High-altitude wind power

High-altitude wind ability (HAWP) has been absurd as a antecedent of advantageous activity back 1833 with John Etzler's vision1 of capturing the ability of apprehension top in the sky by use of binding and cable technology. An album of the high-altitude wind ability ability has been able for all credibility on Earth.2

Various mechanisms are proposed for capturing the active activity of apprehension such as kites, kytoons, aerostats, gliders, gliders with turbines for adorning soaring,3 sailplanes with turbines, or added airfoils, including multiple-point building- or terrain-enabled holdings.4 Once the automated activity is acquired from the wind's active energy, again abounding options are accessible for application that automated energy: absolute traction,56 about-face to electricity aloft or at arena station, about-face to laser or bake for ability bright to added aircraft or arena receivers. Activity generated by a high-altitude arrangement may be acclimated aloft or beatific to the arena apparent by administering cables, automated force through a tether, circling of amaranthine band loop, movement of afflicted chemicals, breeze of high-pressure gases, breeze of airy gases, or laser or bake ability beams. There are two above accurate online writing about jet beck power. Archer & Caldeira7 affirmation that the jet streams can accomplish the absolute ability of 1700 TW, and that the acute appulse will be negligible. Miller, Gans, & Kleidon8 affirmation that the jet streams can accomplish the absolute ability of alone 7.5 TW, and that the acute appulse will be catastrophic.

High-altitude wind for power purposes

Winds at college altitudes become steadier, added persistent, and of college velocity. Because ability accessible in wind increases as the cube of acceleration (the velocity-cubed law),910 bold added ambit actual the same, acceleration a wind's acceleration gives 2x2x2=8 times the power; tripling the acceleration gives 3x3x3=27 times the accessible power. With steadier and added anticipated winds, high-altitude wind has an advantage over wind abreast the ground. Getting able to locate HAWP to able altitudes and application the vertical ambit of airspace for wind agriculture brings added advantage application high-altitude apprehension for breeding energy.

High-altitude wind generators can be adapted in acme and position to aerate activity return, which is abstract with anchored tower-mounted wind generators.

In anniversary ambit of altitudes there are altitude-specific apropos getting addressed by advisers and developers. As distance increases, tethers access in length, the temperature of the air changes, and vulnerability to atmospheric lightning changes. With accretion altitude, acknowledgment to liabilities increase, costs increase, turbulence acknowledgment changes, likelihood of accepting the arrangement fly in added than one directional strata of apprehension increases, and the costs of operation changes. HAWP systems that are aureate have to ascend through all average altitudes up to final alive altitudes—being at aboriginal a low- and again a high- distance device.

Methods of capturing kinetic energy of high-altitude winds

Energy can be captured from the wind by kites, kytoons, tethered gliders,11 tethered sailplanes, aerostats (spherical as able-bodied as shaped kytoons), bladed turbines, airfoils, airfoil matrices, balloons, parachutes, drogues, capricious drogues, circling airfoils, Darrieus turbines, Magnus-effect VAWT blimps, multiple-rotor complexes, bolt Jalbert-parafoil kites, uni-blade turbines, flipwings, tethers, bridles, cord loops, wafting blades, bouncing forms, piezoelectric materials,12 and more.1314

When a scheme's purpose is to actuate ships and boats,1516 the altar tether-placed in the wind will tend to accept a lot of of the captured activity be in advantageous astriction in the capital tether. The aloft alive bodies will be operated to advance advantageous astriction even while the address is moving. This is the adjustment for powerkiting sports. This area of HAWP is the a lot of installed method. The ballad is that Benjamin Franklin acclimated the absorption adjustment of HAWP. George Pocock was a baton in tugging cars by traction.17

edit Controls

See also: Aeroplane ascendancy systems

HAWP aircraft charge to be controlled. Solutions in congenital systems accept ascendancy mechanisms abnormally situated. Some systems are passive, or active, or a mix. When a aeroplane council assemblage (KSU) is lofted, the KSU may be automatic and self-contained; a KSU may be operated from the arena via radio-control by a reside animal abettor or by acute computer programs. Some systems accept congenital sensors in the aircraft physique that address ambit like position, about position to added parts. Aeroplane ascendancy units (KCU) accept complex added than steering; binding addled speeds and admonition can be adapted in acknowledgment to binding tensions and needs of the arrangement during a power-generating appearance or return-non-power-generating phase. Aeroplane ascendancy locations alter widely.1819

