Bladeless Turbines

Wind power is one of the most popular and widely used sustainable, non-depleting, non-polluting and eco-friendly energy sources. Recent technological advancements are making innovations only in the grid and energy storage systems but meager updates in the case of turbine design which was initially designed 400 years ago.

So what is the problem with the existing design? Well, there are three reasons; their efficiency is insanely bad, the cost of installing single turbine is very high and the most important issue is “wind turbine syndrome” where people in the vicinity of the turbines get headaches, sleeplessness and other health problems. Also numerous birds die annually by being hit by the turbine wings. Recent reports show that a spinning blade can even cause scrambling of TV and radio signals.

This is where a company named “Saphon Energy” innovation comes in to rescue from these inconveniences. The company has totally re-designed the way turbines are supposed to be. In the new prototype, the blades in traditional turbines are replaced by a sail-shaped structure where both hub and gearbox are omitted forming bladeless turbines. Instead of wind spinning the blades rotor part, the wind is harnessed by a sail which is followed by a non-rotational back and forth motion.

This trouble-free movement follows a knot path and allows the conversion of the majority of the kinetic energy into mechanical energy with the help of pistons. They are then converted into electrical energy via a hydraulic generator.

This new design generates power instantly, without any trouble. Saphon Energy claims that this prototype is two times more efficient than regular bladed turbine and 45% cheaper to manufacture. Saphon Energy has so far constructed two prototypes which have shown 3% more efficiency than previous turbine models. They are currently working on their second generation product and a third prototype which will promise greater efficiency.

Saphon Energy patented this technology in September 2010 and have attracted much interest through TED Global conference which was held in the same year. As wind is a widely-used and a future renewable energy source, it is essential to welcome such innovations and provide the necessary support to manufacture models and prototypes of this kind.