IPFS News Link • Events: Arizona
Massive Arizona energy tower will dwarf every building in the USA
• http://www.dvice.com, Michael TreiDespite its hugeness, the current proposal is actually substantially scaled back in size from the original gargantuan 4,000 foot monster they had planned for the site a couple of years ago. Still, when completed, only the Burj Khalifa in Dubai will be taller.
To be constructed by a company called Solar Wind Energy, the Solar Wind Downdraft Tower is a pretty simple in concept. Cool water is pumped to the top of the massive tower, where it is sprayed as a fine mist over the opening. The hot dry air absorbs the moisture, which causes it to become denser and fall into the top of the tower. By the time it reaches he bottom, the air is moving at high speed, and can be diverted into a cluster of wind turbines grouped around the base.
Solar Wind Energy says that the tower will produce about 1,200 Megawatts during the hottest months, which is more than all but the very largest nuclear power plants.
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1 Comments in Response to Massive Arizona energy tower will dwarf every building in the USA
There are several ways to make an improvement, but essentially...
Build a second tower that stands in the sun, perhaps shading the first tower, paint it black, build heat exchanger vanes inside of it, and hook it to the output end of the wind turbines. As the sun heats the tower, thereby heating the air inside the tower, the hot air rising will suck the air out of the turbine, causing a faster, more powerful rate of air-flow through the turbine than with the downward pressure caused by the first tower alone.
The whole unit would be able to be made smaller and yet put out more power. Located in the right spot in Arizona - like next to, up the side of a mountain - construction costs could be minimized by attaching the towers to the mountain for reinforcement.
Of course, nobody does something like this for the fun of it. They do it for the money. Since they are using a mountain, why not erect a giant water-slide down the mountain, and use a chair-lift powered off the "twin towers" to take the people back up the mountain to the water slide. Think of all the money they could rake in if they did THIS!