Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Windmill powered friction oven

  


    http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Windmill_20powered_20friction_20oven Environmentally friendly cooking
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Solar ovens are Baked (no pun intended) and are fine in sunny parts of the world; but what about when it's cloudy - or dark ? However, in the Winter, it can be quite windy; hence the idea.
Many UK properties have a (now redundant) chimney stack arising from the kitchen. The idea would be to place a large windmill at the top of the chimney. The energy collected by the windmill is transmitted down the flue by a sectional tubular shaft. At the base of the chimney, the shaft is coupled to the oven, which has a sealed chamber containing a convetional brake drum or disc, and a set of friction pads. A centrifugal governor controls the amount of pressure applied to the pads.
When the wind blows the disc spins; friction makes it hot. When the wind is strong, the disc becomes VERY hot. The windmill has a varaible-pitch device to stop too much energy being collected and burning the food.
The system would be very efficient as it converts mechanical energy directy into heat; there is no intermediate electrical generator/heating coil stage.
A 2m diameter windmill can collect several killowatts of power - enough to heat a typical domestic oven. The idea would be to use the system in the manner of a slow cooker, for foods that require steady average heat over along period, like stews and casseroles.
The sealed chamber prevents fragments from the friction process from contaminating the food. Geared fans stir the air on both sides of the dividing membrane making it a fan oven and ensuring efficient heat transfer.

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