Messages in AirborneWindEnergy group.                                         AWES1474to1523
Page 10 of 79.

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1474 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Only on 7: New wind technology created

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1475 From: dave santos Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Safe, Cost-Effective Personal AWE Product

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1476 From: John O Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1477 From: dave santos Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: AWEIA, AWEC, & NASA

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1478 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1479 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1480 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: AWE issues

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1481 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Welcome to AWEIA

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1482 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
Subject: What else would you like to see in your AWE Quarters ?

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1483 From: dave santos Date: 4/30/2010
Subject: Nintendo War by AWECS

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1484 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
Subject: Scholarly articles are invited for AWE Journal

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1485 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
Subject: Flying Thicket

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1486 From: dave santos Date: 5/1/2010
Subject: Lightning Strikes on FlyGen AWECSs

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1487 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/3/2010
Subject: News Release for AWE Community, progress opportunity:

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1488 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/3/2010
Subject: Welcome Jeremy Calvert with Kitebot.org

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1489 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
Subject: Yu's YOGs waft

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1490 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1491 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
Subject: US Offshore AWECS may be affected by decision

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1492 From: harry valentine Date: 5/6/2010
Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1493 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/6/2010
Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1494 From: dave santos Date: 5/7/2010
Subject: Aggregate Flight Stability with High AirSpace Infill Demonstrated

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1495 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/8/2010
Subject: Sept. 25, 2007, European Parliament text adopted

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1496 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/8/2010
Subject: Re: Sept. 25, 2007, European Parliament text adopted

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1497 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/9/2010
Subject: Mother

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1498 From: dave santos Date: 5/10/2010
Subject: Uses of Barrage, Fairing, Nets, Hooks, Grapnels, & Preventers

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1499 From: reinhartp Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1500 From: Dan Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1501 From: Doug Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1502 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1503 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1504 From: dave santos Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1505 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1506 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1507 From: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: New file uploaded to AirborneWindEnergy

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1508 From: harry valentine Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1509 From: dave santos Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1510 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1511 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1512 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1513 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1514 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1515 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1516 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
Subject: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1517 From: Doug Date: 5/13/2010
Subject: Re: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1518 From: dave santos Date: 5/13/2010
Subject: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression from AWE

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1519 From: Doug Date: 5/14/2010
Subject: Re: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression from AWE

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1520 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
Subject: Wish-Turbines, Desalination, & Space-Heating

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1521 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
Subject: Variable Height Crosswind AWE Arrays

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1522 From: reinhartp Date: 5/14/2010
Subject: Re: Wish-Turbines, Desalination, & Space-Heating

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1523 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
Subject: Staged/Cascaded Launch Methods




Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1474 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Only on 7: New wind technology created
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1475 From: dave santos Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Safe, Cost-Effective Personal AWE Product
Charging cell-phones & small batteries aloft is shown to be easy, cheap, & safe in the KiteLab Group pre-production prototype linked below. It features a COTS hand-crank charger at its core. The turbine blades are safe woven palm-fiber hand fans, but even cardboard would suffice.
 
 
A production model can be brought to market rapidly with small investment. The UltraKite family trademark is available to a quality implimentation.
 
FairIP/CoopIP

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1476 From: John O Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC
I consider it necessary to state here that the AWE Consortium concept was precisely what this forum and in particular Dave Santos of KiteLab Group has continually tried to champion for all players irrespective of purse size through what he terms 'CO-OPERATIVE'. We must now concede that the word 'CONSORTIUM' has been masterfully deployed by the 'big four'. While this Yahoo forum and KiteLab Group has been free for all with anything to offer on the cooperative alter, we wait to see the monetary requirements to join the banquet of the consortium.
I use this opportunity to invite all to enlist in a formal membership of the Airborne Wind Energy Industry Association - www.aweia.org
Joe Faust remains the coordinator at AWEIA.
Sincerely yours AWEfully,
John Oyebanji
Protem President - AWEIA International
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1477 From: dave santos Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: AWEIA, AWEC, & NASA
JohnO has been doing a fine job building bridges for AWEIA. A lot of this work is still not widely announced, but it nicely compliments AWEC, as it is more internationally oriented, includes many smaller developers, & embraces large application niches for low-cost small-scale energy production. AWEIA is inclusive & has already proposed cooperation & even merger with AWEC. The two camps have strengths & weaknesses that make cooperation desirable.
 
The terms Association, Cooperative, Consortium, & even Company are pretty much interchangeable. KiteLab Group is the first announced AWE commercial consortium & AWEIA is the first industry association, both of which contributed to the planning at HAWPCON09 for a unified developer push. The presumption is that AWEC is consistent with that process & acting in good faith, for its core members were part of the HAWPCON discussion.
 
Both AWEC & AWEIA need to operate more transparently & well-known rifts internal to our field need to be on the table for member deliberation-

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1478 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

There is a Join form at  aweia.org

===========================

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1479 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1480 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: AWE issues
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1481 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/29/2010
Subject: Welcome to AWEIA

AWECS patentee inventor Gaylord Olson who has been in this group has joined AWEIA.   Welcome, Gaylord.

AWECS patentee Lynn Potter as AWE company with his company AirbineĀ™ has joined AWEIA. Welcome AirbineĀ™  to the AWECS company sector.

http://AWEIA.org

The global AWE community continues to grow and fly. Some new issues were posted for
http://energykitesystems.net/AWEissues/index.html

Lift to you and yours,

JoeF
AWEIA coordinator

PS: The PayPal secure form is encrypted. No one sees your credit card number

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1482 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
Subject: What else would you like to see in your AWE Quarters ?

