Anyone heard of the mast r wind turbine?

A mob called Kronos technology solutions have a vawt tat is attached to the mast above a spreader...
Has anyone seen or had experience with one...I have seen the YouTube video so looking for real experience or real installations.
Thanks
Mick

 

what is a vawt tat?

 

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

 

High solidity and low Reynolds numbers mean that it is inefficient for the amount of
material.
(Solidity = N*c/R, where N=number of blades, c=chord length, R = turbine radius).
Despite the cambered blades it will act more like a drag wind turbine than a more
efficient lifting type.

 

+1, It looks like a roof vent.

I have always thought a VAWT would be an excellent solution to a hybrid "sail" boat. The VAWT along with solar would charge batteries and an electric motor would provide propulsion. A diesel generator would kick in as needed to fill any power needs.

Problem is VAWT's are just not very efficient. I think with a few more years of development it will improve as will solar.

With the VAWT/solar power you could drive your boat like any power boat, no need to worry about wind direction.

Sigh, I can dream, can't I?

 

I believe from observations that wind turbines to be effective at driving a generator need torque. Torque can only be achieved by very large surfaces. The bigger the better. I love idea of vertical windmill, you save having to point at wind, but then it has to be huge to power anything.

 

Darrieus VAWTs (of the lifting variety) are efficient for certain applications,
but they come with their own set of problems, such as overspeed control,
and vibrations. Theoretically they are more efficient than HAWT with a Betz
limit of about 0.62 as opposed to about 0.59 for HAWT, IIRC.

As I see it, the main probelm with putting VAWTs on masts is that the radius
must be fairly small, so the Reynolds numbers will never be very high.
Adding extra blades is no real solution because that too reduces the efficiency.

Don't get me wrong, I love VAWT, but only from an aerodynamic/ mathematical aspect

 

This catamaran has a beam of 15m (49 ft).

Imagine 2 - 10m (32.8 ft) diameter VAWT's, one mounted above each hull. If you got really crazy you could probably fit 4 VAWT's, one at each corner.

During the circumnavigation the 2 motors on Planet Solar averaged about 10Kw each.

 

There is also the more direct approach of the vessel known as a "biscaph".
See:
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/at...322-sailors-wrong-thousands-years-biscaph.gif

 

Clarify

Might clarify...this is an aux generator config not a primary drive

 

fraction of the money would have provided much more propulsion if said boat used sails...

 

Absolutely! The all solar thing was just a publicity stunt. With sails that thing would literally be tons lighter and fast.

I am working on the design of a smaller version with sails, biplane arrangement. With a biplane arrangement I can make the center hull much lighter as all the sail loads go directly to the hulls. If the sail was in the center, the center hull would have to be much heavier. I like the layout of the Solar Planet because it is efficient and gives a cavernous living area. In addition you can isolate all the mechanical noisy hardware in the hulls which should provide a huge increase in comfort when under power.