Despite a warming climate, the demand for thermal energy is as high as ever. I am curious about the potential for a hybrid wind turbine (clutchable): Generate electricity during peak hours (high price) "The conclusion says that coupling a wind turbine to a heat pump is the most cost effective realization of wind powered heating". For example how much more heat do you get when you use ground loops or ground water vs outside air? It all seems to be an interesting concept, but "proof of concept" and "worth doing" are very different. In principle, nothing much would change from that of a conventional system water heating system. The average cost of a small roof-mounted turbine (between 0.5 kW to 2.5 kW), is about 2,000 5. Maybe a storage system with both hot and cold stores might be interesting. I see a few problems with your approach. "WIND POWERED THERMAL ENERGY SYSTEMS (WTES)". March 09, 2019 at 11:46 PM. It's probably going to be less practical compared to using a water brake."". And there's also hot water production for washing and cleaning. Heat storage can solve this issue but it requires the storage capacity to store 'few months' of generation to fully decouple the generation and demand. Even the International Energy Agency doesn't mention direct conversion of wind into heat when it presents all possible options for renewable heat production. Great article. Due to efficiency heatpumps are intermittent energy demand. Retarders and mechanical heat pumps have the same advantages as Joule Machines, in the sense that they are much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than electrical generators. Source: 8, The Joule Machine was originally conceived as a measuring apparatus. Some low-tech cooling approaches, and "just get used to the summer heat", fall short, but a mechanical-input heat pump could also be a dehumidifier. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. I found that I could create high resistance in a small container by using BBs with a little oil, plus metal stirring rods. @Kris I'm not seeing the contradiction in [15]. I would say the biggest challenge of direct wind-powered heating system is: the utilisation of this system would be low because of the mismatch between wind power and heat demand profiles. However, in both cases, if you want to heat your house with wind power, a simple water brake windmill seems to me like the best choice. A heat generating windmill can also be combined with a solar boiler, so that both sun and wind can supply direct thermal energy using the same heat storage reservoir. Source: [13], They compare this with the thermal energy demand of a 120 m2 energy efficient new building, heated to modern comfort standards, and conclude that a heat generating windmill could cover from 40-75% of the annual heating needs (depending on the energy efficiency class of the construction). The electrical current stored in the battery is usually 12V and is DC. Also say you've got the 20 mph wind consistent enough to sustain the power output. A direct mechanically coupled heat pump may not be as efficient as it sounds. The most fascinating thing about water brake windmills is that, hypothetically, they could have been built hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Pan Stanford Publishing, 2013. A much larger water brake windmill (7.5m rotor diameter, 17m tower) was built in 1982 by the Svaneborg brothers, and heated the house of one of them (the other brother opted for a wind turbine and an electric heating system). [Update: just received a mail that the author, who built one of the first water brake mills, is busy answering my questions -- more soon]. For the off-grid system, directly coupling a mechanical windmill to a mechanical heat pump is the cheapest option, while the combination of a wind turbine and an electric boiler is two to three times more expensive. Posted by: https://www.catchpower.com.au/live-catch-feed, Posted by: Taking into account both investment and operational costs, small-scale heat generating windmills with mechanical heat pumps are equally expensive or cheaper than conventional gas boilers when assuming the typical performance of a small windmill (which produces over a period of one year 12% to 22% of its maximum energy output). Posted by: I have no commercial relationship with them other than as a customer. Do you just need a couple of lights for occasional use, or do you plan to run broadband, a computer, heating, or a host of power tools? Larger heat generating windmills were built in the 1980s. That and a 5 meter (16+ ft) diameter rotor You will have a difficult time finding a location that reliably supplies the required wind speed and has space for a largish (and noisy) turbine. I built a water brake using a paint can and spun it with my drill press. List of Top Rated Solar Powered Heater For Shed from thousands of customer reviews & feedback. Also great for even, oscillating heat . If not where would I find suppliers for this type of turbine? View an alternate. Taking into account both investment and operational costs, small-scale heat generating windmills with mechanical heat pumps are equally expensive or cheaper than conventional gas boilers when assuming the typical performance of a small windmill (which produces over a period of one year 12% to 22% of its maximum energy output). Chuck Hays | Storing the high heat underground in rocks seems like a cheap option. 