What other department or report would you suggest for AWE Quarters ?
What is missing?

Here is the table of contents developed to date:

 

AWE Quarters  Each quarter, publish a PDF and send it to AWEIA members via a web link set in an e-mail.
Reports to be included in the quarterly:   

  • President's message  

  • Safety 

  • Airspace governance 

  • Agreements 

  • Installations 

  • Contracts for installations

  • AWE companies

  • Voting results

  • Link to polls on issues 

  • Technology

    • Traction (ship, boat, yacht, sport, land, special tug works; niche applications as sawing, grinding, launching gliders, drag cleaning nets, plowing soil, scraping land, pulling vehicles, pulling objects, etc.) 

    • GroundGen   (all scales) 

    • FlyGen (all scales) 

    • Fixed offshore  

    • Free-flight (single aircraft, coupled aircraft)

    • Lifted-cable transportation

    • Scales (micro, miniature, toy, sport, residential, nomadic, commercial, utility, national, free-flight)

    • Niche applications of working kites and working aerostats (bird scaring, advertising, lifting hang gliders, lifting water, lifting skydivers, and more)

    • Tether

    • Line handling

    • Generators and motors

    • Controllers

    • Materials

    • Energy storage 

    • Inspection 

    • Systems management 

  • Education  

  • AWECS management 

  • AWECS skilled-worker positions development 

  • Customer service 

  • Committees 

  • Financial  

  • Progress of AWEIA 

  • National AWE organizations 

  • Membership  

  • Accidents, analysis, and lessons

  • Standards 

  • Records 

Announcements 

AWE community beginnings and endings

Links 

Job offerings

Advertisements 

...other

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1483 From: dave santos Date: 4/30/2010
    Subject: Nintendo War by AWECS
    The development of "predator drones" for war has grown steadily & such weapons are now routinely used with pilots seated at control consoles half a world away. This is "Nintendo War". Noncombatant deaths are high & affected populations decry "war without honor" & dream of revenge.
     
    A major trend is for these platforms to become smaller, cheaper, & E-Flight based. Military developers have identified renewable energy as the logical means to power the new war-fighting, not because it is clean, of course, but because it is logistically superior. The weak link in remote warfare is reliance on fossil fuel. A forward combat base in a remote region often requires a steady parade of diesel tanker trucks or aircraft to supply the fuel for war & this supply line is the most vulnerable element.
     
    Military planners see in AWECS an effective means to eliminate this impediment to wider conflict & have begun close relations with AWE companies eager to cash in. While this is a good business plan, on ethical grounds its a very slippery slope. The blow-back would be horrendous if opposing forces are inspired invent asymmetric tactics based on low-tech tethered aviation. This is not a forum to elaborate on such means, but those who seek to profit from militarized AWE should be aware of grave long-term consequences.
     
    An immediate moratorium on Military AWECS (MAWECS) development is proposed by a few key AWE pioneers, notably Wayne German & myself. We count on support from military veteran activists (like Veterans for Peace) & invite all those concerned to join in the effort to limit AWE to peaceful uses. This may prove a superior business plan as well, for it favors global cooperation.
     
    Any developer of MAWECS who wishes to openly debate this issue is welcomed. A possible compromise is to foster the transformation of military power into a peaceful force to respond to future natural & man-made calamities, with AWECS as a tool.
     
    Note: This editorial is not a postion of AWEIA, which has yet to address the issue.

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1484 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
    Subject: Scholarly articles are invited for AWE Journal

    For members of AWEIA  is AWE Journal

    Articles submitted for publication will be refereed.
    Notice of acceptance for publication will be given within two months,
    unless other agreement is reached with authors.  Authors will receive
    preliminary private comments from unpaid volunteer referees.

    Preliminary abstracts may be submitted for first-level topical approval.

    Upon publication: the abstract of the article will be shown open to the public
    in AWEIA public space on the Internet along with some editorial descriptors that clue the length, number of figures, and number of photos.

    AWEIA members have access to the full  AWE Journal within AWE Sector space.  Non-members may purchase a personal-use PDF copy of each separated article in PDF format for a reasonable price.  Copyright for published articles resides with authors and AWEIA.

    Authors are invited to send their articles for possible publication in AWE Journal to the e-mail shown at Authors 

    Topics in AWE Journal  are expected to advance some aspect of airborne wind energy technology at any scale or application. Original authorship with references are invited.  Primary research and experience analysis is sought. Some survey articles will be accepted.  A preliminary discussion of aims will be easy to extend.

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1485 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/30/2010
    Subject: Flying Thicket

    Flying Thicket

    GW GroundGen for AWECS FairIP offer

    The linked image is the latest KiteLab Group gigawatt-scale groundgen scheme. Each airbeam battened membrane wingmill could be 300 m long & deliver about 50 MW in a Force-5 breeze. Six of them as a cell are 300 MW with a max altitude of about 5000 ft. ASL. The lifter trains could be GigaFlys as shown. Three cells or more is gigawatt scale.           Image in JPG          Image in PDF

    The six wingmills fire in synchronous sequence by being linked, tuned, & staged downwind/crosswind diagonally to drive a massive crankshaft well in the class of supership machinery (~50 MW). The cells orient to wind-veering by a compass-belay sequence in an anchor circle. Trim lines forestall the urgency to belay. The center power station is a turret.

