Hi. I would be grateful for the name of the generator company. I have been considering building a 1 metre diameter model and this may work quite well if I gear it up from the shaft.
@identernet Hi Paul. Sent you a response by email (since youTube doesn't allow URL's). For other readers, it's called the "Ampair UW100 Water Turbine". Max 100 Watts. I contacted the company once about their plans for a more powerful model - it was under development at the time. Cheers.
Thought you might be interested. Search SECAT wave energy device. I commented a while ago that I was following a similar track. Have decided to put my idea in the public domain. Unable to get any financial backing/grants. It must be who you know, not what you know.
@identernet Hi. I see a lot of potential for your system. Primarily environmental. It seems unlikely that your turbine would seriously damage any sea life. I like the simplicity of it too. I share your concern about fatigue. An efficiency of 28% for such a simple device might be quite cost effective. I can point out a company that makes a low-power, encased generate in an oil bath. You might use one to build a small prototype for a sea trial. Re financing - I must not know the same people.
Like your idea but am I right in believing the turbine rotation changes direction twice per wavelength, or do you use a "Wells" type turbine. I always believed this would cause problems, but not being an electrician, there may be a simple solution for this. Anyhow good luck.
@identernet Hi. Sorry for the delay in my response. Due to the rotational inertia of the shaft and turbine, reversing direction every 4 seconds would likely be problematic. Therefore, we use a "Wells" type turbine, i.e. it's bi-directional. That is, the turbine keeps spinning in the same direction regardless of the direction of water flow. We actually use a proprietary bi-directional turbine design. Thanks for the question.
I assumed that would be the case. The reason I ask is that I have been working on a very similar idea to yours, but use my own turbine design. This is a unidirectional turbine which is not based on the Well's turbine principal, and as far as I know unique. As the one you use is a proprietary turbine brand, could you confirm that it works on the Well's principal. The reason I ask is that I don,t want to waste time on my design if it has already been done.
@identernet My preferred embodiment does not use a Wells turbine. My preferred embodiment utilizes articulating blades that adjust their angle of attack in response to changes in water speed and/or direction. However, the scope of my patent application includes all wave-driven venturi-type designs which use any kind of turbine. You can contact me directly for a more detailed discussion. moffatbrian@gmail.com
If you like our project, then please vote for us in the GE "Ecomagination" contest (ends on September 30, 2010). GE will give 6 cash prizes to contestants. One for the highest popular vote (probably not us :). Five will be given by a panel of judges. We likely won't win the popular vote, but it might help us to have a good ranking. A bit of funding could really help us move forward. Thank you.
Excellent tutorial. I will encourage support for this creative, potentially important solution. Does the capital cost include the cable costs, hook ups and shoreline transmission connections?
@rdegolia Thanks. To answer your question: The capital cost of $340 / kW is for the device only. The capital cost for an entire farm of devices, utilizing a 20-mile-long subsea power cable, would be about $1,000 / kW. However, that installed capital cost falls to $440 / kW if the government provides the subsea cable. (Which seems possible, since many state governments currently provide the power transmission cables for onshore wind farms.) Cheers.
Question: This venturi tube coupled to a turbine, can be an efficient outcome even if applied to the chimney (empty, smoke-free of course) using the stratification and the difference in air temperature at different altitudes? (Not miles, but up to 100 meters for example)
Great innovation! And we can support it this month by voting for it in the GE Ecomagination Challenge. Google that site, then search under the inventor's name 'Moffat' You'll find it there. Also a bunch of interesting commentary.
