The concept of a vortex engine or atmospheric vortex engine (AVE), independently proposed by Norman Louat and Louis M. Michaud, aims to replace large physical chimneys with a vortex of air created by a shorter, less-expensive structure.
Michaud's patent claims that the main application is that the air flow through the louvers at the base will drive low-speed air turbines , generating twenty percent additional electric power from the heat normally wasted by conventional power plants. 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. In this application, the heat is provided by a large area of ground heated by the sun and covered by a transparent surface that traps hot air, in the manner of a greenhouse. A vortex is created by deflecting vanes set at an angle relative to the tangent of the outer radius of the solar collector. Louat estimated that the minimum diameter of the solar collector would need to be 44+ metres in order to collect "useful energy". A similar proposal is to eliminate the transparent cover. This scheme would drive the chimney-vortex with warm seawater or warm air from the ambient surface layer of the earth. In this application, the application strongly resembles a dust devil with an air-turbine in the center.
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