    A unitized worker/pilot can supervise about 10 MW of AWEC 7/24 capacity on an averaged basis, so a crew of about one hundred could operate a gigawatt plant at high capacity. It would truly be like sailing tall-ships in the sky, a golden age as cheap reliable auto-flygens & fusion power slowly mature.

    All operations have long proven analogs in industry well within normal skilled labor capabilities. There would be suitable handling machinery & operators would face little hazard. Runaway kites will be a very rare as everything is either two lines or has a passive kill line as a deadman switch. One cool detail is an auxiliary "Whiskey-Line" that can pull the entire rig to windward as it is flown higher. Thus the wing mils are always canted upwind to provide self-lift with high power or reversibly slacked to kill the oscillation & drag the rig lower to pause or douse.

    Sequential wingmill firing is working well in simple experiments. I'll keep working on the written description, but the attached image shows clockwise from top-left a side, front, 3/4 concept, & plan view. Please create a link to the image & this note can be forwarded to the forum. Thanks to Wayne German for inspiration & feedback on this sort of "flying thicket" concept which maximizes safety & energy extraction from minimal airspace at lowest capital cost.

    ~~ Dave Santos

    KiteLab Group

    FairIP/CoopIP                    

    Article development will occur at
    http://www.energykitesystems.net/FairIP/GWgroundgen.html

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1486 From: dave santos Date: 5/1/2010
    Subject: Lightning Strikes on FlyGen AWECSs
    Lightning strikes are a common well understood threat to radio towers & power lines. Billions of dollars in damage result yearly. The engineering issue applies particularly to high-altitude conductors proposed in flygen AWE.
     
    The basic tools of mitigation are old- Franklin bypass conductors (lightning rods) & Faraday cages. Additionally, surge arrestors like Metal Oxide Varistors can be placed at key electrical components. Airplanes have special features such as "static wicks" to bleed charge. All means involve trade-offs in weight, cost, & complexity.
     
    In a flygen AWECS the conductive tether is already a lightning rod. Aerostat tethers use a conductive jacket over the tensile, power, & data lines with claimed success, but a flygen is a more marginal opportunity to specially a dedicated shield due to higher airspeed drag & weight criticality.  Flygen tether designers using power coax are obliged to consider the outer conductor as the primary lightning current conduit. There will be strong inductive coupling with the center conductor when a strike breeches the thin metallic outer conductor & surface charge then runs inside the outer tube. This will cause new problems. The polymer tensile/insulation component cannot tolerate any real heating while tens of thousands of degrees (C or F) are typical lightning effects.
     
    All critical airborne electrical components require shielding. The multi-flygen AWEC power wiring harness, if uncaged, can act as an antenna network developing high internal voltages & currents, even if not directly struck. MOSFETs as used for motor/gen control are very susceptible to high voltage transients. Delicate avionics & associated sensor nets may need to be completely opto-isolated.
     
    An acute challenge to a flygen AWEC is a strike with coiled turns still on the winch drum. The impedance of the coil backs up discharge & the conductor likely vaporizes, perhaps resulting in a runway kiteplane without motor power supplied from the surface.
     
    When a lightning strike is brought down to an AWEC ground-station it must be passed to ground harmlessly. All conductive structure must be bonded to eliminate killer ground potentials. The slip-ring conductor may arc-weld itself or maybe fail open if not designed for the event.
     
    Forced landing during lightning risk eats into capacity factor. Avoiding regions where lightning is common limits market. Certifying lightning fail-safe airworthiness will prove slow & costly. Even successful lightning strike survival can require flygen AWECSs to be landed & carefully inspected for damage, often as subtle as bit-flip in microelectronics.
     
    Groundgen AWECs face far less lightning hazard as the tethers are nonconducting. Salt residue can build up in a marine application & should be rinsed out. A bypass conductor clamped a short height up a tether will provide good protection to ground equipment & personnel. In the event of a lightning cased crash, consequences are less severe.
     
    FairIP/CoopIP

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1487 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/3/2010
    Subject: News Release for AWE Community, progress opportunity:
    News Release for AWE Community
    approved by AWEIA protem president John Oyebanji
    and sent out by temporary coordinator:
    News Release:

    Airborne Wind Energy Industry Association (AWEIA)
    ~~~global service, member of Global Wind Energy Council~~~

    Persons, companies, and corporations in four sectors in about 233 countries are invited:
    1. AWE Companies
    2. AWE Supply-Chain Entities
    3. AWE Individual
    4. No-dues individuals, companies, corporations

    The "here" link at the top of the revised page
    is for joining the first tier membership in the global AWE Community
    at AWEIA:
    http://AWEIA.org 

    Best of energetic lift to you and yours,
    JoeF
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1488 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/3/2010
    Subject: Welcome Jeremy Calvert with Kitebot.org

     Welcome Jeremy Calvert  with Kitebot.org

    Kitebot       "DIY KE"

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1489 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
    Subject: Yu's YOGs waft
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1490 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
    Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version


    YU Energy Group is tapping wind. Their spectrum of interests a hydro-AWE analogic,

    and their wind is near-AWE. They are invited to explore full wind AWE.

    http://www.yuenergy.com/Humanitarian_Mobile_YOG.html

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1491 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/6/2010
    Subject: US Offshore AWECS may be affected by decision

    Future US Offshore AWECS may be affected by decision

    Cape Wind Decision 

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1492 From: harry valentine Date: 5/6/2010
    Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version
    The YU Energy Group technology may be well suited to pumping water to higher elevation . . . and bypass an electrical system to do so. The hydraulic pumped storage system will then generate electric power from storage AND only during peak demand periods.
     
