Extensible Wind Tower

Abstract

The diffusion of wind energy generators is restricted by their strong landscape impact. The PERIMA project is about the development of an extensible wind tower able to support a wind machine for several hundred kW at its optimal working height, up to more than 50 m. The wind tower has a telescopic structure, made by several tubes located inside each other with their axis in vertical direction. The lifting force is given by a jack-up system confined inside a shaft, drilled below the ground level. In the retracted tower configuration, at rest, tower tubes are hidden in the foundation of the telescopic structure, located below the ground surface, and the wind machine is the only emerging part of the system. The lifting system is based on a couple of oleodynamic cylinders that jack-up a central tube connected to the top of the tower by a spring, with a diameter smaller than the minimum tower diameter and with a length a bit greater than the length of the extended telescopic structure. The central tube works as plunger and lifts all telescopic elements. The constraint between the telescopic elements is ensured by special parts, which are kept in traction by the force of the spring and provide the resisting moment. The most evident benefit of the proposed system is attained with the use of a two-blade propeller, which can be kept horizontal in the retracted tower configuration.