Methods of converting mechanical energy to other forms of energy

The automated activity of the accessory may be adapted to heat, sound, electricity, light, tension, pushes, pulls, laser, microwave, actinic changes, or compression of gases. Traction is a big absolute use of the automated activity as in tugging burden ships and kiteboarders. The methods of accepting the automated activity from the wind's active activity are several. Lighter-than-air (LTA) anchored aerostats are active as lifters of turbines. Heavier-than-air (HTA) tethered airfoils are getting acclimated as lifters or turbines themselves. Combinations of LTA and HTA accessories in one arrangement are getting congenital and aureate to abduction HAWP. Even a ancestors of free-flight aerial accessories are represented in the abstract that abduction the active activity of high-altitude apprehension (beginning with a description in 1967 by Richard Miller in book Without Visible Means of Support) and a abreast apparent appliance by Dale C. Kramer, aerial sailplane competitor, inventor.

edit Electric architect position in a HAWP system

Electricity bearing is just one of the alternative choices of application captured automated energy; however, this advantage dominates the focus of professionals aiming to accumulation ample amounts of activity to business and utilities. A continued arrangement of accessory options cover tugging baptize turbines, pumping of water, or burden air or hydrogen. The position of the electric architect is a appropriate affection a part of systems. Flying the architect aloft is done in a array of ways. Befitting the architect at the ballast arena is addition ample architecture option. The advantage in one arrangement of a architect aloft and at the arena base has been acclimated area a baby architect operates cyberbanking accessories aloft while the arena architect is the big artisan to accomplish electricity for cogent loads.

edit Aerostat-based HAWP

One adjustment of befitting alive HAWP systems aloft is to use afloat aerostats whether or not the electric architect is aerial or larboard on the ground. The aerostats are usually, but not always, shaped to accomplish a kiting appropriation effect. Recharging leaked appropriation gas receives assorted solutions.

W. R. Benoit US Apparent 4350897 Lighter than air wind activity about-face arrangement by William R. Benoit, filed Oct 24,1980, and issued: Sep 21, 1982.

The TWIND arrangement is based on the use of a captain apparent animated by the aggressive force of an aerostatic airship affiliated to the arena by a cable acclimated aswell for activity transmission. The wind present at top altitudes creates a accumbent advance on the captain which in its movement transmits this activity to the arena via the abutting cable. At the end of its movement forward, the captain apparent is bargain acceptance it to move upwind with bargain activity waste.20

The Magenn aerostat is a vertical-axis wind agent captivated with its arbor accumbent by bridling the arbor bisect to the wind so that Magnus-effect lift obtains during autorotation; the electricity is generated with end-hub generators.21

The LTA Windpower PowerShip uses lift from both an aerostat and wings. It operates abutting to aloof airiness and doesn't crave a winch. Ability is generated by turbines with the propellers on the abaft bend of the wings. The arrangement is advised to be able to yield off and acreage unattended.22

Airbine proposes to lift wind turbines into the air by use of aerostats; the electricity would acknowledgment to arena endless by way of conductive tether.23

Airship ability agent by William J. Mouton, Jr., and David F. Thompson: Their arrangement chip the agent aural the axial allocation of a near-toroidal aerostat, like putting a agent in the aperture of an aerostat donut.24

Non-airborne HAWP

Conceptually, two adjoining mountains (natural or terrain-enabled) or bogus barrio or building (urban or artificial) could accept a wind agent abeyant amid them by use of cables. When HAWP is cabled amid two abundance acme beyond a valley,4 the HAWP accessory is not airborne, but borne up by the cable system. No such systems are accepted to be in use, admitting patents advise these methods. When non-cabled bridges are the foundation for captivation wind turbines top aloft the ground,25 again these are aggregate with accepted towered turbines and are alfresco the absorbed of HAWP area the tethering an aerial arrangement is foundational.

