Information about Rotor Ships and Wind Power History
A Rotor Ship, also known as Flettner ship is said to be a ship which is designed to use Magnus effect for propulsion. In order to take advantage of the Magnus effect it makes use of rotor sails and these rotor sails are powered by an engine. Rotor Ship was first built by a German engineer Anton Flettner by using the force for propulsion.
The spinning bodies of the Rotor Ship used by Flettner were vertical cylinders with the idea of using the Magnus effect. Although, the thought of Flettner worked but the propulsion force which was generated was not up to the mark. It was less as compared to the propulsion force which would have been generated by the motor if it had been connected to a standard marine propeller. Then he thought of producing the propulsion force by using a belt but later it was decided that the cylinders would be rotated with the help of two separate motors. Then Anton Flettner applied for a German patent for the Rotor Ship in September 1922.
Anton Flettner then constructed a Rotor Ship with the help of his fellow engineers in October 1924 and it was named Buckau. Then this Rotor Ship was set for its first sail in February 1925 but it was later found that the rotor vessel was not as efficient as the conventional engines. This made him turn his attention towards other projects. However, Buckau which was renamed as Baden Baden got destroyed in a Caribbean storm in the year 1930. Later, he built much advanced Rotor Ship which is used even today.
Wind Power energy has great potential as it has the ability to solve many problems which are being experienced by the people presently. There is a great need for wind power as a source of energy today because it is a renewable source of energy. Its need has increased due to continuous decrease in the non-renewable resources and constant rise in the price of the oil. This has made people to look back into the Wind Power History.
According to the Wind Power History, wind power was first generated about a century ago. During that period wind power was mainly used for grinding flour and pumping water. It was at a place near Persia where the structure of windmill was first found. According to the Wind Power History, the windmills are considered the first machines used for generating energy from wind. The concept of windmill spread to parts of Europe first and then to America. However, according to the Wind Power History, Netherlands was the first European country to invent the structure of the modern wind mill.
Another important point on the Wind Power History that has been founded by the researchers is that they appreciate the sailboats for using the power if wind energy. These sailboats led to the evolution of bigger sailboats and ultimately ships.
Later, Rotor Ship was invented which used Magnus Effect for generating wind energy. Thus, Wind Power History is full of evidences that use of wind energy for several purposes is not new.
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