[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://i30.tinypic.com/mm39mx.jpg[/img]

Mimicking the bumps on humpback-whale fins could lead to
more efficient wind turbines.

Marine scientists have long suspected that humpback whales'
incredible agility comes from the bumps on the leading edges of
their flippers. Now Harvard University researchers have come up
with a mathematical model that helps explain this hydrodynamic
edge. The work gives theoretical weight to a growing body of
empirical evidence that similar bumps could lead to more-stable
airplane designs, submarines with greater agility, and turbine
blades that can capture more energy from the wind and water.

...the turbines generate the same amount of power at 10 miles per
hour that conventional turbines generate at 17 miles per hour. The
tubercles effectively channel the air flow across the blades and
create swirling vortices that enhance lift.

...WhalePower has also shown in demonstrations that
tubercle-lined blades on industrial ceiling fans can operate 20
percent more efficiently than conventional blades can, and they do
a better job at circulating air flow in a building.

Whale-Inspired Windmills
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20379/
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:WhalePower_Corp

[NTBKtrader]

pretty cool

[steam_cannon]

Yeah it looks cool!

Also I think it could have a big influence on where wind power is
considered viable...

http://www.brynmawr.edu/geology/206/tomich.htm

[Tanada]

Imagine the electricy consumed by just the ceiling and box fans used in the USA on a warm summer night. Now subtract 20% power draw from those applications.

That has to be a BIG number. Now take all the propellor driven aircraft and propellor driven boats. Reduce their energy consumption 20%.

Even if you never build a single wind turbine this is going to have HUGE implications for moving fluids with blades, or moving blades through fluids depending on the application.

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '
')I've been following this technology and it's recent developments
look promising. It looks this will have a whale of an influence on the
wind turbine industry and aviation...

Thoughts?

[steam_cannon]

That's no Whale!



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'W')ondering if this has been tried before I found another article, with,
God, another pun in the title:
Science News for Kids: Feature: Are Propellers Fin-ished? Mostly about ship propellers...

[The_Toecutter]

This was a very interesting article. I wonder what proportions each of the little groves have relative to each other and the size of the blade itself? How about tip-speed ratio?

I'd like to be able to replicate them for a DIY wind turbine project.



I wonder if certain types of creatures in the oceans could show us a similar possible advancement to exploit in regard to the lesser used vertical axis wind turbines(which are usually better at producing more power at low aspeeds than horizontal axis turbines, BUT never approach the efficiency of a modern 3-blade design)?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', 'T')his was a very interesting article. I wonder what proportions each of the little groves have relative to each other and the size of the blade itself? How about tip-speed ratio?

I'd like to be able to replicate them for a DIY wind turbine project.



I wonder if certain types of creatures in the oceans could show us a similar possible advancement to exploit in regard to the lesser used vertical axis wind turbines(which are usually better at producing more power at low aspeeds than horizontal axis turbines, BUT never approach the efficiency of a modern 3-blade design)?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'F')rom counting the lead edge bumps in various pictures of different
applications I get 25-30 tubercle's per unti leangth. I don't know if
that is a hard an fast rule, or just how it worked for these but if I
can scrape up the resources (well I know I can't so why plan it?) I
would like to test it. What I would like to do is take two ceiling
fans which are identical, probably 4 blade models for economical
reasons, leave one factory standard and see what its power draw
is while running at each setting. Take the other fan and glue
thirty lag bolts on the edge of the blade so that the round end
hooks on the edge. Then test the modified fan to see what its
power draw is with the bolts in place. It would take more energy to
get up to speed because the bolts, even 1" size, are going to add a
lot of weight, but once up to speed inertia means the mass will stay
at speed and if the bolts make it more efficient it will make up the
energy needed to start.

Anyone willing to try out this test?

[WisJim]

It looks like this technology has been around for a few years (the patent is from 2002)--and the "recent press" linked in their website is from May 2007. I wonder why no one in the wind energy industry has mentioned this? It has been found that airfoils best suited for propellors designed to move air are not the best airfoils for wind generator blades. I also think that the cost of adding these "bumps" or "tubercles" to blades would add a lot to the cost of the machines, and give more places for dirt, dust, and ice to collect on the blades. A lot of blades for machines are pultruded and this new technology would be difficult to adapt to that method of manufacture.