     
    Harry

     

    To: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com
    From: joefaust333@gmail.com
    Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 13:26:32 +0000
    Subject: [AWECS] Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version

     


    YU Energy Group is tapping wind. Their spectrum of interests a hydro-AWE analogic,
    and their wind is near-AWE. They are invited to explore full wind AWE.
    http://www.yuenergy .com/Humanitaria n_Mobile_ YOG.html



    Win a $10,000 shopping spree from Hotmail! Enter now Enter now
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1493 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/6/2010
    Subject: Re: YU Energy Group has a humanitariarn wind version
    I helped construct such a device decades ago.  The "Flutterwing" depended on the change in center of pressure as it stalled at the end of each stroke to flip the angle of attack for the return stroke.   It was mounted on a half-round hull, with outriggers alternately lifting buckets of water which poured into a pipe leading to an elevated tank on shore.  Only one was built.  I think it fell into the ingenious and simple but expensive bin.

    Bob Stuart

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1494 From: dave santos Date: 5/7/2010
    Subject: Aggregate Flight Stability with High AirSpace Infill Demonstrated
    Aggregate Flight Stability- The effect of increased flight stability exhibited by linked arrays of less stable AWECS sub-elements.
     
    AirSpace Infill Factor- The effective density of AWECS elements in a given airspace.
     
    ==================================
     
    KiteLab Illwaco is successfully demonstrating super-effective aggregate flight stability & high airspace infill factor with arches of tailless kites on swivel leaders. This is a foundational AWE method with great scaling potential. Description of the experiments follows background information below.
     
    ==================================
     
    A major technical divide in AWE is between designers who endow flying elements with as much embodied inherent stability as possible & those who intend for active control to prove adequate as the stability principle. The inherent stability school originates in mainstream aviation where human pilots require an aircraft to generally recover & fly itself upon any lapse of active control. Except for a few military/aerobatic types, modern aircraft still seek & maintain stable attitude if there is a control gap. The AWECS theory is that if human pilots require inherent stability for safety & reliability, so do emergent autonomous flight agents.
     
    The traditional single line kite offers high inherent stability to the designer, but its not perfect. Windfield turbulence eventually overpowers recovery forces & a kite crashes without an expert kiteflyer to save it. Fortunately inherent stability can be increased & expert pilotage obviated by aggregating kites into trains & arches. These methods also allow a designer to more densely pack airspace with working wings than single-wing/single-tether configurations.
     
    A kite train is a wonderful thing, but its tall skinny format poorly utilizes airspace. Kite arches are promising maximizers of airspace as they stretch across the wind without the weedy height of a train. Anders Ansar (an old net friend) tried arches a decade ago consisting of one long ribbon wing across the wind, but they underperformed as much of the ribbon flew out of trim. Kite festival arches fly better by breaking up the wing into many smaller cells with pitch freedom to self trim, but such arches are fairly sensitive to wind direction & must be reset periodically. Kite masters developed arches to close-pack show kites where each kite has full freedom on a leader line & such arches well tolerate veering wind as each kite weathercocks independently. Other kite masters hit on spectacular trains of normally unstable kites like fighter kites. The kites need have just a bit of inherent stability to average out as a stable system. While the aggregate train flies stably sub-kites are free to go nuts.
     
    The latest KiteLab experiments combine the best features of all these methods as an arch of toy tailless delta kites on swivel leaders. Such kites are stable in smooth moderate wind but begin to loop as conditions kick up. Eight to sixteen deltas are tethered along an arch in the strong turbulent breeze off of the hills surrounding Ilwaco & the flight dynamics observed during extended sessions.
     
    At any given moment several of kites might be looping & swooping, but the overall arches have not yet been seen to falter. The kites at each end of the arch show a greater tendency to come down in lulls or conflict with the arch line, but so far always relaunch or shake free. A lone delta must be launched skillfully & does not easily self-relaunch, but the arch self-launches & relaunches kites reliably. The arch also launches sequentially in a cascade as an initial kite takes to the air & pulls its neighbors up.
     
    The kites look weirdly alive as they subtly interact. Tag lines & halyards are placed between the lifter kites to loft AWE power elements like membrane wing-mills. Even flygen AWECS with heavy conductive tethers are easily raised & lowered under total control with the reliable powerful lift available by multiple kites.
     
    The next step is to fly kite "cupolas" (ie.- string tripod) to accept wind from any direction without intervention. The ultimate expression of this development path is robust 3D layered meshes of AWEC elements. There does not seem to be any major barrier to rapid success.
     
    coopip/fairip

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1495 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/8/2010
    Subject: Sept. 25, 2007, European Parliament text adopted
    Texts adopted
     
    Tuesday, 25 September 2007 - Strasbourg Final edition
    Road Map for renewable energy in Europe

    Page see 

    which included the following:

    "3.  Believes that renewable energy sources are abundant on our planet and that the challenge is to extract energy from them; recommends that the revenues generated from ETS auctioning and research funds should be used for research into renewable sources of energy, including promising and challenging sources, such as osmosis energy, tidal energy, wave energy, concentrated solar power, high altitude wind power, laddermill energy and algae fuel technology;"

    Found via following a lead from the most recent new AWEIA member
    Alexander Mijatovic

