Wind power generation, thoughts and opinions on this potential design.?

Question

http://www.flodesignwindturbine.org/turbine/

Obviously it is still just in testing stages. However, I am curious if this device could be incorporated in non conventional ways (ie. car and/or airplane), especially since it seems that a building in my home town is using a similar design in a skyscraper

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1486/66/

Thanks

Goof

Answer 1

GOOF --> right to the point

It will NEVER be incorporated to cars and airplanes since it will INCREASE THE ENERGY USE (due to aerodynamic losses) MUCH MORE THAN IT WOULD PRODUCE ENERGY.

You are once again trying to create a "Mobile Perpetuum"

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On a standing point:

* It will not reduce the need for a mast or a building since the wind speed is higher with a higher elevation (the "huge" about wind mills on the beginning of the video is therefore misleading).

* It will at best achieve an efficiency of 70% which would halve the size compared to conventional wind turbines...  but look much more massive.

Answer 2

I also read about this new windmill design.  It sounds like a big improvement in cost and efficiency over the large blade windmills common now.  It also may be less dangerous for birds.

As far as twin hull boats, or catamarans and trimarans, the extra speed has more to do with the fact that these boats plane.

  Most keel sailboats are displacement hulls.  They displace or push the water out of the way, creating a bow and stern wave that constitue the wake.  The theoretical hull speed of a displacement hull is a function of the distance between these two waves, or in other words, it's a function of the waterline length of the boat.   Take the square root of the waterline length and multiply by 1.34 and you have the theoretical hull speed.  

A displacement hull is limited much more by this factor than by friction.  Displacement hulls don't plane, other than sometimes planing down the face of a large wave

A multihull is not a keel boat or a displacement boat, but a planing hull.

  Some boats are semi planing or semi displacement and can plane to an extent, but usually can't get up on a full plane.

And yes, fluid dynamics is very complex.