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Kite Gen. Portrait of an invention
... I mean, a nuclear plant costs 6 billions
"It is now established that it costs 6 billions ..."
Massimo Ippolito inventor of the Kite Gen: We have a irrepressible hunger for energy.
Energy is absolutely connected with civilization and the quality of life of people.
"... cause a gas turbine plant of 1 GW costs 500 millions"
For example: when the oil cost very little,
so we had an energy available at low prices, it was the most prosperous time for humanity
it was possible to establish the welfare or the charter of workers
Therefore, cheap energy allows much more freedom to humans.
We are truly oppressed from what fossil fuels are:
for environmental degradation and the social, geo-strategic and geopolitical blackmail leading with it.
The tropospheric wind energy opportunity
The wind is an ... immense resource.
Not the one just above surface, lets say up to 100 m
because this air flow is slowed, hampered by what may be the mountains, trees, houses ...
A wind of 6 to 7 m/s is not frequent at ground level
but it becomes the average wind speed at 1000 m.
The idea of the Kite Gen
It lacked, in fact, a method to extract this energy.
What you're seeing behind me is the Kite Gen Stem
which is formed by a support structure of the engine room and the popular arm to support and operate with wings.
Ropes depart from the top of the Stem going to the real element that interacts with the wind,
which is the wing or kite.
So, the wing drag the arm in the direction and then the glider starts to take off.
At first, rather slowly and with difficulty, it has to gain a quota with sustained winds
at that point the wing starts to pull strongly in the ropes.
Winches and alternators are like a bicycle dynamo:
when it is put into rotation it produces electricity.
The movement of the kite is very broad, it will make a path like "8" in the sky
in order to intercept the wind "fresh" and undisturbed
and we will do the ropes up to the maximum extent.
At a certain moment we wont have more rope wound on winches,
so we have to somehow reset the machine,
to reset the process to start over from the beginning.
We take down the wing from 2000 m achieved with the previous flight, possibly up to 1000 m, 400 m ...
to be able to start over the production cycle.
All the machinery of the Kite Gen operates independently
the rope right from the left rope.
It is this mechanical characteristic of the engine room
which allowed us to introduce and test the sliding wing.
To put the wing in a slip wing only means to pull a rope
and this begins to flap and to come down quickly.
By putting the ropes to grade the wing resumed its flight configuration.
This cycle is repeated continuously,
where drive times are in minutes
and recovery times are in the tens of seconds.
These are the batteries of supercapacitors which serve to stabilize the output of energy production of the Kite Gen
In practice, the network outside will see a continuous flow of energy.
We can see here the pulleys at the base of the tree
that send to the engine room the axial ropes of the arm,
that come directly from the kite.
All material, all technical equipment is rotating with the wind.
The major difficulties which seemed insurmountable have been
the problem to share airspace with aviation.
However, after reasoning briefly on this problem, we realized that
power plants and dangerous industrial plants have a certain closed air space.
The final will be completely renovated sails, in the design, materials and structure.
We will have specialized sails for the production of energy, not for fun, sport.
The last piece which is "still in the box" is the contol
that need to be tested in the field.
Some parts of the control have already been tested, on the prototype.
Now we lack the rather demanding phases as the take-off,
but we have at least five different solutions to make a safe takeoff.
Takeoff. First method
If there is wind just above the ground, and the wind that it's here now, at this time could be enough,
the wing lifts up by itself.
Takeoff. Second method
To use the stem to give the wing short pulses of tension
so that it can, pulse after pulse, gain altitude.
Takeoff. Third method
To combine these traction pulses, in the absence of wind,
with swing movements of the arm.
Takeoff. Fourth method
The use of a balloon inflated with helium only for a short time,
to lift the ropes and in a short transition, lift the wing
then the balloon is withdrawn.
Takeoff. Fifth method
The last method is to use the fans to help the wind on the ground
and to make a completely artificial take off.
The Kite Gen has already worked in 2006 as research prototype
I must say, I've had failures that I did actually enjoy.
That is: the pulleys in which the cords pass, which warmed above 250 ° C
for fatigue, for the effort.
This meant that we were really in front of energy that was flowing, coming ...
Then we broke a lot of kites which literally exploded in the air for the effort.
And this made us realize once again, in the same direction, there was energy
and that we had to find aids, methods to protect the equipment.
Very slowly, this belief was formed that we were in front of a novelty
an incredible opportunity
to produce energy at costs ever seen to date.
Here we see perhaps one of the heaviest pieces of the structure of the Kite Gen
This means that this machine can be easily brought
in areas of difficult accessibility, with the normal means of transport.
The concept of Kite Gen defuses the whole issue of windmills and landscape,
and I must say even the avid hoarding of sites happened in the south (of Italy)
because with the Kite Gen every location can be good.
This machine will produce 3 MW nominal with the average wind speed that we can find it here
at high altitude on this site (Sommariva Perno, CN, Italy).
If we think of hydropower, can be done only in places
where there are lakes or where you can make basins for water storage.
Wind mills need windy sites.
Kite Gen just needs to be in the temperate zone,
so all the Europe and then, going to zoom, industrial areas, degraded areas
can accommodate well Kite Gen
If there is not enough wind at 1000 m you can go up to 2000 and so on,
in order to be able to have the same amount of power to be delivered over the network.
The wind at high altitude, although present with more intensity and more consistent than that of earth,
may be absent for short periods
but, producing 6000 hours per year, we are not very different from a coal-fired
or a nuclear facility, because this, in any case,
needs to be stopped for 3 or 4 months every 2 years to change the fuel rods
A wind turbine installed in Linate (near Milan), and say that because we have very detailed wind data of Linate,
would work 70 hours per year, then 70 hours of 8760.
At Linate Kite Gen could produce thousands of hours, 4000 hours without any problems ...
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