Wind Energy for the Built Environment Project WEB Overview

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Wind Energy for the Built Environment (Project
WEB)Overview
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Objective

• To develop, demonstrate and evaluate techniques
  for integrating wind energy into the urban
  environment, closer to the consumers of power.

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Urban Wind Energy Conversion Systems (UWECS)
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Wind Energy for the Built Environment (Project
WEB)

• 2 year research project (completed September
  2000)
• Part funded by the EC under JOULE III
• 4 partners from Germany, Netherlands UK
• Total Budget 1,100,000 (700,000)

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Partnership
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Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs)
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Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs)
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Real projects

• Small turbines
• Low power output
• Low level of integration
• Low environmental impact

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Conceptual projects

• Larger turbines
• Higher power output
• Higher level of integration
• Environmental impact ?

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Wind farms near urban locations

• Large turbines
• Off-shore On-shore
• Sited away from buildings
• Environmental impact ?

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Rules of thumb

• building(s) must be energy efficient
• turbines should contribute significantly to
  annual energy demand
• the development must not be detrimental to the
  local environment

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Generic options

• Sensitive siting of stand-alone wind turbines,
• which can supply surrounding buildings.
• Retro-fitting wind turbines
• onto existing buildings.
• Fully-integrating wind turbines into a building,
• such that they drive the architectural form.

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Siting of stand-alone wind turbines
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Suspending a turbine from a building
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Challenges

• close proximity to people property
  (environmental impact)
• wind speeds are lower in urban areas (less power
  in the wind)
• marrying the aesthetics of wind turbines
  buildings
• shape orientation of buildings constrained by
  actual site
• buildings cannot turn to face into the
  prevailing wind

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Principles of Wind Enhancement
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Natural wind enhancement
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Artificial wind enhancement

• Diffuser Augmented Wind Turbine (DAWTs)

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Planned wind enhancement
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Wind regime of cities towns

• wind rarely blows strongly from
• a single prevailing direction all year
• integrated turbine must harvest wind
• from a wide range of directions

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Criteria for aerodynamic studies

• conventional optimised building shapes
• wind tunnel CFD (computational fluid dynamics)
• integrated design approach

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Wind tunnel flow visualisation experiments
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Wind velocity profiles
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Non-aerodynamic block shaped buildings

• suspended turbines only perform well for certain
  wind directions

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Aerodynamic twin tower buildings
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Wind enhancement between aerodynamic towers
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Flow visualisation techniques
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Prototype 3-D Designs for twin tower building
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Wind Enhancement between aerodynamic towers
(infills)
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Vibration problems
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Streamlined prototype suspensions

• Architectural ideal

Structural prototype
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Key environmental impacts

• visual
• public safety ( the perception of safety)
• noise

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Visual impacts
Computer generated images animations
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Public safety
Visible safety devices to enhance both safety
the perception of safety
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Noise emission and propagation from UWECS

• Noise sources
• aerodynamic
• mechanical

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Simulation of noise propagation from a UWECS
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Simulation of noise propagation in an urban area
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Architectural concepts
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Multi-turbine twin tower building
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Multi-turbine twin tower building
Interior of infills or sky lobby
Aerial View
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Omni-directional tower building
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Omni-directional tower building
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Configurations to be field-tested
Between Towers with Infills
Stand-Alone
Between Twin Towers
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Performance of stand-alone machines
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Performance of HAWT (with infills)
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Environmental impacts - external and internal
Interior of infills or sky lobby
Aerial View
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Dissemination

• Posted on Cordis
• Wrote a Book (based on publishable report)
• International Workshop on the Prototype Site
  (Harwell)
• Invited Press, Researchers, Practitioners
• 11 September 2001 !
• RE Focus, New Scientist ( www links)
• Published a WEB Book
• Then a Project Gained a Life of Its Own ...

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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination
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Dissemination Summary

• Conference Icon - Rebuilding of WTC New York
• 4 TV Programs Regional to Global
• Over 50 Articles Chile to New Zealand, Japan,
  etc.
• We almost got sued
• We almost sued the same people that wanted to sue
  us
• Over 200 queries, now 2-3 per week
• One follow-up research project
• Three possible commercial projects

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The End