12 However, using similar models for heat production decreases embodied energy and costs, increases lifetime, and improves efficiency. 1 In temperate or cold climates, the share of thermal energy is even higher. In a 2011 paper, German and UK scientists write that small and remote households in northern regions demand thermal energy rather than electricity, and therefore wind turbines in such places should be build for thermal energy generation. These seem to be the only English language documents on Danish water brake windmills. Kris - thanks a lot for this great article, very inspiring! Posted by: Very interesting article! Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. But these don't generate very much electricity, so it will take a very long time to recoup that cost. Your comment could not be posted. This is saying that direct wind to heat would then be 280% efficient. If you want to see the little relay the following link will take you there. "Usage of the Wind Energy for Heating of the Energy-Efficient Buildings: Analysis of Possibilities." The Danish water brake windmill from the 1970s was a relatively small machine, with a rotor diameter of around 6 meters and a height of around 12 meters. We have a 5kW (partly shaded PV system with Enphase micro inverters) and a 13kWh battery at our house and it provides almost all our power except for a few weeks in winter. That way it would be kept simple. March 03, 2019 at 09:05 PM. If in doubt, contact them directly for advice. Posted by: How to design a sailing ship for the 21st century? Posted by: Ian Speer | February 27, 2019 at 07:03 PM. Source: [15], The study compares heat generating windmills based on retarders and mechanical heat pumps with indirect heat production using electric boilers and electric heat pumps. Peter Sharp | Taking your shed off-grid is simple to achieve, good for the environment, and could save money in the long-term. Can be a good source of power during the windy, sun-restricted, winter months. It's probably going to be less practical compared to using a water brake. If you had any pointers to resources, links to other people's DIY direct wind-to-heat pump setups, or were planning on doing an article on those, that would be greatly appreciated! It should be possible to create high heat for cooking this way -- about 400 degrees F, which is about the limit of most oils before they begin to smoke. Heat generating windmills are also investigated for renewable electricity production, mainly because they offer a better solution for energy storage compared to batteries or other common technologies. 2. , World Bank: Renewable electricity output. Second, wind generators are quite efficient (unlike thermal power plants), so the heat supply would be limited. Could be a topic for a future article. Of course, there are other ways but this is the simplest solution. A heat generating windmill with a water brake, placed inside the bottom of the tower. The aim of the concept is to utilize wind power instead of conventional wood burning method in order to keep people warm in the cold months. For a ground source domestic heat pump, that is typically 4 times more heat energy out than electrical energy in. free uk mainland delivery The direct alternative for solar photovoltaic power is solar thermal power, a technology that appeared in the nineteenth century following cheaper production technologies for glass and mirrors. A heat generator based on this principle is basically a wind-powered mixer or impeller installed into an insulated tank filled with water. I don't have the answer but I've sent a mail to some scientists who wrote about the eddy current heater. A 2013 study using a prototype calculated the efficiency of the system to be 91%. Consequently, hot water could literally be tapped out of the windmill. How would the economics or environmental considerations be affected if you were to move a lightweight windmill during the course of the year, in order to have windmill spend most of its time where the wind is blowing or the climate is cold? One of the smaller early Danish heat generating windmills was officially tested. The LO-FA was also the largest of the heat generating windmills, with a 12 meter diameter rotor. This old-fashioned approach remains relevant, also in combination with new technology, because it would be more energy efficient compared to first converting the energy to electricity, and then back to rotational energy. This adds back an electric generator to the system but it only has to be sized for average power*, not peak windy day power, March 02, 2019 at 12:41 AM. However, in this case a gearbox is required to achieve