In fact, its bladeless design allows it to be safe for birds and human ears. It goes to show that modern scientists are taking into consideration the issues presented by environmental activists.
To learn more about the Saphonian, you can visit their website here.
What is so great about the new invention is not necessarily the innovation it brings to the wind energy industry, but rather the mindset they had when building the Saphonian. They did not set out to improve the current technology, but rather to change it – to build from the ground up with their own vision of generating wind energy. They realized that the old and traditional methods were not working, so they thought outside the box and made something entirely.
So often you will hear in the news about climate change scientists pointing to their scientific facts that yes, indeed, the earth really is warming up. However, in a time when so many are advocating for a green economy, it is just business as usual. Coal and oil are still being mined and used at an astonishing rate; the meat industry still follows environmentally unsustainable policies; electric cars are still the significant majority of the cars being put on the road. What we need right now is a new mindset, one which sheds away the unsafe and unsustainable traditions of yesterday, and one which looks forward to the future. Much like the previous wind turbines, we cannot go forward with our inefficient and dangerous designs – we must think outside the box for our answers.
Very unlikely. Their claims are not backed up by any published results on their site. They have a pretty little video attacking triblade horizontal wind turbines — a standard feature of ‘innovative’ wind generation — without a single shred of theoretical, mathematical or empirical material supporting their claims.
As a rule of thumb, any wind generation solution that promises integrated storage — as the Saphonian does — is being built and sold by people who don’t understand electrical generation and distribution systems, and as such aren’t worth investing in. They simply don’t understand the business or the technology.
The unsubstantiated nature of the Saphon claims that you point to Mike, are matched by the lack of substantiation in your dismissive comments. “As a rule of thumb…”? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
That their technology may not be substantiated or published is not proof it is wrong or false. “They simply don’t understand the business or the technology”. Translation: they’re not members of the club.
Typical, dismissive response from an entrenched industry…
Not industry, actually, just an acute observer of energy generation technologies who has a decent understanding of physics.
1. The patent they link to from their website is a bladed design with hydraulic components, not the device they are claiming is so good.
2. They do not estimate lifecycle cost of energy, but claim twice the efficiency of standard wind turbines.
3. They claim to exceed Betz’ Law, which no one has ever come close to doing.
4. Their device won’t scale. The cone will have 15-20K square meters to achieve 3 MW given the purported efficiency the way they calculate it and will weigh so much it won’t move except in the strongest of winds. As it can’t be feathered to shed wind load, in the strongest of winds it will be ripped off of the mast or tear the mast down.
It’s a non-viable, non-scalable technology and likely a scam.
Betz law applies to turbines, they do mislead but understandably, you need something that grabs the attention. This is an umbrella being pulled from your hand by the wind and when the wind gets too strong you close your umbrella. Who says it has to be one large single surface area. Don’t be so quick to nay-say just because your eyes are jaded, Richard.
So – how does it work, exactly?
I’ve been tinkering with reciprocating single-vertical-blade wind harvesters, using hydraulics to take off energy, for some years. But I don’t see anything that I recognise here. What is it? How does it work? Can’t find any answers to that – yet.
If you’re looking for a visual demonstration of the motion, this might be helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2IeCJiddQg
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