Researchers' idea will blow you away: 656-foot long blades on wind turbines

[bemildred]

Efforts to increase wind power mean that turbine blades are getting bigger and bigger. But a new design in the works takes the idea to levels most people can barely imagine: Blades up to 656.2 feet long — more than two football fields.

Today's longest blades are 262.5 feet. The blades at Imperial County's Ocotillo wind farm, which sends electricity to San Diego, are 173.9 feet long.

"We call it the extreme scale," Eric Loth, a University of Virginia professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said of the planned mega-blades. "There's nothing like it."

Loth is one of the leaders of a team, which includes four universities and two national laboratories, that has three years to build and test a scaled prototype in the hopes of making the blade a reality.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-cutting-edge-windmills-20160313-story.html#nt=oft12aH-2gp2

[MADem]

1. I'd love to see an illustration....! This seems very different! They will be offshore, too...

The blades would look much different look from today's wind turbines.

They wouldn't face the wind but would go downwind, aligning the blades to flow with the wind instead of fighting it.

And instead of a single stiff blade, each blade would be broken into segments, allowing it to be more easily fabricated.

In addition, the concept would allow the blades to "morph" — spread out when the wind is blowing lightly to capture as much power as possible.

"Like a flower, the petals are spread out, and we reach out and grab as much wind as we can," Loth said.

Conversely, when winds blow with hurricane force the blades would contract, almost like a claw.

[bemildred]

3. Something like this, I'm guessing:

A big scoop to grab air, at the end of a long arm, for leverage, so it can develop lots of power and yet move slowly.

[MADem]

5. OMG!!!! How do they fold up like a petal? Are the scoops "foldable" maybe?

It sure is fascinating--I love this kind of experimentation!

[FBaggins]

6. Here you go

Sandia’s 100-meter blade is the basis for the Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotor (SUMR), a new low-cost offshore 50-MW wind turbine. At dangerous wind speeds, the blades are stowed and aligned with the wind direction, reducing the risk of damage. At lower wind speeds, the blades spread out more to maximize energy production. Illustration courtesy of TrevorJohnston.com/Popular Science

[MADem]

10. OMG--that's amazing! Thanks so much for finding this!!

I can't stop looking at the thing! Very cool!

[FBaggins]

12. If you like that... here's one that's even better

[MADem]

13. It looks like a Daddy Long Legs!! nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. And Ocotillo had one fail spectacularly

which is the fear as you increase the size.

The Germans are researching a model that reduces those tensions and produce more power.

Here



I think why those pressures are reduced, leading to less failures is quite obvious.

[bemildred]

4. Yep, size does matter.

As you get bigger, the cube/square law forces you to go lighter.

There is a reason the Eiffel Tower looks like this:

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. That style turbine is not new, not by a long stretch.

They had units of that design in place as far back as the late 1980's in the Altamont pass, CA area as well as the Palm Springs farm between Cabazon and the valley.

They have all since been removed in favor of the larger blade turbines.

Almost every single turbine in the Altamont Pass has been removed ,BTW, regardless of design.

Another major Turbine Farm in CA is in Tehachapi which has nothing but large 3 bladed turbines

[kentauros]

19. ONE failure out of how many thousands? isn't so bad.

Plus, it was built (like most of them) in an isolated area. No people or buildings around to get hit

[Orrex]

7. They'd need a heck of a truck to transport it

[MindPilot]

8. It is tough to grasp how big they are,

until you are alongside one on the freeway.

[Orrex]

9. I passed a truck toting a conventional turbine blade

I felt like a fly walking on a propeller.

[FBaggins]

11. I believe the plan is for these to be transported in sections n/t

[Omaha Steve]

14. What about the newer bird safe design?

I thought that was the future?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a4428/4324331/

[kentauros]

15. i.e., 200 -METERS- long

Also:
"Blades up to 200 meters long"
Current longest blades = 80 meters
Octillo Wind Farm blades = 53 meters
"broken down in 40- to 50-meter segments"

Really guys, I can handle metric. Even though I cannot visualize a length/distance of 200 meters any better than 200 yards (that is, pretty much not at all), meters are so much easier to work with

And besides, the electricity produced is going to be in megawatts. I seriously doubt it's going to be sold according to horsepower or joules


Also, the article doesn't mention whether they mean near-shore offshore, or deep-offshore / deep water, which is well over the horizon. I've never seen deep-offshore as defined to be within 25 miles of shore. Usually, it's hundreds of miles offshore, and the turbines are then anchored on tension-leg platforms. That's also where the greatest potential resides, on the order of tens of terawatts of power.

[Nye Bevan]

16. "25 MILES"? Why not "40 KILOMETERS"? (nt)

[kentauros]

17. Because I was tired of converting