PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2015
Viable, cost-effective energy generated by the power of the wind can already be felt from the north of Israel as faculty member Dr David Greenblatt sets up his revolutionary 175 m2 wind tunnel laboratory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. With a background in aerodynamics and patents for industrial fans under his belt, Greenblatt is well set to fix the problems of friction, performance and shelf-life involved in harnessing the awesome power of the wind.
Harnessing the powers that be: Dr. David Greenblatt
Viable, cost-effective energy generated by the power of the wind can already be felt from the north of Israel as faculty member Dr. David Greenblatt sets up his revolutionary 175 m2 wind tunnel laboratory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. With a background in aerodynamics and patents for industrial fans under his belt, Greenblatt is well set to fix the problems of friction, performance and shelf-life involved in harnessing the awesome power of the wind.
“There are many problems with wind turbine blades,” he explains, “You cannot ‘see’ the wind and therefore you cannot appreciate how it hammers the blades and the whole structure. The wind is unsteady and turbulent, which means the performance drops and design life becomes compromised by high loads. I’m developing flow effectors or actuators that are embedded in the surface of the blades. If I can work out how to use them cleverly, then they will reattach unpredictable flow to the blades, increase the performance of the turbine, and extend the design life of the structure. You are squeezing more power out of the wind… and the same structure might last double the time and need much less maintenance.”
The unique tunnel to test the turbine blades has been designed for optical measurements. Transparent, the tunnel allows Greenblatt’s team to simulate the conditions of nature, measure the wind flow around the turbines with a laser, and optically measure the effects.
“I appreciate GTEP because it gives the opportunity to pursue cutting-edge research,” says Greenblatt who joined the Technion in 2007. “For me it’s exciting. You’re looking at new phenomena, learning about things that haven’t been seen before… It was my dream to build and design this flow-control laboratory.”