The Dutch Windwheel is a concept for a sustainable landmark that will not only generate wind energy silently, but also capture rainwater, recycle tap water, produce biogas – and most importantly, house 72 apartments. It will also have some rotating cabins providing a brilliant view of the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
Design and sustainability are the key issues developers have in mind, and innovation is the key to that. It will host 72 apartments, 160 hotel rooms, commercial outlets and a restaurant, for which it will generate a lot of sustainable. How do they do it? The key here is a bladeless wind turbine with no moving parts that produces electricity using charged water droplets.
The technology, called EWICON (Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter) creates energy through the displacement of charged particles by the wind in the opposite direction of an electrical field. Each tube features several electrodes and nozzles which release positively-charge water into the air, through a process that’s been dubbed “electrospraying”. The technology was developed by Delft University of Technology researchers Johan Smit and Dhiradi Djairam and from what I could find, this will be the first major application of the technology. Here’s a video which explains how EWICON works:
Press link for more: Mihai Andrei | zmescience.com
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