Apple Files Patent for On-Demand Power Generation from Wind Turbines at Any Time

[freggo]

[citation][nom]otacon72[/nom]No it's not. It's about storing thermal energy in a liquid, probably some kind of molten salt, then using that to boil water to drive a steam generator when there's no wind. Solar power plants already use the concept to produce power after the sun goes down. If you're going to hate on Apple at least make sense.[/citation]

You are right, this type of energy storage is in use for some time.
So why would Apple be granted a patent on something that is already in use ?

 

[sundragon]

[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]You are right, this type of energy storage is in use for some time.So why would Apple be granted a patent on something that is already in use ?[/citation]

Probably the system they are patenting isn't the same as what is in use today. How about Tom's exercising proper journalism and providing a link to the patent... Sigh

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Bloob]

[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]You are right, this type of energy storage is in use for some time.So why would Apple be granted a patent on something that is already in use ?[/citation]

Is something like this really in use? Haven't seen any concepts with it yet. To be honest, to me, it seems pointlessly expensive with big energy losses.

 

[dthx]

Storing any renewable energy into the form of heat to is currently being investigated and tested by many companies and universities all over the world. Those were are already all over the place in scientific magazines, for years. Why Apple would try to patent this is just another evidence that this company wants to become mainly a patent troll and lost interest into selling innovative products to the customers who contributed to make them as wealthy as they are now !
They were probably able to patent this before everybody else because all the companies working on this concept were mainly focused on applying it to solar power. This system works very efficiently in quite predictable "solar panels in desert" scenario (9-15 hrs of sunlight, 9-15 hrs of darkness, almost every day of the year). This way, you can store enough heat during the day to keep producing energy all night and the same turbines are used at day and night, resulting in a not too complex installation.
Applying this to wind works not so good as it requires an additional convertion to heat a liquid (loss of efficiency), and turbines can work all day and night for days (the system is not needed in those periods), then stop for a couple of days if there is almost no wind (and this method will not be able to store the energy over too long periods like a couple of days)...

 

[billgatez]

The easy-est way to store power in a fluid is a battery.

[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]What's next? A patent for shaking your phone to charge it?[/citation]
Funny you should mention that.
http://gizmodo.com/5944914/apples-shake+to+charge-patent-trades-calories-for-battery-life

 

[CrArC]

[citation][nom]otacon72[/nom]No it's not. It's about storing thermal energy in a liquid, probably some kind of molten salt, then using that to boil water to drive a steam generator when there's no wind. Solar power plants already use the concept to produce power after the sun goes down. If you're going to hate on Apple at least make sense.[/citation] You were downvoted, and yet correct (it won't be molten salt, we'll get to that, but still). Toms Hardware article comments are a festering broth of idiot readers.

I reckon dthx is right - they're getting away with this patent because most existing patents apply to the use of this technique with solar power, not wind. Regardless, the patent is still too vague. Regarding molten salt, they do specify low-heat-capacity fluid, which implies it may not be molten anything. I can't see how a wind turbine could be used to generate temperatures so high anyway which may explain the low-heat-capacity specification. This does mean, however, that they will need a large quantity of this fluid. It likely won't be stored in the turbine, therefore we're looking at what amounts to a normal wind turbine with a substation nearby which heats/boils and then stores fluid for use later.

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]dthx[/nom]Storing any renewable energy into the form of heat to is currently being investigated and tested by many companies and universities all over the world. Those were are already all over the place in scientific magazines, for years. Why Apple would try to patent this is just another evidence that this company wants to become mainly a patent troll and lost interest into selling innovative products to the customers who contributed to make them as wealthy as they are now !They were probably able to patent this before everybody else because all the companies working on this concept were mainly focused on applying it to solar power. This system works very efficiently in quite predictable "solar panels in desert" scenario (9-15 hrs of sunlight, 9-15 hrs of darkness, almost every day of the year). This way, you can store enough heat during the day to keep producing energy all night and the same turbines are used at day and night, resulting in a not too complex installation.Applying this to wind works not so good as it requires an additional convertion to heat a liquid (loss of efficiency), and turbines can work all day and night for days (the system is not needed in those periods), then stop for a couple of days if there is almost no wind (and this method will not be able to store the energy over too long periods like a couple of days)...[/citation]
Your comment makes most sense, since I was thinking about the same thing: why introduce an additional conversion step , when every conversion implies losing efficiency? Wind mills rotate generator axis, there is no heat-converting step involved.
I guess patent trolling has no limits, since Microsoft did this :
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-patent-uspto-wind-data-center,14046.html
now Apple tries to get the upper hand patenting something that has been in use for a while for storing energy.

