High-altitude wind for power purposes
– Winds at higher altitudes are steadier, more persistent, and of higher velocity.
– Power available in wind increases as the cube of velocity.
– High-altitude wind has an advantage over wind near the ground.
– HAWP systems can be adjusted in height and position to maximize energy return.
– An atlas of the high-altitude wind power resource has been prepared for all points on Earth.
Methods of capturing kinetic energy of high-altitude winds
– Energy can be captured from the wind by kites, kytoons, tethered gliders, tethered sailplanes, and more.
– Schemes for propelling ships and boats use tether-placed objects to capture energy.
– Benjamin Franklin and George Pocock are known for using the traction method of HAWP.
Controls
– HAWP aircraft need to be controlled.
– Control mechanisms can be passive, active, or a mix.
– Kite steering units (KSU) may be robotic or operated by a human or smart computer programs.
– Kite control units (KCU) adjust tether reeling speeds and directions.
– Kite control parts vary widely.
Methods of converting the energy
– Mechanical energy can be converted to heat, sound, electricity, light, tension, pushes, pulls, laser, microwave, chemical changes, or compression of gases.
– Lighter-than-air (LTA) moored aerostats and heavier-than-air (HTA) tethered airfoils are used as lifters or turbines.
– Combinations of LTA and HTA devices are being built and flown to capture HAWP.
– Free-flight airborne devices are also used to capture the kinetic energy of high-altitude winds.
– Kite type airborne wind turbines (AWTs) have high growth potential and have contributed a significant amount of airborne wind energy.
Electric generator position in a HAWP system
– Electricity generation is the dominant option for capturing mechanical energy in HAWP systems.
– The position of the electric generator is a distinguishing feature among systems.
– The generator can be flown aloft or kept at the mooring region.
– Some systems use a combination of aloft and ground generators.
– Secondary options include tugging water turbines, pumping water, or compressing air or hydrogen. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_wind_energy
This article possibly contains original research. (April 2019) |
Airborne wind energy (AWE) is the direct use or generation of wind energy by the use of aerodynamic or aerostatic lift devices. AWE technology is able to harvest high altitude winds, in contrast to wind turbines, which use a rotor mounted on a tower.
The term high-altitude wind power (HAWP) has been used to refer to AWE systems. However, semantically HAWP might also include wind energy conversion systems that are somehow positioned at a large height from the ground or sea surface.
Various mechanisms are proposed for capturing the kinetic energy of winds such as kites, kytoons, aerostats, gliders, gliders with turbines for regenerative soaring, sailplanes with turbines, or other airfoils, including multiple-point building- or terrain-enabled holdings. Once the mechanical energy is derived from the wind's kinetic energy, then many options are available for using that mechanical energy: direct traction, conversion to electricity aloft or at ground station, conversion to laser or microwave for power beaming to other aircraft or ground receivers. Energy generated by a high-altitude system may be used aloft or sent to the ground surface by conducting cables, mechanical force through a tether, rotation of endless line loop, movement of changed chemicals, flow of high-pressure gases, flow of low-pressure gases, or laser or microwave power beams.