HAWP Safety

Lightning, aircraft traffic, emergency procedures, arrangement inspections, afterimage appearance of arrangement locations and its tethers, electrical safety, runaway-wing procedures, over-powering controls, adapted mooring, and added anatomy the assurance ambiance for HAWP systems.

Challenges of HAWP as an emerging industry

focus on affairs carriages over the acreage 26 and capturing atmospheric electricity and lightning for animal use. The additional aeon was in the 1970s and 1980s if analysis and investment flourished; a bead in oil amount resulted in no cogent installations of HAWP. Return on investment (ROI) has been the key parameter; that ROI charcoal in focus in the accepted development action while in the accomplishments is the renewable and acceptable activity movement acknowledging wind ability of any kind; but HAWP have to attempt on ROI with accepted towered solutions.

HAWP patents

Patents for aeroplane and kytoon systems that plan with activity acquired from high apprehension are one of the cogent accoutrement getting active to beforehand the beginning HAWP industry.

Timeline for HAWP

Early centuries of kiting approved that the aeroplane is a rotary engine that rotates its binding allotment about its ballast point and causes easily and accoutrements to move because of the activity captured from college apprehension into the automated device. The astriction in the lofted accessories performs the plan of appropriation and affairs physique locations and things. Aerial wind activity (AWE) for HAWP was birthed th27 ousands of years ago; allotment what happened and developing the adumbrated potentials of tethered aircraft for accomplishing appropriate works is what is occurring in AWE HAWP. What is "low" for some workers is "high" for others.

1796 George Pocock (inventor) acclimated absorption approach to biking in cars over acreage roads.

1827 George Pocock's book ‘The Aeropleustic Art’ or 'Navigation in the Air by the Use of Kites or Buoyant Sails' was published. The book was to be republished afresh several times. The Charvolant or Aeroplane Carriage was described. Importantly Pocock declared use of kites for acreage and sea travel.28

1833 John Adolphus Etzler saw HAWP blossom at atomic for traction.29

1864? Book's affiliate Kite-Ship able-bodied describes key dynamics of HAWP acclimated for tugging ships by kites. John Gay's: or Plan for Boys. Affiliate XVIII in the Summer volume.16

1943 Stanley Biszak instructed appliance abeyant activity in free-flight for converting ambient apprehension impacting agent to drive electric architect to allegation batteries.30

1967 Richard Miller, above editor of Soaring magazine, appear book After Visible Means of Support that describes the achievability of free-flight accompanying non-ground-moored kites to abduction differences in wind strata to biking beyond continents; such HAWP is the accountable of Dale C. Kramer's abreast apparent application.

1973? Hermann Oberth In the addendum of his book Primer for Those Who Would Govern there are sketches and a photograph of a archetypal of the Aeroplane Ability Station from the Oberth Museum.31

1977 April 3, 1977, apparatus declared. On September 21, 1979, Douglas Selsam notarized his kite-lifted amaranthine alternation of airfoils HAWP system, all-encompassing blazon that would after appearance in Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels' 32 accessory alleged LadderMill declared in a apparent of 1997. Douglas Selsam conceived his Auto-oriented Wind Harnessing Buoyant Aerial Tramway on April 3, 1977. On the Selsam notarized acknowledgment of apparatus was placed a date of Sept. 20, while the agent placed the final signing on Sept. 21, 1979. addendum and drawings.33

1979 Professor Bryan Roberts begins giromill gyrocopter-type HAWP wind architect development.34

1986 Bryan Roberts' AWE HAWP rotor generates electricity and lifts itself in tethered flight.35

1992 Free Rotor WO/1992020917 Free Rotor by JACK, Colin, Humphry, Bruce (one man). Colin Jack. Colin Bruce. Multi-rotors are treated. Faired tethers are recognized. 1992.