    It is my pleasure to introduce a new member of AWEIA,
    Alexander Mijatovic of Aero Drum, Ltd.  Current high service regards
    Aerial Photo Systems and RC Blimps.  However, examination of his
    web site, he has shown some keen interest in high altitude wind power.
    All three directions have potential play in airborne wind energy technology.
    http://www.rc-zeppelin.com/
    Imagine uses of aerial photography at AWE test sites, AWECS installations,
    aloft inspection duty, phtographing AWECS site-installation events, and more.
    Consider kytoon and aerostat lifters for experimental AWECS.
    More: notice his drawings and reference notes
    on the page HERE. "High Altitude Wind Energy"
    and more HAWP drawings on
    page HERE http://www.rc-zeppelin.com/Contact.html

    amijat@sezampro.rs     Email: Office Aero Drum ltd
    Aero Drum Ltd
    Vojislava ilica 99a, Belgrade, Serbia,
    +381 (0) 11 2831 354,
    +381 (0) 11 2833 216,
    Skype: alexmijat
    Lift to all everywhere,
    JoeF

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1496 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/8/2010
    Subject: Re: Sept. 25, 2007, European Parliament text adopted

    One of the links did not get printed in the primary post.
    Another effort:

    High Altitude Wind Energy   or same:

    http://www.rc-zeppelin.com/High%20Altitude%20Wind%20Generators.html   

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1497 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/9/2010
    Subject: Mother
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1498 From: dave santos Date: 5/10/2010
    Subject: Uses of Barrage, Fairing, Nets, Hooks, Grapnels, & Preventers
    Simple solutions exist for operating low mass AWECS in close proximity & overhead of fragile or hostile surface conditions. Runaways & collisions are similarly preventable.
     

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1499 From: reinhartp Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Water kite
    A link of interest to you all:

    http://www.minesto.com/

    Greetings from Belgium,
    Reinhart
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1500 From: Dan Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    Hi Reinhart,


    Very nice, thanks for the head up.

    Dan'l


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1501 From: Doug Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    ironic if the first working "high altitude" system is below sea level...

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1502 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    It makes  a  lot of sense.  There are no storms down there,  neutral buoyancy is easy,  the power is predictable, and instead of  building an expensive tower with a hoist to raise the machinery for service, you just let it float up.  
    I wish the company would just post the script instead of making me listen to chopped up video on a system that can usually play clips.

    Bob Stuart

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1503 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    The paravanes (water kites) do not have lightning challenges. The paravanes may be moored to shore, from ships, from bridges, from water parachutes, from air kites, from sea floo, and from each other.   Water vanes onboard hulls have generated electricity as RATs on aircraft.
    Will the water kite (paravane) bring hydropower to high use, without dams?
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1504 From: dave santos Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    We (JoeF, etc.) have followed Minesto for some time with interest. Their paravane badly needs a bit of empennage, as its clearly yaw unstable. While lightning is no problem, doing electrical generation under saltwater is not all-cake-&-ice-cream. High voltage transmission grids submerged in electrolyte are expensive. Minesto also seems to require active-controls.
     
    KiteLab Ilwaco has experimented with passive-control sweeping paravane concepts that keep the generator on the surface, which is great for run-of-river hydropower, but in a riotous seaway submarine operation is favored. Air-compression is attractive for submerged power & one little KiteLab demo merrily drives an air-whistle. Air can be cheaply stored at high ambient pressure underwater in thin bags, avoiding saltwater electrical issues. Such storage can level output during slack-tide conditions. A pressure hose to the surface or shore can drive an airmotor/generator.
     
    Figuring out cheap powerful bottom mooring methods is one of the fun problems for all these fixed schemes. Any generator paravane can also be towed about underwater by a kite above.

    fairIP/coopIP

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1505 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite

    Paravanes have also been discussed for pumping water to a waterhead for energy storage into containers, into ponds, into floated containers, into lakes, into existing dams. The head can be used for grid loads.
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1506 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite
    Pumped water storage would be my  preference.  Compressed air  in seafloor bags  would loose the heat of compression, leading to lower efficiency. 

    Bob Stuart

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1507 From: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: New file uploaded to AirborneWindEnergy
    Hello,

    This email message is a notification to let you know that
    a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the AirborneWindEnergy
    group.

    File : /Wayne German/Soaren technology
    Uploaded by : joe_f_90032 <joefaust333@gmail.com Description : To be informed of Soaren technology by Wayne German, contact Joe Faust for signing a non-disclosure agreemtn (NDA) regarding his AWE technology.

    You can access this file at the URL:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AirborneWindEnergy/files/Wayne%20German/Soaren%20technology

    To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
    http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/members/forms/general.htmlfiles

    Regards,

    joe_f_90032 <joefaust333@gmail.com
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1508 From: harry valentine Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage
    There are ways of raising "efficiency" of energy storage . . . see article at http://www.energypulse.net
     
    Harry
     

    To: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com
    From: bobstuart@sasktel.net
    Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 13:54:28 -0600
    Subject: Re: [AWECS] Re: Water kite

     
    Pumped water storage would be my  preference.  Compressed air  in seafloor bags  would loose the heat of compression, leading to lower efficiency. 

    Bob Stuart



    30 days of prizes to be won with Hotmail. Enter here
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1509 From: dave santos Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage
    Quite right, unless the heat of compression is scavenged at the compressor, its lost to the sea (except over geothermal vents). On the other hand the refrigeration of decompression might be valuable. A pumped storage limitation is the considerable head needed to really pay. High evaporation also degrades capacity. 
     
