Energy: Airborne-Wind-Turbine

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In this modern era man search for clean energy is a very sought after necessity. Current technologies include solar farms, damns, and windmills which are all sheep sources of energy but have low output yields. The need now is to find viable methods to produce more energy using the fundamental energies of wind, water and solar power and make it cheap. Steps have been made to better harness the power of water using wave and current turbines. Other methods have used the sun in focusing its rays to produce steam energy. While some of these programs have been proven to work and others have actually built there is one energy that engineers have had a hard time sorting out. Wind energy is a very good source of power and the current methods of collection are good, however, engineers feel that they can do better in harnessing this energy. The challenge they are facing is how to tame the less predictable nature of the winds above.

“Airborne wind energy is based on the long-known reality that winds get stronger and more reliable the higher off the ground you go”(1). The concept of airborne wind energy has been a hot topic in the past few years as companies have tried to find ways to replace the windmills currently used (1). Naturally Engineers have been trying to find ways to get turbines higher and higher into the air. By doing this the turbines can produce greater energy levels with the increased wind speeds seen at theses altitudes. There are many different designs on how to harness this energy but all of them have faced the same problems.

Because of the variable nature of the earth’s winds and weather, the programs have faced numerous challenges. “There are several fundamental challenges with airborne wind turbines related to flight ...

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...tion takes place. There are two types of turbines, horizontal and vertical. A horizontal turbine is used in the BAT. A wind turbine creates electrical power from the wind by taking the kinetic energy generated by the rotation of the blades and converting it into electrical power. This power is either processed on site, or set to a central facility before delivered to the main power grid. The tethers are made of high strength lightweight material which holds the turbine in place while transmitting power generated by the turbine to the ground station. These tethers are responsible for keeping the BAT in place during all weather conditions to include high winds, thunderstorms and freezing temperatures.

Works Cited

http://barnardonwind.com/2013/03/07/are-airborne-wind-turbines-a-plausible-source-of-cheap-clean-energy/
http://www.altaerosenergies.com/bat.html

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