2001 September 6. Adjustment of Utilization a Flow Activity and Ability Installation by physicist Alexander Bolonkin abstracts arena architect of huge AWECS systems.

2001 Founding of SkySails company. As baton in address absorption HAWP, in 2010 they agenda accepting just beneath than 10 installations.36

2002 Drachen Foundation awarded a admission to David Lang so that he would analyze the use of kites to accomplish applied power.37

2004 Physicist Alexander Bolonkin presented a able assay against groundgen AWECS.38

2004 Drachen Foundation had David Lang, above NASA expert, aerospace consultant, conduct a survey-study of kite-based ability generation. He appear a arbitrary of methods in his view.39

2005 HAWP appointment captivated at AeroVironment, Pasadena, CA; attendees: Paul MacCready, Dave Lang, Joe Hadzicki, Scott Skinner. The continued affair was videotaped; the band is in the athenaeum of the Drachen Foundation, accessible to researchers.

2006 on October 19: Jong Chul Kim, filed for all-embracing apparent aegis for "Electric ability bearing adjustment appliance hydro agent tracted by paraglider." His added studies has been for at-sea assembly of hydrogen and added chemicals appliance HAWP tethering aeroplane systems.40

2006 Aeroplane Sailing Symposium, Seattle, Washington, September 28–30, 2006.

2006 Dr. Paul MacCready, American aeriform engineer, Artisan of the Year Award in 1981, publishes an affecting commodity In Appliance Kites to Tap Ability of Wind.

2006 January 30: Aboriginal All-embracing Workshop on Modelling and Optimization of Ability Generating Kites KITE-OPT 07 captivated in Belgium featured keynote apostle astronaut Prof. Wubbo Ockels.

2006 September: 1 A 40 kW ancestor of high-altitude wind genereator is activated in Italy by Aeroplane Gen Research Massimo Ippolito.

2007 Dave Santos approved lofted Portland KiteMotor at alt-energy West Coast Climate Convergence; the bearing success was appear in HIPFiSH Columbia-Pacific's Alternative Monthly (Aug.-Sept./2007). KiteMotor Growing Pains

2008 Dave Santos demonstrates flipwings for AWE passive-control architect systems.

2009 January 28, University of Texas hosted Aerial Wind Activity Seminar in its Aerospace Engineering Department. Keynote presenter: Dave Santos of KiteLab.41

2009 Dave Santos approved acquiescent ascendancy of kite-lifted alive activating aeroplane operating a cord tripod to alteration kite-gained automated activity to a ground-based architect via caster and crank; this was not a reel-method scheme.

2009 Towered WECS companies accessible departments for AWE HAWP: Two ground-hugging towered wind-turbine companies accessible AWE HAWP departments: SpiralAirfoil Aerial and Selsam.

2009 A aboriginal all-embracing industry affiliation was founded: Aerial Wind Activity Industry Affiliation 42

2009 August. Dr. Hong Zhang, Kyle Fitzpatrick, and added acceptance authenticate alive bearing of electricity from powerkiting in alertness for added bookish HAWP studies at Rowan University, New Jersey.43

2009 Nov. 5-6 : HAWP conferece in Chico, CA and Oroville, CA. Scores of HAWP and AWE companies and inventors attended. Systems demonstrated: KiteLab's aerial bladed agent with architect aloft, Selsam multi-rotor torque-tube amalgam with groundstationed generator, SkyMill Activity autogiro RC-controlled reel-in-out method.44

2009 Dec. 9 : TU Delft University holds Aeroplane Dynamics Symposium 09 for HAWP as axial focus.454647

2010 January 13. An advertisement that a ample investment will be fabricated to assemble a bartering utility-scale HAWP activity in the city-limits of Foshan, China.48

2010 March 1–3: Three HAWP companies had booths at ARPA-E Technology Showcase, Gaylord Convention Center, Washington, DC. Investment and showcasing by HAWP entities: Joby Energy, Sky Windpower, and Makani Ability directed visitors to anniversary other's booths.

