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New wind turbine technology with helicopter blades revolutionizes the segment. Understand the benefits and differences that this model brings to the renewable energy market.
Wind turbines are undergoing a revolutionary transformation. A Swedish company is innovating a floating system made up of 126 small turbines. Simultaneously, a Dutch company is exploring helicopter propeller technology to reinvent wind turbine design. These innovations promise to take the efficiency of renewable energy to a new level.
New technology aimed at the wind energy market has already been developed almost half a century ago
The manufacturer Seawind Ocean Technologies developed a new two-propeller wind turbine that is 25% cheaper to install and operate than the conventional three-blade one, but which produces, in essence, the same amount of energy.
Developed to be installed on the high seas, where the wind tends to be stronger and more predominant, the first turbine with helicopter propellers is scheduled for 2024, bringing to light a technology developed almost 50 years ago.
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In 1873, when the world was experiencing an oil crisis, the NASA tasked helicopter pioneer Glidden Doman with developing a system that could be replicated at scale. Doman, who later became co-founder of Seawind, came up with a unique idea: take advantage of the rotation system used in helicopters to introduce new two-blade wind turbine technology and a clever mechanism called a “swing hinge”.
Three wind energy turbines like this were produced and one was installed on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, but five years later, the program ended up being canceled due to lack of financing and urgency, as oil prices returned to normal levels in the 90s. Other large twin-propeller turbines were also installed, but all failed due to oscillation problems.
Understand the working process of the wind turbine 25% more affordable than traditional models
The purpose of a wind energy turbine is very simple, it uses the wind to generate as much electrical energy as possible. To do this, the turbines must follow your direction and adjust their exposure depending on the speed. When the wind is very strong, as happens at sea, the blades of a conventional turbine end up rotating around their own axis, to reduce the impact of the wind.
Yes, the wind turbine system with helicopter propellers developed by Seawind, rotates the so-called “head” of the turbine, in the same way as a sunflower. An attached system of hinges helps the rotor inside the head to oscillate or tilt a few degrees.
According to Vincent Dewulf, CEO of Seawind, the rotor is like a boat sail that you need to adjust when the wind changes. A radar on top measures wind speed and directs rotation accordingly.
All of this helps to reduce the need for the blade angulation mechanism, which is complex, expensive and one of the main causes of failures in traditional wind energy turbines. That is why, according to the executive, the company is capable of generating energy at a cost 25% lower than other turbines, while producing the same quantity as a three-blade turbine with a similar diameter.
Dewulf explains the reason for increasing the length of the turbines by 5 meters
To compensate for the smaller number of propellers, Dewulf explains that they increased their length by 5 meters. The wind turbine system with helicopter propellers developed by the company brings several advantages. They are able to spin faster since there is less air resistance.
With one less blade, installation becomes cheaper and easier and, as it depends on fewer moving parts and has simpler mechanisms, maintenance also becomes. According to the executive, when operating on the high seas, having to carry out frequent maintenance is a problem.
So far, Seawind has raised €2,8 million to develop the first turbine, although Dewulf says the company is on track to raise another €55 million to fund certifications, simulations and the construction of the turbine itself.
Helicopters do not have propellers; they have rotary wings. That was a big mistake in the title and in the body of the article.
But the idea sounds good.