Invelox has neither a turbine on a tower nor a large generator. In fact, says Carla Scholz, vice president of marketing and communications at SheerWind, Invelox is not a turbine at all, rather an injection system that captures and delivers wind to a turbine.
Smaller, more powerful systems that reduce operating costs and maximize energy output could be the future of wind energy, according to Minnesota-based SheerWind. Offering a glimpse into the future, the company has developed Invelox. The name derives from SheerWind’s mission of INcreasing the VELOcity of wind. The design consists of four sections: intake, concentrator, Venturi, and diffuser. Here’s how it works:
A large intake captures wind from any direction, funnels it down tapered pipes that naturally accelerate wind flow to a concentrator that ends in a Venturi section, where a turbine is placed. Wind is then expelled through a diffuser. According to SheerWind, this technology increases wind speed by converting part of existing static pressure energy into kinetic energy. The kinetic energy in turn powers a ground-based generator.
The first small-scale prototype was installed near SheerWind’s facility in Chaska, Minnesota, and several field tests and a commercial demonstration were conducted in 2012. Today, the company is looking for developers with financial capabilities and power demands over 50 kW.
SheerWind
www.sheerwind.com
Filed Under: News
Show me the data for cost of electricity based on at least one actual installation with performance and wind speed documented. Otherwise, this is just another wind turbine “breakthrough technology” money scheme.
Mike Barnard is a very ineffective and very misleading self proclaimed wind expert. Full analysis here:
http://ontario-wind-resistance.org/2014/09/10/mike-barnards-disreputable-wind-industry-propagandist-role-revealed/
Read comments. Run away.
The Invelox is a very ineffective and very misleadingly represented wind generation device. Full analysis here:
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/07/08/invelox-ducted-turbine-latest-long-line-failures/
Don’t invest. Run away.
Of course, the proof of all good RE devices is in the cost of energy. I would be pleased to hear that the device could achieve a low value and I would enjoy the opportunity to assist with that process professionally. However, I would like to point out one of the aspects of wind turbine physics that is not widely appreciated. A wind turbine rotor actually produces energy from a pressure drop and not a velocity change. There is no change in flow velocity across the rotor itself. All the velocity change happens in the distance upstream and downstream equivalent to a few rotor diameters. So the above described process of converting some static pressure energy in to kinetic energy in the initial part of the duct must be reversed in order to extract energy at the rotor.
And when you consider that you can put several of these on the same ground area as one ‘traditional’ turbine, the amount of power generated from the same size piece of land goes up rather dramatically!
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