optimal efficiency. "Also, how would you transfer the waste heat from the generator to the heat medium? The CAPEX values are however much higher for heat pumps, so they don't have the same low tech cool as retarders. In particular, the electric heat pump is promoted by many governments and organisations as a sustainable solution for renewable heat generation. Source: 13. You note from the way the discussions go that you managed to motivate many people to a point where they are willing to really get hands-on rather than just admire the concept. Concerning the Water Brake Windmill and your question about how one would control the temperature of the house. A solar thermal collector skips the conversion to electricity and supplies renewable thermal energy in a direct and more efficient way. I think this technology could be great for island communities in higher latitudes. In total, at least a dozen different models have been documented, both DIY and commercial models. I am curious about the potential for a hybrid wind turbine (clutchable): Generate electricity during peak hours (high price) BTW, I am off grid, and do have practical experience. Local heating can also be combined with direct heat production, and then you win even more. Are there tables out there that specify what house area can be heated to what temperature differential at what wind speeds? Build a large box with six sections with a sheet of plywood and 11 wood strips. Due to how the article was structured, it sometimes seemed to argue that water brake windmills are more efficient than electric heat pumps. 7, A much larger water brake windmill (7.5m rotor diameter, 17m tower) was built in 1982 by the Svaneborg brothers, and heated the house of one of them (the other brother opted for a wind turbine and an electric heating system). The mill was built by Jorgen Andersen in 1975, and stood in Serritslev. In this case, it becomes possible to build a pretty reliable heating system with a smaller heat storage tank, because the combination of two often complementary energy sources increases the chances of direct heat supply. Is anyone actually making the technology, or is it still in the lab? the generator is not up on the tower (requiring a stronger tower). For example, for the very small Savonius windmill that the scientists used as a model (0.5m rotor diameter, 2m tower), it was calculated that the impeller diameter should be 0.388m. Given the definition of "efficiency," this is of course completely incorrect. So I experimented a bit toward creating more concentrated heat at a high temperature. According to Eco-shed of the Year winner. Also, designing some cavitation into the submersed rotor might increase the rate of heating. Because if most of the energy loss of converting mechanical energy to electric energy is the generator, wouldn't moving the generator inside the house bring any significant benefits? Drawing of the heat generator of a heat generating windmill. Purely for the sake of exploring ideas I will pursue my original train of thought anyway ;). Overload your circuit and it will overheat and could catch fire; go for too high a rating and youre just wasting money. A heat generating windmill with a water brake, placed inside the bottom of the tower. The heater requires a specific battery or electricity to ignite the propane and run the fans that blow out the hot air. Wind turbines rely on a steady breeze to keep the blades turning, so good positioning is paramount. This adds back an electric generator to the system but it only has to be sized for average power*, not peak windy day power, A mechanical windmill can also be coupled to a mechanical heat pump, which can be cheaper than using a gas boiler or an electric heat pump driven by a wind turbine. $59.99 $ 59. kris de decker | In terms of using wind-driven mechanical heat pumps to produce heat. The convolutions used (and I'm only guessing here) is that 70% efficiency means 30% loss, and that 90% efficient means 10% loss, so 1/3 the loss is the same as a 3x gain. Step 2: Familiarise yourself with the equipment Battery Power storage is essential for downtime "Concept study of wind power utilizing direct thermal energy conversion and thermal energy storage." Towards the end you touched upon on windmills directly driving the shaft of heat pumps. Direct heat production is cheaper, can be more energy efficient, and is more sustainable than indirect heat production. Source: 8. Would the heat be sufficient to kill pathogens in the water tank for longer-term water storage? Due to the large energy losses for heat transportation, the heat generating windmill is at its best as a decentralised energy source, providing heat to an off-the-grid household or in the optimal case a small city. Read Low-tech Magazine with no access to a computer, a power supply, or the internet. If there are no commercial units of small permanent magnet eddy current heaters for water or oil heating generation currently available, maybe one or more of "us" Low-tech Magazine readers has the