Please visit our website: spindriftenergy com
moffatbrian 11 months ago
Hi. I would be grateful for the name of the generator company. I have been considering building a 1 metre diameter model and this may work quite well if I gear it up from the shaft.
identernet 1 year ago
@identernet Hi Paul. Sent you a response by email (since youTube doesn't allow URL's). For other readers, it's called the "Ampair UW100 Water Turbine". Max 100 Watts. I contacted the company once about their plans for a more powerful model - it was under development at the time. Cheers.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
Thought you might be interested. Search SECAT wave energy device. I commented a while ago that I was following a similar track. Have decided to put my idea in the public domain. Unable to get any financial backing/grants. It must be who you know, not what you know.
identernet 1 year ago
@identernet Hi. I see a lot of potential for your system. Primarily environmental. It seems unlikely that your turbine would seriously damage any sea life. I like the simplicity of it too. I share your concern about fatigue. An efficiency of 28% for such a simple device might be quite cost effective. I can point out a company that makes a low-power, encased generate in an oil bath. You might use one to build a small prototype for a sea trial. Re financing - I must not know the same people.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
Hi
Like your idea but am I right in believing the turbine rotation changes direction twice per wavelength, or do you use a "Wells" type turbine. I always believed this would cause problems, but not being an electrician, there may be a simple solution for this. Anyhow good luck.
identernet 1 year ago
@identernet Hi. Sorry for the delay in my response. Due to the rotational inertia of the shaft and turbine, reversing direction every 4 seconds would likely be problematic. Therefore, we use a "Wells" type turbine, i.e. it's bi-directional. That is, the turbine keeps spinning in the same direction regardless of the direction of water flow. We actually use a proprietary bi-directional turbine design. Thanks for the question.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
@moffatbrian Hi
I assumed that would be the case. The reason I ask is that I have been working on a very similar idea to yours, but use my own turbine design. This is a unidirectional turbine which is not based on the Well's turbine principal, and as far as I know unique. As the one you use is a proprietary turbine brand, could you confirm that it works on the Well's principal. The reason I ask is that I don,t want to waste time on my design if it has already been done.
identernet 1 year ago
@identernet My preferred embodiment does not use a Wells turbine. My preferred embodiment utilizes articulating blades that adjust their angle of attack in response to changes in water speed and/or direction. However, the scope of my patent application includes all wave-driven venturi-type designs which use any kind of turbine. You can contact me directly for a more detailed discussion. moffatbrian@gmail.com
moffatbrian 1 year ago
If you like our project, then please vote for us in the GE "Ecomagination" contest (ends on September 30, 2010). GE will give 6 cash prizes to contestants. One for the highest popular vote (probably not us :). Five will be given by a panel of judges. We likely won't win the popular vote, but it might help us to have a good ranking. A bit of funding could really help us move forward. Thank you.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
You can find us if you search Google for the terms "ecomagination spindrift" - our Spindrift entry should be the top link. Thanks.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
Excellent tutorial. I will encourage support for this creative, potentially important solution. Does the capital cost include the cable costs, hook ups and shoreline transmission connections?
rdegolia 1 year ago
@rdegolia Thanks. To answer your question: The capital cost of $340 / kW is for the device only. The capital cost for an entire farm of devices, utilizing a 20-mile-long subsea power cable, would be about $1,000 / kW. However, that installed capital cost falls to $440 / kW if the government provides the subsea cable. (Which seems possible, since many state governments currently provide the power transmission cables for onshore wind farms.) Cheers.
moffatbrian 1 year ago
Brian, that was an excellent presentation of a wonderful product.
I wish you great success; the world certainly needs it.
JamesThomas 1 year ago
brilliant !.. i dig it.
Question: This venturi tube coupled to a turbine, can be an efficient outcome even if applied to the chimney (empty, smoke-free of course) using the stratification and the difference in air temperature at different altitudes? (Not miles, but up to 100 meters for example)
w23trhfyer 1 year ago
Great innovation! And we can support it this month by voting for it in the GE Ecomagination Challenge. Google that site, then search under the inventor's name 'Moffat' You'll find it there. Also a bunch of interesting commentary.
bothromo 1 year ago
I like the simplicity of the devices. Buoys, shafts and propellers have a long history of reliable service at sea. Smart.
LewEtube 1 year ago