Company:Vortex Bladeless
Vortex Bladeless S.L is a Spanish tech startup that developed a multi-patented wind turbine without blades. In 2014, Vortex Bladeless won The South Summit Award in the category of energy and industry for the best project.
History
Vortex Bladeless S.L is a wind energy Spanish startup that was founded in 2013 by David Yáñez, David Suriol and Raúl Martín, exclusively dedicated to the development and marketing of Vortex.[1][1] This multi-patented wind turbine without blades is able to capture the kinetic wind energy by 'vortex shedding' and transform it into electricity.[1][1] The idea emerged in 2002 when David Yáñez, the inventor, saw a video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster and led him to the idea of a bladeless wind turbine.[2] This new technology seeks to overcome issues related to traditional wind turbines such as maintenance, amortization, noise, environmental impact, logistics, and visual aspects.[1] In April 2015, Vortex relocated to Boston and formed a coalition with representatives from Harvard University, IDEO, TerraForm Power and Dat Venture.[3][4] The improvement of its product has been funded by Repsol Foundation Grant, Spanish Angels Investors and a loan from the Spanish government.[3][4][5] Vortex also launched a crowdfunding campaign on June 1, 2015 to fund part of its commercialization.[4][6] Currently, the company's focus is on the development of small wind products, with mass power generation devices planned for the future.[1]
Vortex Bladeless Technology/Products
Vortex's innovation comes from its unusual shape, where a fiberglass and carbon fiber mast oscillates in the wind taking advantage of the vortex shedding effect.[7][8] At the bottom of the mast a carbon fiber rod moves inside a linear alternator that generates the electricity, with no moving parts in contact.[7][8] Vortex has a small carbon footprint, is noiseless, has low center of gravity and allows for small foundation dimensions, so more generators can be placed in an area, at twice the density of traditional turbines.[2][7][9]
Vortex Bladeless is working three different products. The main characteristics of the three products are:[10]
- Vortex Atlantis: 3 meters height and 100W generation capacity, working along with solar panels, mainly to bring energy to an off grid locations.[4]
- Vortex Mini: 13 meters height and 4 kW generation capacity, mainly for small-scale/residential wind.[10]
- Vortex Grand: 150 meters height and 1MW generation capacity, capable of generating electricity for 400 houses.[10]
Atlantis and Mini models are planned to be introduced for private homes in developing countries, or small constructions like radio antennas with their first field tests in Avila, Spain. And by 2018, with help of crowd funding, the deployment of the Vortex Grand.[8][10][11]
Awards
Vortex Bladeless has won The Latin American Entrepreneurship Award in 2011, Fondo de Emprendedores Fundación Repsol Award in 2012, The South Summit Award in 2014 (in the category of energy and industry), ‘Caja de Ingenieros’ Entrepreneurs Award in 2014 and “Renovable del Año 2016“ Award of the 10th 'Abulenses' phase of Energy, in 2016.[9][12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Altair. "Vortex Bladeless Wind Energy Project Team Receives Altair CAE Suite Donation". http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vortex-bladeless-wind-energy-project-team-receives-altair-cae-suite-donation-300247351.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Smart sustainability out of Spain" (in en-US). A Magazine. 2015-10-02. http://amagazine.com.au/stylish-sustainability-out-of-spain/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 vortexbladeless. "Vortex". http://www.vortexbladeless.com/blog.php.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Tucker, Bill. "Wind Power Without The Mills". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/billtucker/2015/05/07/wind-power-without-the-mills/#6f2e68e025ee.
- ↑ "Conoce mejor a dos de los ganadores: Proyecto Vortex - repsol.com". https://www.repsol.com/es_es/corporacion/prensa/Newsletter/proyecto-vortex.aspx.
- ↑ "Vortex Bladeless: a wind generator without blades" (in es-ES). https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/vortex-bladeless-a-wind-generator-without-blades--3#/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 ENGINEERING.com. "Vortex Bladeless Generates Power from Wind without Blades > ENGINEERING.com". http://www.engineering.com/Library/ArticlesPage/tabid/85/ArticleID/10223/Vortex-Bladeless-Generates-Power-from-Wind-without-Blades.aspx.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Patel, Sonal (July 1, 2015). "New Approach Powers Bladeless Wind Turbine". Power Magazine. http://www.powermag.com/new-approach-powers-bladeless-wind-turbine/.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Vortex bladeless wind energy project team receives altair CAE suite donation.". Diario La Razón. 2016.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "The Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbine". https://herox.com/news/354-the-vortex-bladeless-wind-turbine.
- ↑ Bates, Dominic (2015-06-01). "Can bladeless wind turbines mute opposition?" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jun/01/can-bladeless-wind-turbines-mute-opposition.
- ↑ "El aerogenerador sin aspas de Vortex Bladeless, Premio Renovable del Año". Ingenieros. http://www.ingenieros.es/noticias/ver/el-aerogenerador-sin-aspas-de-vortex-bladeless-premio-renovable-del-ano/6368.
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