Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Heating windmills never became a real success, but it would
be unjust to mention this type of windmill without telling about
the LO-FA windmill. It was part of a windmill culture had came
into being on the island of Lolland, including master blacksmith
Anders Davidsen's Lolland windmills in diferent sizes which were
produced in nice quantities and exported to California as well. The
LO-FA heating windmill developed by Knud Berthou as well as the
PADEMO windmill did not have a market breakthrough; the island
of Lolland did not get the new industry, which was so badly needed
with its long tradition within mechanical industry.
Activities around the LO-FA windmill were established in the
old dairy factory at Slemminge by Sakskøbing. Here the inventor
and industrialist
, had gathered a group of
ten persons who developed a windmill which was technically
diferent from anything else at the time, apart from the blades
made of laminated wood.
The windmill had three blades with a diameter of 12 m and
was designated as a high-tech windmill with variable pitch blades,
planetary gearbox and a very refined liquid heat-brake system.
The heating medium was not water but hydraulic oil. Whereas the
other heat-brake windmills had their mechanical parts close to
the ground Berthou placed everything inside the nacelle, and this
opened for new potentials. This is how the bottom 10 m of the
steel tube type tower were filled with 15 tons of water and thus
made up the heat storage which was insulated. Besides serving as
friction liquid in the heat-brake hydraulic oil transferred heat to
the water storage in the tower and lubricated all moving parts in
the gear, bearings, etc.
However, technological merits did not lead to commercialisation.
Even if the need for heating is three times higher than for electricity,
windmills connected to the power grid were favoured by the state
of subsidies. With days of strong winds the excess energy was not
lost but could be fed into the grid and finally, an energy supply
chain supported the power producing windmills with a variety of
industrially produced components. With too many odds to overcome
the pioneers behind the LO-FA and other heat-brake wind turbines
disappeared into the oblivion. However, their achievements and
innovations have to be remembered by the history of technology.
Probably the most successful water brake windmill in Denmark
was produced by the brothers
in spe
,
Knud Berthou
Bent and Hans Svaneborg,
two
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