 

[Guest]

Full of haters or google fanboys here

 

[Cazalan]

Traditional wind turbines are not very efficient at all. This is probably for Solar updraft towers.

It would look good in their space ship building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

 

[cuba_pete]

[citation][nom]noob2222[/nom][/citation]
Do you or have you ever found something that would make a computer or program better? You could patent this idea to protect and develop the idea if you wanted. If you are not a computer or software manufacturer, but just a user, then you are in the same position as Apple. They are a user of power and have found that investing in and protecting an idea which will provide them the ability to compete well into the future is worthwhile. Also, Apple is not patenting what is considered traditional battery storage. The patent is specifically for efficient thermal liquid storage, where the "hot" liquid could be used later to create usable energy i.e., electricity. See this paper for the general idea: "http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/37083.pdf".

The big difference that Apple is going after here is that thermal liquids are "traditionally" used/developed for solar applications, where heat energy can be directly applied to the "battery". The use of wind energy, i.e., "kinetic" thermal energy stores the heat generated by the blade moving through the air. This energy is typically wasted and can be used under this new method. The fluids used may not be new, but the method of moving the liquid through the rotors of a giant wind machine is.

 

[Gulli]

I'm surprised Apple hasn't patented the concept of patenting yet...

At least the EU still has standards for what is a valid patent and what is not.

 

[Gulli]

[citation][nom]sundragon[/nom]Probably the system they are patenting isn't the same as what is in use today. How about Tom's exercising proper journalism and providing a link to the patent... SighSent from my Nexus 7[/citation]

No, what is more probable is that nobody thought to patent it because it just hooking up two existing broad inventions and therefore does not qualify for a patent in most countries, but Apple's lawyers think they have a shot at an American patent. They're praying on the naivete and lack of unfettered greed of others.

 

[tmshdw]

[citation][nom]fred_111[/nom]All energy storing methods are known and they are not subject for a patent.[/citation]

Gee science is at an end because we "know" everything? Get a clue that you don't even know what we don't know.

 

[wiyosaya]

[citation][nom]afrospinach[/nom]You can't patent an idea. You need a specific method to go with it, your battery array is safe.[/citation]
In the US, you can patent an idea. There is no requirement to submit a working prototype of any invention.

 

[cuba_pete]

[citation][nom]Gulli[/nom]No, what is more probable is that nobody thought to patent it because it just hooking up two existing broad inventions...citation]
What two broad inventions, specifically, are you referring to? I cannot find any other organization, American or international, which has attempted to run a thermal retention liquid through the blades of a large wind-turbine system in order to recover the heat from the blades' friction, then pass this liquid into a storage bank which would run an energy conversion facility.

Where do you see that this has been done before?

 

[Guest]

I have a vertical axis wind turbine ,made from an oil drum, that spins a wooden 4X4 against a thick chunk of wood in a oil drum full of water in my green house, the friction heats the water and the water stays warm when their is no wind. can apple sue me?

 

[cuba_pete]

[citation][nom]am i in trouble[/nom]...can apple sue me?citation]
No, you can show prior art and through witness can prove that your idea was first...

Your idea is different, anyway. The patent in question is for an method/invention which pumps a fluid through the blades of conventional wind machines. The friction of the blades moving through the air creates heat and transfers that heat to the fluid in the blades. The fluid is pumped to a holding facility where the heat is used to create energy during lulls in wind-created energy.