    Air is only for relatively short distances of maybe a few km. Even small leaks in a high pressure hose robs lots of power. It is amazing how a high voltage submarine cable only a few cm dia can carry hundreds of MW. If it weren't quite so massy & dangerous it would be ideal for AWE. 
     
    A problem with any undersea energy farm is all the branches & interconnects, while a simple submarine transmission line can be one clean continuous cable.

    ,

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1510 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/11/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage
    Any particular article there,Harry?
    Good point about the possible utility of cooling.  This is all site-specific.  Pumped water storage is not attractive on a river delta, but it is in a fjord.  Relatively low working pressures would minimize losses from air storage, and might be all that is available anyway.   The extra volume is cheap enough, and might even be shaped to augment the flow patterns. 
    I like  the notion of driving pumps directly.  It can save a lot of expense, especially around water, and gives a high efficiency, low cost solution to the goal of power on demand. 
    For small to medium scale devices, a bellows pump can be made using an old tire, and driven by an arrangement to vary the stroke according to available torque.  Even in large arrays, they can be an economical alternative.

    Bob Stuart

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1511 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage
    Bob,
     
    Funny you should mention bellows pumps made from old tires. A couple of years ago as membrane wing mills for AWE emerged it became clear they could yank a cheap tire bellows nicely. Just make two steel plate or thick plywood sandwiches with the anchor bolts & valves added; clamp over each sidewall bead & pump away.
     
    The geothermal vent energy source is enticing. The seafloor spreading zones are vast & surely somewhere it will prove far easier to tap freely rising superheated water than geothermal well drilling on land with limited heat transfer. Hotspot energy could be the least impact super-renewable of all.
     
    The kitey way to dynamically/nomadicly tap deep ocean resources is a Wayne German style tethered foil pair where one foil maybe acts in a surface current while the other is in a deep return flow current. One might "hover" over a hotspot, making hydrogen fuel with steam turbine generators, & migrate to a new hotspots as desired.
     
    Large ambient-compressed underwater hydrogen stores in anchored bags underwater is potentially practical. Hydrogen is explosive if even a small percentage of oxygen is present, even if ignition in the chilly deep is unlikely, but if the hydrogen is ~99% pure then what is the downside?
     
    daveS
     
     
     
    fairIP/coopIP
     
     



    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1512 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage
    The downside to any technology that uses pure hydrogen is that the stuff is very hard to contain,  and becomes a potent greenhouse gas when released. 

    Funny you should mention hydrothermal vents.   I've been bugging Bruce Marshall to plan his  apparatus for regular removal of mineral deposits,  but he is  right about the game-changing potential of  these natural features.  A site on  the handy Juan de  Fuca fault could supply 50 submarine electric  cables of the largest size laid to date.

    Bob Stuart


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1513 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kites, Hotspots, Bellows Pumps, Hydrogen Storage
    Hydrogen stored at ambient pressure does not leak fast, it wants positive pressure to push it through a membrane. A seabag can be far thicker than any LTA gas bag. Gas loss might be neglible.
     
    The Juan de Fuca fault is rather convenient...


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1514 From: Joe Faust Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1515 From: Bob Stuart Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Re: Water kite - Energy Storage
    Thanks, Joe.  Harry has some good points there.  I think he's missing one good bet,  though.  He proposes using the heat of compressing air for desalinization or other process heat before storing the air in a salt  dome.  Such a huge cavern might be almost self-insulating by the square-cube law, once it got up to a new ambient temperature.  However, assuming that the air comes  out of the 1st expansion stage below ambient temperature, it could pick up energy from an ocean-fed heat exchanger or solar-assisted air exchanger.  High-pressure plumbing does not come cheap, but it can put the overall efficiency of compressed-air storage over unity, just  like a home heat pump.

    Bob Stuart

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1516 From: dave santos Date: 5/12/2010
    Subject: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression
    Great article, Harry. 
     
    I particularly liked the reminder that "waste" heat-of-compression is suitable for heat-distillation desalination.
     
    A lot of the Middle East needs more fresh water & has good wind for AWE that if used for compression (perhaps into spent oil wells), the heat byproduct can power desalination. There is hardly any other use of the heat in many regions that would be so synergistic.
     
    Of course heat-of-compression is also perfect for space-heating in Northern cold.
     


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1517 From: Doug Date: 5/13/2010
    Subject: Re: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression
    ...Attention... Deficit... Disorder...
    focus people, focus - remember the topic here:
    Airborne wind energy
    Without any energy produced, no need to talk of storage...
    and
    Let's remember,
    If anyone comes up with a better way to store energy than lead/acid batteries, there is unlimited demand for it NOW buying cheap power at night and selling it at the peak demand times.
    So what is all this? It is giving up. It's saying "We don't have any way to make a usable amount of airborne power, so let's just keep changing the subject to slightly related topics and maybe nobody will notice (especially us) that we are no closer to making airborne power this week, than we were last week...

