I like this idea.... Wind Hairs? 1

[jraef]

http://atelierdna.com/?p=144

I'm not sure the technology exists for a long stack of piezoelectric elements that would have enough structural integrity for this, but it warrants some thought in my opinion.

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe." -- Abraham Lincoln
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[ccfowler]

This seems to be interesting, but the study of its practicality should be realistic and unbiased. At first glance, this appears to be a system that will require a proportionately very large committment of resources for a relatively modest (and likely undependable) amount of power production capability.

It would be nice if serious studies would show this (and other novel power production methods) to be truly practical.

Valuable advice from a professor many years ago: First, design for graceful failure. Everything we build will eventually fail, so we must strive to avoid injuries or secondary damage when that failure occurs. Only then can practicality and economics be properly considered.

 

[MikeHalloran]

The presentation is very artistic, but the science is, er, pseudo, or maybe, hopeful. ... and self-contradictory.

Two energy extraction mechanism are described.

In one, the poles flex and apply stress to a piezo stack. In order for that to happen, the root of the pole must be fixed, or nearly so.

In the other, the poles wiggle around some indeterminate center in the base, where devices described as shock absorbers somehow generate not heat, but electricity, used to run a pump in each pole/base cell to provide cellular small scale pumped storage and hydro power generation.

Are the pole roots fixed, or pinned? Both, according to the writeup. Possibly both at once.

Back to the piezo stack, described as producing current. ... well, sort of. Piezo devices emit or absorb charge, depending on how they are stressed. There's only current when the stress is changing, and really not all that much current.

Wait, it gets more interesting. A piezo disk being compressed on a random edge, by bending the stack, would emit charge from that edge. ... and absorb charge on the diametrically opposite edge, and do neither at the quarter points where there's no net stress. So you can't, as postulated, just put large electrodes between the piezo discs, you'd need an array of electrodes, and more than the postulated two wires, or many diodes. Or circular arrays of piezo discs, not the single disc with a tension member through a hole in the center as postulated.

Again, the presentation is a thing of beauty. The right team of confi.., er, shyst..., er, croo.., er, managers, could turn that presentation into a career. All they need is an investor; there's one born every minute.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[IRstuff]

Old news, in a way:

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Rick_Dickson:Wind_Tree

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[ccfowler]

MikeHalloran,

Beautifully stated!

Valuable advice from a professor many years ago: First, design for graceful failure. Everything we build will eventually fail, so we must strive to avoid injuries or secondary damage when that failure occurs. Only then can practicality and economics be properly considered.

 

[FeX32]

Woh hooo! Trees can blow in the wind. Who knew...


Fe

 

[FeX32]

Why not stack the center of the hairs with peizo material, the potential for energy conversion is greater...
I think I will build a small scale dididly waddle and see how she wags


Fe

 

[BigInch]

This certainly makes my hairs stand up.

 

[FeX32]

I didn't build a didly but the didly waddles


Fe

 

[dalcazar]

It would be pretty and could be made to work in that way... but other than that I'm pretty sure the concept has no real power production ability

 

[OperaHouse]

The other day Bart Simpson was rubbing a balloon in his hair and zapping a TV with it so he could view one second of video when they had no power. It made more sense than a lot of management presentations.