How to steal energy from hurricanes?
When it comes to the most destructive natural disasters, hurricanes deserve the title. After a hurricane makes landfall, strong winds will tear off roofs, heavy rains will cause flooding, and everything in its path will be reduced to ruins. For example, Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, although it made landfall with the intensity of a small hurricane, still caused at least US$75 billion in economic losses, 1,836 lives lost, and 705 people are still missing.
Although the destructive power of hurricanes is amazing, they can be called "demon". But this "demon" doesn't just cause trouble, because hurricanes are also huge "energy banks." It is calculated that a hurricane can produce 600 trillion watts of energy, which is equivalent to 200 times the total energy produced in the world in a year. Therefore, as long as humans make good use of it, the "devil" will also benefit humans. So, how should scientists make use of these tropical cyclones with huge destructive power and strange movements?
Most of a hurricane's energy is stored as heat, which is released as water vapor evaporates and condenses into rain. At present, it is not possible to utilize the heat energy of hurricanes at the level of human science and technology.
Another part of the energy generated by hurricanes is wind energy. Although it only accounts for one percent of the energy generated by hurricanes, researchers estimate that hurricanes can create wind speeds of approximately 241 kilometers per hour, which is also a considerable amount. Considerable potential for clean energy. Now, there are new inventions that harness hurricane wind energy.
Improving wind turbines
One way is to improve wind turbines. A traditional wind turbine consists of three giant blades with fixed directions. The wind force is used to drive the windmill blades to rotate, and then the speed increaser is used to increase the rotation speed to prompt the generator to generate electricity. But in hurricane days, excessively fast rotation speed and unpredictable wind direction can make the blades easy to break. So, when a hurricane or typhoon arrives, the turbines are locked and stop producing energy in order to reduce losses. Even so, typhoon damage to conventional wind turbines can be devastating. In 2013, a typhoon destroyed 16 wind turbines along the coast of Japan. When Typhoon Usagi landed in the Red Bay of Shanwei, Guangdong, eight turbines in the local wind farm collapsed and another eight were damaged.
Now, a Japanese entrepreneur has improved the traditional blade turbine, eliminated its fragility, and invented the world's first typhoon turbine. This turbine generator is shaped like a huge winding board for flying kites. The main body is three cylinders fixed with Y-shaped frames at both ends, and the middle is connected to an upright shaft on the ground. This not only can adapt to the wind in any direction, but is not easy to be broken. , and make full use of the Magnus effect. The Magnus effect means that when a rotating body is placed in a fluid, the flow on one side of the fluid accelerates due to friction with the rotating body, while on the other side, the flow slows down. This difference in flow rate creates a pressure difference that exerts a force in a direction perpendicular to the flow of the fluid. The thrust generated by the Magnus effect drives the blades of the typhoon turbine to rotate. The three blades rotate simultaneously, which ultimately drives the vertical axis to rotate to generate electricity.
At the same time, the vertical axis can also control the speed of the blades. No matter how strong the external force is, as long as the vertical axis tightens the blades, the blades will slow down or become completely stationary. This can prevent the blades from rotating in typhoon weather. Loss of speed. Under normal circumstances, this typhoon turbine can achieve about 30% efficiency. Although traditional wind turbines can achieve 40%, they cannot operate normally during typhoon weather.
Before the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, Japan planned to achieve nuclear power accounting for 60% of primary energy use by 2020. After the accident, Japan had to rely on imports for approximately 84% of its energy. The inventor believes that when such a typhoon generator is put into use, only one typhoon will be able to generate the electricity Japan needs for 50 years. In 2016, the world's first typhoon turbine generator was installed in Okinawa, Japan.
Hurricane "shield"
At the International Research Center of Florida International University in the United States, there is a hurricane wind test laboratory. Entering the test room, you will see the wind wall, the world's largest hurricane simulation equipment. The wind wall is very high and consists of two layers of fans stacked on top of each other. Each fan is about 1.6 meters in diameter, with a total of 12 fans. Each fan is powered by a 700-horsepower engine. The maximum wind speed pumped by this 8,400-horsepower system can reach approximately 256 kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane.
Initially, researchers at Florida International University simply wanted to experiment with improving the design and materials of buildings that collapsed in the violent hurricane, including many details from nails and shingles to air-conditioning units on the roof. However, researchers recently did not want to stop there. They designed a new invention that can not only fight hurricanes, but also generate electricity.
When a hurricane hits a building, blocked by the building, the wind will flow upward and form a vortex. The vortex spins and moves quickly, tearing apart tiles and roof shingles. Moreover, the vortex of air blowing rapidly across the roof and the air inside the house will create a pressure difference, forming an upward lift and overturning the entire roof. The device invented by the scientists is as long as a propeller turbine and can be installed on the eaves or drainage channels of the entire building. In this way, when a hurricane hits the building, it can take advantage of the powerful air vortex it generates and at the same time reduce the damage of the air vortex. power.
In addition to reducing the impact of wind on buildings, turbines can also store electricity. When a home is hit by a blackout-level storm, the electricity generated by the turbine can maintain the power supply of the home for several days. Now, this equipment is still in the testing stage. If successfully developed in the future, it will not only be able to utilize the wind energy of hurricanes, but also the "breeze" with a speed of more than ten kilometers per hour. In the future, with the help of this technology, each household will be able to achieve self-sufficiency in electrical energy without having to wait for power supply from the city grid.
Buoys can also generate electricity
Hurricanes not only wreak havoc on land, they also create huge waves in the ocean. On August 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene arrived on the east coast of the United States. The U.S. government ordered the evacuation of millions of residents long ago. Compared with the hasty evacuation of humans, one piece of equipment has been placed in advance in the sea areas where hurricanes will pass through, facing the huge waves. It is the PB3 energy buoy.
The PB3 energy buoy is 14.3 meters high and weighs 10,000 tons. It can be placed on the ocean with a depth of 20 meters to 1 kilometers. It is composed of thick steel plates, single-column platforms, floats and other accessories.
Common water buoys are used as navigation marks to mark channel ranges, indicate shoals, etc. As a hurricane passes, scientists use buoys equipped with sensors to study and track the hurricane and determine its speed. So, how does PB3 generate electricity?
The PB3 generator mechanism makes full use of mechanical kinetic energy. Under the influence of waves, the float will float up and down along the single-column platform. This movement will drive the electric motor in the single-column platform to generate electrical energy. At the same time, the thick steel plate connected to the base of the power distribution station with anchors will ensure that PB3 will not be blown away by wind and waves, and supply power to surrounding offshore equipment through underwater cables. The power can also be carried by the single-pillar platform. In the battery. These batteries can store 44 to 150 kilowatt hours of electricity. When the battery is fully charged, the excess energy is automatically released in the form of heat.
When Hurricane Irene passed by, PB3, which was on the "cusp of the storm", not only withstood huge waves of more than ten meters, but also maintained normal operation and sent information about its production to the land laboratory every hour. Electricity and other data reporting.
Currently, PB3 energy buoys can only generate electricity for offshore equipment, such as oil drilling platforms, ships or seabed monitoring equipment. In 2010, the PB3's R&D company and the U.S. Navy demonstrated in Hawaii that the PB3 was directly connected to the land grid to deliver power to the grid. However, the technology to supply electricity to the grid is not yet mature.
This article is derived from an article in Big Technology's "Mystery of Science" magazine, Issue 3, 2017