    Joe F. was asking what stats to include in something or other the other day...
    Well I can think of a few:
    1) How many megawatt-hours were generated by various systems in each month; (real wind energy publications like to start there)
    2) New benchmarks of power set by prototypes;
    3) longest-running system in continuous use;
    4) First system to completely power a home or business;
    5) First actual use of airborne wind energy as we know it (not APU's of airplanes etc.)
    I mean, take a few clues from the wind energy industry as it actually exists - what do they talk about? System outputs and costs, maintenance issues, how to adjust performance parameters to get more output...
    There is absolutely no reason why we cannot have some sort of working system, useful to someone, somewhere, with the technology already at hand.
    The only thing is, nobody is building them.
    And let's look at technology such as Magenn. OK those guys have been around for quite awhile now. Real wind energy people see the largest, most expensive version of the lowest-performing turbine conceivable there. After these years of flying turbines with their millions of dollars raised, where is their performance? You wanna know where? Nowhere, which is why you never hear of it powering anything. You never hear any output stats. It is a huge waste of money and all that's truly going on in my opinion is that the investors are not well-versed in the physics of wind energy so they can be told essentially anything, and you get a few press releases and fancy logos and all of a sudden, how much power the darn thing is capable of is conveniently swept under the rug, as even an issue to discuss, "just for now", while more money is raised.
    I think you could hang a $500 turbine from their blimp and it would make more power than rotating the blimp itself, where a only a small fraction of the thing is capable of getharing a small fraction of the power through that small fraction of area. The resulting fraction of a fraction is probably so low that it is difficult to even measure. Maybe they can power a laptop charger with a $100,000 system, eh? As long is it doesn't get too windy or anything - whoah there, gotta be careful we don't blow this fragile envelope apart!
    Like a game of musical chairs the only question is how long til it all falls apart (from a business sense, please forgive the pun). And with no shortage of suckers in the world (1 born every minute last I heard) there would seem to be no end to this shell game. As I have pointed out, we in wind energy have heard this same story year after year with all sorts of "new" turbine types. It is a well-worn mantra: "We expect data soon to verify our projections"... - thay it with a lithp!
    "We exthpect data thoon to verify our projectionth".
    thay it with a thpray of thaliva!
    OK I for one have blogged away enough of this potentially-productive day.
    I am grateful for this forum, and for the focus on extracting usable power from high-flying apparatus. Now let's all stop trying to convince each other that we are geniuses by endlessly diverging into peripheral issues, and let's get something up and running that makes any sort of usable power for anyone. THEN you can talk about "an industry" however small it may be at first. One usable system - that's all we ask!
    Maboomba!
    Doug Selsam
    Selsam Innovations / USWINDLABS
    2600 Porter Ave. Unit B
    Fullerton, CA 92833
    714-992-5594
    Doug@Selsam.com
    http://www.Selsam.com


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1518 From: dave santos Date: 5/13/2010
    Subject: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression from AWE
    Doug,
     
    Please clearly understand this thread's relevance- how AWE promises to be an ideal source of power for many processes, like desalinization & space-heating, that accept intermittent "low-grade" energy gracefully. Compression & pumping is a huge area of legitimate AWE interest. These threads are fine contributions.
     
    Your post ignores the actual topic in favor of your persistently mistaken opinion that AWE remains undemonstrated, when many great demos now exist. Mario's power curves were presented to you, as requested, & you failed to shoot them down. You were next asked to consider TU Delft's claims, next Makani's, & so on. Don't skip this homework while using Magenn as your straw-man. This troubled design has scant relevance to the real AWE world. Try knocking down TU Delft next, as requested.
     
    How goes your proclaimed 1kw "weekend" AWE project? You would be the first, clearly at least in your own mind, to succeed at AWE, & so easily too, where all us lesser workers in your opinion failed. Desalinate or space-heat for extra credit,
     
    dave



    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1519 From: Doug Date: 5/14/2010
    Subject: Re: Desalination or Space-Heating by Heat-of-Compression from AWE
    Hi Dave S.:
    Well as I mentioned to Joe F., I'm pursuing wind energy at many levels. And thanks for your challenges but as I pointed out, you have already seen a 1kW+ system of mine running so why ask about a 1 kW system? You saw it - you were there. Interesting that my demo system cost perhaps $200 plus, using some donated carbon fiber tubes and wooden propellers made from nature's affordable composite.

    While I have designs that I think will work great for AWE, I'm time constrained, and my main goal at this point is constructing working systems that make reliable and affordable power, however they are supported, since after many years at this, I've found that working systems are all that can truly convince anyone, let alone be useful to anyone.

    If you are the first to get a working system up and running that produces useful power on a regular basis, I will be your biggest cheerleader.
    But what you may not know is that Heronemus had diagrams in National Geographic magazine at least 35 years ago, showing how wind power could be used to make hydrogen, which could be stored in underwater containers.
    The point is: so what? Has anyone figured out an economical use for stored hydrogen from wind power, or using hydrogen to store electrical energy, from the big turbines we already have that produce electricity at around 5 cents/kWh?
    The answer is NO.
    Why?
    1) 50% efficiency of electrolysis;
    2) 50% energy loss to to heat, to compress this gas that has an EXTREMELY low energy per molecule;
    3) 70% energy loss by combustion to generate the electricity again
    4) 10% loss in the generator itself.
    Result?
    .5 x .5 x .3 x x .9 = .0675
    So your total efficiency is only 6.75%, best case scenario.
    Use a fuel cell instead of an internal combustion engine and you are still at maybe 10 or 12% efficiency of energy storage.

    Now I know you have answers for all this - how you'll utilize a high temp, high-pressure electrolysis to improve that efficiency, recover the heat lost to compression etc.
    BUT
    All those improvements are hypothetical and if they were economic, might already be in use.
    What it really does is this:
    It allows Dave S. to be a daily genius in the "field" of AWE while not only NOT building the machines and NOT producing the power, but after a while NOT even discussing the AWE designs at all anymore but instead diverging into energy storage technologies etc.

