Criticism and History
In early studies it was not absolutely clear that this could be made workable due to cross-wind disruption of the vortex. This motivated later studies with wind tunnel empirical validation of the CFD model, which conclude, "The full scale simulations subjected to cross wind show that the power generation capacity is not affected by the cross winds."
Michaud has built a prototype in Utah with colleague Tom Fletcher.
Also, according to Michaud's patent application, the design was initially prototyped with a gasoline-powered 50 cm "fire-swirl."
The University of Western Ontario's wind-tunnel laboratory, through a seed investment from OCE's Centre for Energy, is studying the dynamics of a one-metre version of Michaud's vortex engine.
Read more about this topic: Vortex Engine
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