capabilities to build one? There is much more to win on the demand side than on the supply side, and the habit to heat the whole space of a building can indeed be questioned. you could try to make it dual mode one to heat water and one to run a pump to pump water through pipes in ground at night and through house in day to cool the house acting as a wind powered geothermal plant. Posted by: steve | February 28, 2019 at 12:36 AM. Wood stoves equipped with thermoelectric generators can produce electricity that is more sustainable, more reliable, and less costly than power from solar PV panels. In other models, heat generation happened at the bottom of the tower from the top of the windmill there was a shaft down to the bottom where the water brake was installed. A UK based solar system could suffer from a lack of available sunshine, particularly in the winter months. The idea of direct conversion of meccanical energy of a windmill into heat is so simple that it seems impossible it has not been applied on a large scale yet. From the Neolithic to the beginning of the twentieth century, coppiced woodlands, pollarded trees, and hedgerows provided people with a sustainable supply of energy, materials, and food. , themes: Off-the-grid energy storage Heating and cooling Wind power Renewable energy History. Water brake windmills may be a lot cheaper to build, but they are not more energy efficient because a heat pump only moves heat. March 03, 2019 at 01:04 PM. ". Or fastest delivery Fri, Feb 17 . Subject: To build a water brake windmill from scratch. Greenhouse, Dog House, Shed, Gable, Attic. OK, now I get your point, you are right. We looked carefully at direct water heating via the actual PV panels and found there are two manufacturers (one French and the other Turkish) but they only seem to be effective at lower temperatures such as pool heating plus we have long very hot summers and solar water heaters tend to spend summers venting hot water to avoid overheating in any case. Again, also here things dont change much from the conventional. The interesting thing is that the heat generating windmill offers an alternative for direct heat production in less sunny (and more windy) climates, either by itself or in combination with a solar thermal system. The direct alternative for wind power that everybody knows is the old-fashioned windmill, which is at least 2.000 years old. But that's because you heat people, not spaces. We show you how with this handy guide covering all the basics. Posted by: 1 15 In this second type of heat generating windmill, heat is produced with mechanical heat pumps or hydrodynamic retarders, not with a water brake. "Expanding the horizons of power-to-heat: Cost assessment for new space heating concepts with Wind Powered Thermal Energy Systems." Obviously a water brake windmill is suited for a windy climate. Some low-tech cooling approaches, and "just get used to the summer heat", fall short, but a mechanical-input heat pump could also be a dehumidifier. HyLite. Most turbine manufacturers provide wind energy system packages that include towers. This is comparable to the heat output of the smallest electric boilers for space heating. Most used simple wooden blades. Good question. Dozens of Danish tinkerers did in the 1970s and 1980s. No way it's 300% as efficient, but without the source data, there's no way for the reader (or obviously the writer) to calculate. I just wanted to comment in relation to the article and the use of heat pumps. Source: [7]. It would need off the shelf part preferably OpenSource (cost wise it would be better to pay someone most in need to design for instance in Bangladesh with a low fee cryptocurrency to design it). Thanks for your speedy reply. I would love to learn more about the feasibility of those mills as heating system for small houses. If more information is needed maybe we could pool our resources and help one another to gather information for a Proto build. The Joule is defined as the energy equivalent to the work done by a force of 1 Newton over a distance of 1 meter, i.e. 2,000 5 heat from the conventional is about 2,000 5 the environment, and efficiency. 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Calculated the efficiency of the wind energy system packages that include towers of the smaller early Danish generating... As retarders are there tables out there that specify what house area can be heated to temperature! On windmills directly driving the shaft of heat pumps probably going to be less practical compared to using a calculated... Demand for thermal energy SYSTEMS. documents on Danish water brake windmill and your about! Is cheaper, can be heated to what temperature differential at what speeds. Tapped out of the Energy-Efficient Buildings: Analysis of Possibilities. x27 ; ve the! Exploring ideas I will pursue my original train of thought anyway ; ), using similar for. Danish heat generating windmills, with a water brake, placed inside the bottom of the energy...
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