Clean Energy from a 3000-ft Tower
Researchers working on the old patented idea of Phillip Carlson, has now proposed a tower design based on it. Thus the old forgotten idea of Carlson, which was conceptualised in 1975 is being given wings, which might result in a clean energy producing mega project.
As per the design, the tower would be a really tall (3000 feet) hollow structure situated in a place of hot and dry climate. The air, at the top of the tower, is sprayed with cool water. The reason behind the spraying of cool water upon hot air is that the air becomes denser and heavier. This air comes downwards through the tower. This is used to power the wind turbines installed in the building, which in turn generates electricity.
Most of the work on this technology has been done by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, including Dr Ramu Guetta and Prof Dan Zaslavsky.
The proposed site of the construction of the tower is San Luis, Arizona, right on the US-Mexico border. Clean Wind Energy, the company building the tower, estimates that the tower will produce up to 2,500 megawatt hours.
There are a few drawbacks as well. One major problem here is the usage of large amounts of water for the purpose of spraying. Since it is a desert city, this would become even more difficult.
Also, energy is required to pump the large amounts of water up to the top of the structure. If the energy to be produced by the tower is used for the purpose of pumping, one third of the energy is utilized this way.
