Vortex engine

That is, the vortex engine's proposed main application is as a "bottoming cycle" for large power plants that need cooling towers.

The application proposed by Louat in his patent claims is to provide a less-expensive alternative to a physical solar updraft tower.

A vortex is created by deflecting vanes set at an angle relative to the tangent of the outer radius of the solar collector.

[7] The basic prototype was then subjected to a series of developments and performance enhancements by integration with sensible thermal energy storage (TES) and modification in the design of the vortex generator.

The team carried out and published an experimental evaluation, theoretical analysis, and computational simulations of the SVPG and compiled the findings in a book which summarizes the fundamentals of this technology.

Depending on weather, a large station may create a virtual chimney from 200 m to 15 km high, efficiently venting waste power plant heat into colder upper atmosphere with minimal structure.

At this time, low-temperature heat from an external powerplant drives the updraft and vortex via a conventional crossway cooling tower (61).

Heated air (33, 34) from the crossway cooling tower (61) enters the concrete vortex arena (2) via two rings of directing louvers (3, 5, height exaggerated for clarity) and rises (35).

The generators begin to function only in the last stages of start-up, as a strong pressure differential forms between the base of the vortex arena (33) and the outside air (31) At this time, the bypass louvers (25) are closed.

Most of the unnamed numbered items are a system of internal louvers and water pumps to manage air velocities and heating as the engine starts.

The University of Western Ontario's wind-tunnel laboratory, through a seed investment from OCE's Centre for Energy, is studying the dynamics of a one-metre version of Michaud's vortex engine.