However, I would like to see some tests and comparisons of machines using these ideas.

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', '
')I wonder if certain types of creatures in the oceans could show us a similar possible advancement to exploit in regard to the lesser used vertical axis wind turbines(which are usually better at producing more power at low aspeeds than horizontal axis turbines, BUT never approach the efficiency of a modern 3-blade design)?

[JRP3]

For modeling the Tubercles it might be easier to remove material than add it, maybe cutout scallops on the edge of the blade? If the blade were thick enough you could sculpt it in 3 dimensions to better resemble the real thing. Maybe make some foam blades?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', 'I') always thought the vertical axis turbines were less efficient in low
winds since they can't even self start? Isn't one side of the turbine
always turning into the wind, trying to stall it?

[Tanada]

I had to work this morning so I was mentally unchallenged and started thinking about this revolution in fluid dynamics from Whalepower.com.

I started listing in my head all the things in my house that use fluids that are pumped or moved mechanically by fan blades.

Water, natural gas to feed my furnace, condensed coolant pump for my refridgerator coils, cooling fan for my fridge, cooling fan for my microwave, cooling fan for this computer, heat transfer fan for my central heat pump inside, blower fan for my furnace/heat pump, condensate pump for my central heat pump, heat exchanger fan outside for my central heat pump, box fan used to circulate air in my basement, dehumidifier fan and coolant pump in my dehumidifier in my basement, cooling fan for my second computer in the basement.

The Water and Natural Gas pumps are provided by the utility companies externally so if I discount both of them that leaves 12 fans and/or coolant pumps I operate regularly, some of them nearly constantly. If this technology were applied across the board over the next five years as appliances get replaced just how much of a savings are we talking about?

Another thing that occured to me, Desalination is expensive because of the cost of the high presure pumps energy consumption. If this cuts energy costs 10% that makes Desalination cost competitive with shipping water across the mountains to California from the Colorado watershed.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'A')nother thing that occured to me, Desalination is expensive
because of the cost of the high presure pumps energy consumption.
If this cuts energy costs 10% that makes Desalination cost
competitive with shipping water across the mountains to California
from the Colorado watershed.

[Tanada]

Props vs Jet propulsion is mostly a matter of how fast you need to go. They can easily make jet engines small enough for Censa size private aircraft, but because those planes are mostly used for small hops from place to place where air traffic is as big a factor in travle time as is speed they usually have propellors which are more fuel efficient at slower speeds. If the take off and landing cycle costs you 30 minutes and the plane is a prop job and takes 60 minutes to travle do you really gain anything by switching to a jet and making the trip in 40 minutes instead? 20 minutes of your time is a small investment compared to the expense of a private jet. Now if you are going halfway across the continent the added time does make a difference, at the end of WW II the USAAF made the first transcontinental flights in a little over nine hours. You can make the same trip today in a jet in five, if you go non-stop. Then again if My airline offers you the ticket for half price but takes twice as long would I be able to get the low cost travler market? (Just as an example, I don't have an airline to test the theory with!)

Another question, if this technology works for leading edges of wings, which some of the science indicates, how much cheaper will flying become? Or rather, how much more fuel cost increase will the airlines be able to withstand?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'A')nother question, if this technology works for leading edges of wings,
which some of the science indicates, how much cheaper will flying
become? Or rather, how much more fuel cost increase will the airlines
be able to withstand?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'A')nother question, if this technology works for leading edges of wings,
which some of the science indicates, how much cheaper will flying
become? Or rather, how much more fuel cost increase will the airlines
be able to withstand?

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '
')
Like I said somewhere or other, if this works it will revolutionize fluid dynamics for everything we pump or displace. Thematically any aircraft displaces airflow.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'D')oes anyone know, do Humpback whales have Tubercles on their snouts?