The wind turbines, as we know them, with huge blades may soon be a thing of the past. Vortex Bladeless is a Spanish company that has come up with this innovative turbine without propeller. Actually, it uses the phenomenon of Vorticity where oscillations of wind are used to generate electricity. However, this wind turbine is made up of same material as the traditional wind turbines.
The phenomenon of Vorticity is actually an aerodynamic effect. It happens in the sitaution when wind moves around a structure resulting in patterns of vortexes. At times, this phenomenon may become very strong with some serious consequences. Take the example of the famous Tacoma Narrow bridge when one windy day the Vorticity created by the wind current became so strong that it caused the bridge to swing frantically and collapse into the Tacoma river below and all this happened within just few months within the inauguration of the bridge.
In this case, the scientists are trying to harness the power of Vorticity for the good of humanity by making turbines without blades. The current prototype is shaped as an elongated cone which is fabricated from carbon fiber and carbon glass. At the bottom are two magnets that repel one another to make the cone move and serve as an alternator for the production of electricity.
As far as the dimension of Vortex mini is considered it is 12 meters high and weighs 38 Kg. On the downside, although the electricity producing efficiency of this wind mill is lower than the traditional designs. Still we can overcome this disadvantage, as owing to its smart design, we can place many Vortex Mini at the same place. According to David Suriol who is the co-founder of Bladeless, the absence of mechanical moving parts makes the structure easier and cheaper to make. Another added advantage is the less noise pollution.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqL4Dsq3ryo[/youtube]