    Please realize: If you can generate electricity economically, there is a market for it. You do not need to store it yet. You're not making that much more power than the grid can absorb yet. ;)

    The point is that unless and until anyone develops the way to get the AWE power in the first place, discussions of exactly how to store it are moot and way ahead of what is needed at this time to develop the AWE technology itself.
    Hare/Tortoise
    Dougout.

    Now you need to make you airborne system 10 X as big to overcome your hydrogen storage inefficiency.
    This has all been gone over many many many times in the world of real wind energy and energy in general, and that is why after all these years of examining such a system, nobody is using it.
    You could not use such a system to buy cheap electricity at night and sell it back in the day, even in France where the nuke-tricity is free at night, since your system costs would render it a money loser.
    Meanwhile you have spent all that time developing an energy storage technology and obviously had no time to develop your actual airborne energy system.
    As I said:
    Focus focus focus.
    You will never get there from here if you endlessly diverge from the path.
    Think "hair vs tortoise".
    You or someone in this group probably have something that could be up and running now if only someone had the focus to actually build it. I know I do. So I guess enough of blogging another day away.
    Ironically even posting on this list must be done judiciously since it is in reality one more distraction that could potentially take one away from actual system development.
    And no I don't need to pick on a "straw man" of Magenn, although they are a great illustration of how people can go on treating a completely unworkable system as though there is something worth talking about with it at all. My God, imagine millions of dollars to run bicycle wheels and make probably less than a hundred watts with a machine that large - who the heck does anyone think they are fooling?
    Whomever has the first system up that generates usable power on a reliable and regular basis, I am 100% behind you!
    :)
    Doug S.


    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1520 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
    Subject: Wish-Turbines, Desalination, & Space-Heating
    Doug,
     
    Dang, i forgot to repeat that the key challenge for you is to tap wind well above tower level & you clearly accepted to try. Your old system only flew unreliably at 38 feet (about 20ft mean), was already dangerous, unwieldy, & did not promise to scale greatly. You blew far more on helium than the electricity was worth.
     
    Dave Lang patiently explained to you that ROI is a fundamental predictor of success, not calculated efficiency. Many successful industrial processes operate at "low" efficiency. There is so much AWE airspace that your claim of efficiency by swept disc diameter is a foolish standard compared to ROI.
     
    Direct work like pumping & propulsion is a core concern of this forum, not just electrical generation, so let folks discuss such. To provide something on-topic here, let me note that distillation from waste heat of compression is a useful first stage before pumping thru an expensive RO filter.
     
    Regarding your fixed idea that nothing in AWE works, i recently reported two new working AWE systems on Joe Faust's "mini" & "toy" scale. A blindness is not see the utility of a cheap simple safe "cell phone charger" working nicely right now. For you to say that this particular thread (desalinization & space-heat) was evidence that nothing in AWE works is not only false logic, but also a general insult to all the fine 10kw class demos. 
     
    Just try & shoot down TUDelft's claim next. They provided power curves & video with power metering shown, just as you demand. Otherwise please stop the red-herring off-topic interruptions & focus on your backyard turbine problems. Particularly don't complain about the current pioneering state-of-the-art AWE when its far better than what you bother to attempt.
     
    dave
     
     



    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1521 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
    Subject: Variable Height Crosswind AWE Arrays
    A key AWE tuning parameter is to modulate flight altitude to match ideal windspeed. Generally one flies higher in lighter wind & lower in higher wind, landing as conditions become overblown. Previously circular anchor fields were described where arched crosswind arrays are belayed around the compass to match wind direction. Only limited height variation was possible as an over-tall array is prone to self-interference.
     
    The latest anchor-field concept allows the width of the arched array to grow as it climbs. The low capital-cost version is comprised of concentric anchor rings where the belays occur radially as well as in rotation. Anchor/winch vehicles are a very flexible method to widen or narrow the stance of an array. Radial & circular anchor track networks may prove ideal in many instances.
     
    coopIP/fairIP

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1522 From: reinhartp Date: 5/14/2010
    Subject: Re: Wish-Turbines, Desalination, & Space-Heating
    Hi,

    May I just say that Doug really has a point with his small diameter turbines / vs. ROI. Not because of the airspace, but because they can be produced far more easy then their large counterparts. For mass-production of wind turbines the use of blades that can be injection moulded would be ideal. Not the intensive hand-labour that is used nowadays.


    I think Doug does have a constructive opinion and hopes with us all that AWE will work. I would also like to see a video of a working kite energy system that produces a lot of power, not a couple of watts. To live up to the hype, let's say :-)

    Greetings from Belgium,

    Reinhart
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1523 From: dave santos Date: 5/14/2010
    Subject: Staged/Cascaded Launch Methods
    Kites have long been used to carry a pilot line in applications as diverse a sea-rescue & suspension bridge construction. Similarly a small kite is ideal to initiate the launch of vast kite arrays. A small kite might be towed aloft by a bicycle into usable wind, then used to haul aloft a larger kite, followed by a yet larger kite, & so on, until a whole cloud is launched. Arches naturally launch in an automatic cascade; throw a kite or two up in a breeze & the whole arch launches reliably.
     
    A practical method for this class of launches is to lay out whole kite array on the ground in zig-zags & coils according to launch order. A launch can be fed from a moving vehicle. A kite can easily lift several times its weight. A small kite with a pulley can be pulled against hard, trading altitude for far higher pull on demand.
     
    coopIP/fairIP