Wind Power solutions for High Rise buildings

[djsourabh]

For high Rise Buildings,say above 30 floors,wind energy could be too ample to be wasted.

So what kind of study has to be carried out in order to know the feasibility of installing Wind turbine above a building?

What will determine the power output of this turbine?

 

[UltrafastPED]

Ha ha ... this is what Mayor Bloomberg of NYC wanted to do! See
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/nyregion/20windmill.html?_r=0

But little windmills are inefficient - here is what they are doing in Ontario, Canada:
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/08/1...ties-declare-unwilling-hosts-to-wind-turbines

 

[Baluncore]

How much added mass and lateral wind loading can the existing structure handle?
That will decide the generation limitations.

 

[SteamKing]

If a blade decides to let loose, you could see a lot of damage to other buildings and possibly many injuries or deaths due to flying debris. That's why most farms are in the middle of nowhere.

 

[256bits]

For high Rise Buildings,say above 30 floors,wind energy could be too ample to be wasted.

That is not the best premise to approach the subject. It lends itself more to the writing of a propaganda pamphlet to acquire support for such an endevour, that you have already investigated to some extent as having ( some ) merit.

In any case,
Building structure integrety - already noted.
Liability - already noted.
Type of wind catcher - horizontal axis, vertical axis for example, and size
Wind flow patterns.
Height of the windmill stucture.
Economics -

Flow patterns - you may have noticed that the horizontal axis blade type windmills are on top of a high tower. One reason for this is the length of the blade can be increased to catch more wind, but it is also to put the windmill at an elevation so that surface effects from ground structures such as trees and buildings is minimized. Wind has to blow over a building, hill, trees and in doing so it acquires a vertical velocity as well as its horizontal velocity. With a horizontal axis blade windmill you want to catch horizontal velocity and not vertical.

In addition, with several other structures surrounding your windmill, the flow pattern on top of the building could be chaotic - something that would need to be investigated before erecting the structure.

Height - a determination of how high the structure on top of the building needs to be to find a nice flow patterns or a least a height of `best choice`.

Here are some picture of windmill designs,
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=types+of+windmills&qpvt=types+of+windmills&FORM=IGRE

Here is just a few pictures of flow patterns around buildings,
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/citywind.htm

I put this in there because it is interesting for how far reaching a structure can affect wind,
http://www.aviationweather.ws/045_Obstructions_To_Wind_Flow.php

Another city-wind pattern discussion,
http://www.greendesignetc.net/Flows_05_(pdf)/OkaMasayoshi_Air_Flow_in_Urban_Area.pdf [Broken]

Hopefully that will give you some insight into cities and windmills.

 

[russ_watters]

I'd be surprised if the wind was really much better than locating the turbine on a hill and the combination of added complexities and relatively small benefit compared to the power usage of the building would make it tough to justify.

 

[256bits]

Which is why I left Economics blank.

 

[AlephZero]

I'd be surprised if the wind was really much better than locating the turbine on a hill

True, especially if there are several tall buildings close together.

In this case, you might be better closing the surrounding roads and putting the turbine at street level ! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-12717762

 

[skeptic2]

Not to mention that in a densely populated area, the blades would nearly destroy over the air television signals even if they aren't made out of steel.