2010 March 6. Eight aerial wind activity technology article leaders in USA captivated a blast appointment and absitively after argument to adduce a modification to bill HR 3165;49 the primary line-item proposed modification entered to a aldermanic affiliate was the admittance of "airborne wind activity technology."

2010 April 24. Multiple anarchic systems finer captured for advantageous work: Abounding affirmation of alive mini-AWECS involving Double Pendulum and aerial aeroplane wing-mill beneath countdown aeroplane to drive clockworks system's charging lithium array by KiteLab of Ilwaco, Washington, USA. Designer and builder: Dave Santos.50

2010 Another all-embracing alignment has been formed: Aerial Wind Activity Consortium 51

2010 May: USA's NASA firms absorption on AWECS by establishing an AWT abstracts web site: NASA Wind Activity Aerial Harvesting Stystem Study. The NASA 2010 Innovation Fund called Aerial Wind Agent Activity Harvesting UAV Systems; activity baton is Dr. Mark D. Moore, Aeronautics Systems.52

2010, June 16 An all-embracing affiliation amid Dutch and Norwegian entities provides second-round costs for archetypal reel-in HAWP adjustment appliance tethered powerplane system. Aerial wind activity technology close Ampyx Ability ally with Byte and Statkraft.53

16 June 2010 A altered abundance of 700+ assets by aerial wind activity techologist Dave Santos fabricated from 2006 and into 2009 were fabricated accessible to the public. Seven-hundred pages of assets fabricated from 2006 into 2009 by duke and apperception of Dave Santos Alternate abounding name: David Santos Gorena-Guinn, roboticist, artist, architect of KiteLab, adept adviser for KitePilotSchool, and arch abstruse administrator for Aerial Wind Activity Industry Affiliation (AWEIA).

2010 July 9: World's Aboriginal Gondola Agent Array Demo by KiteLab.

2010 September 29–30 Aerial Wind Activity Appointment 2010. This complements the 2009 November aboriginal above all-embracing conference.54

2010 October: The Wayne German Prize for Contributions to Aerial Wind Activity declared its additional year awardee.55

2010 November 25: CONOPS are getting drafted by KiteLab, Ilwaco, WA, USA, and aswell NASA AWT activity baton for acquiescence to the USA's FAA against accepting acknowledgment for potentially accepting aerial wind activity about-face systems as an basic allotment of aerodynamics and air space.56

2010 December 15. IPP: Capturing Wind Activity Through Aerial Platforms (IPP :: Innovative Partnerships Program NASA)

2011 January 15: The 10th Annual Windless Aeroplane Festival in Continued Beach, WA (USA): Dave Santos auspiciously demonstated befitting a aeroplane aerial ambit in no wind via use of tri-tether rig. Such proves a adjustment for AWECS station-keeping if wind fails to accumulate the HAWP ability flying. The adjustment is a about-face of what Santos priorly approved area kites can drive arena architect through a tri-tether rig.

2011 August 25: The 1st address on the high-altitude wind activity technologies and markets is appear by GL Garrad Hassan. It is the aboriginal of its affectionate and absolutely focuses on high-altitude wind activity systems. The Bazaar Status Address on High Altitude Wind Activity provides a abundant overview on wind activity resources, altered systems and technologies, complex companies and the bazaar potential. The bazaar allotment focuses on the adopted appliance of high-altitude wind energy.57

edit See also

Wind

Wind power

Tether

Aeroplane types

Aeroplane applications

Wind turbine

Turbine

Wind contour ability law

Aerial wind turbine

Altitude

High altitude

Betz' law

Wind farm

Wind ability assessment

Aerial Wind Activity Industry Association