Ever Wanted To Ride A Wind Turbine?

[roomraider]

Well this is interesting. Might never happen but a cool concept none the less.

If you’ve ever wanted to see the views from atop a wind turbine, your wish may soon come true. The Dutch renewable energy company Qurrent just unveiled plans to transform a wind farm into the “world’s first sustainable theme park.” Designed in collaboration with Jora Entertainment, the park will be packed with adrenaline-pumping rides from the world’s tallest spiraling water slide to an incredibly fast attraction on a turbine blade booster.

While Qurrent’s planned 8,000-square-meter theme park won’t be the first to be powered by wind, it will be the first to turn wind turbines into amusement park rides. The eco-theme park will also offer more than thrills and novelty. Qurrent envisions the park as a “celebration of environmental contribution” that will showcase Dutch renewable energy and educate the public on sustainable practices.

The wind-powered attractions will include rides such as the Beaufort Buster, a spiraling water slide that winds around the wind turbine tower; the Blade Runner, a “shockingly fast ride on a turbine blade booster;” the Newton Nightmare, a drop tower ride that descends 95 meters in 1.5 seconds; and the Happy Hurricane rollercoaster ride. In-park eateries will be solar powered.

“Within ten years from now, wind energy will be ubiquitous,” says Richard Klatten, CEO of Qurrent. “We strive to be ahead of things, and shape the future of renewable energy. Creating an environment where people can experience clean energy in a fun and educational way could be one of those. And hey – how neat would it be to tell your friends you took a ride on an actual wind turbine?”

Source

 

[Trihunter]

Hurricane looks like a better Polercoaster. Also I'm skeptical of how good of an idea it is to attach people to the ends of turbine blades...

 

[peep]

Well this was unexpected. Quite like the idea. May have to keep an eye on this one.

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[Lofty]

Blade Runner looks **** terrifying.

 

[Hyde]

Haha, love the Blade Runner concept.

What about a solar giant slide? Or geothermal-themed river rapids?

 

[Ben]

What the absolute ****.

And why use **** Vortex as the coaster in the concept art xD

 

[cjbrandy]

Newton Nightmare's concept of a 95 meter descent in 1.5 seconds sounds like it would be pushing the limits of intensity!

 

[GuyWithAStick]

What is this?

This has got to be the weirdest concept I've ever seen. I wonder how the Public Safety will react to this.

 

[mouse]

Ha, why not :lol:.

The waterslide looks pretty great, as does the flying around on a **** wind turbine blade.

 

[Thekingin64]

I have wondered about the possibility of riding a wind turbine blade a few times actually although,while the concept is fantastic, logistically it won't happen. Everything else is more likely though and could happen.

 

[Jarrett]

And why use **** Vortex as the coaster in the concept art xD

I saw that and recognized that death machine's layout at once and thought the same thing!

This is really unique and different and I love it, to be honest. The polercoaster thing and Blade Runner look really cool. Maybe they could also attach Intamin watercoaster (Pilgrim, Divertical, ect.) elevator hardware to the side of a turbine if this is successful. :?

 

[Nicky]

Literally told my class this week that you cannot have a ride on a wind turbine. Now I will have to show them these ideas and say I got it wrong

 

[nadroJ]

^Haha, gutted!

What a weird idea? Cool, but...what? The world is weird.

 

[Hixee]

Literally told my class this week that you cannot have a ride on a wind turbine. Now I will have to show them these ideas and say I got it wrong

Nope - you're all good.

You could not ride on the tip of a functioning (full size) wind turbine. The blade tip speed is typically around 80 mph for the 35-40 m turbines, meaning if you were on the tip you'd be experiencing something like a constant G-force of 3.5 G. That's pushing into the realm of where untrained people won't last more than a minute or so (if that). I wouldn't worry too much about having lied to your class. :lol:

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This is a neat concept, but not going to happen. Here's some reasons why:

1) Health and Safety wouldn't be having any of it... :lol:
2) The drop tower is possibly feasible, but I'd be interested to see how the detail of the top of tower would work with the nacelle. Access for maintenance is a massive design consideration for wind turbines, and the drop tower would only get in the way. Also, where you'd usually house parts of the winch mechanism, release mechanism and sensors where the generators and controls for the turbines usually are.
3) The clearances between the blades and the tower are (obviously) plenty, but I suspect they're designed with the intention of having nothing in between. The closer you can bring the blades to the tower, the less structural complexity you face in the tower itself. I see no reason why they'd complicate the design of the structure to a large degree, just for an attraction.
4) Wind turbines don't like starting and stopping a lot (it plays havoc on bearings and transformers), so you can rule out the Blade Runner idea.
5) Pumping water to the top of the wind turbine for the water ride using the turbine's own power? I'm not convinced. It's very energy expensive to pump water up 45-50 m. Not to mention the wind (by definition you need strong wind to power the pumps, at which point you probably wouldn't want to be up the tower in your swim shorts. Not to mention (as referred to in point 2), where you going to put the top? Inside the nacelle, where all the mechanical components are? Pass. Plus, you'll need to keep the slide pretty close to the power - are these people aware that wind turbines turn around?
6) Wind turbines are loud, gusty and create horribly turbulent air behind them. I can't say I'd like to be 20 m behind one when it's at full speed.

It'd be a much better plan to have a wind farm next door to the park, with the power generated supplementing a grid supply. This is basically nothing more than a portfolio from a design student. Looks great, sounds awesome and makes a nice study, but I'm struggling to see any real engineering sense applied to this.

 

[JoshC.]

Maybe I'm reading wrong, but the way I'm seeing it is that the idea is to convert the wind farm into a theme park / educational facility, not integrate the two together?

For all the reasons Hixee stated and so many more, it's just impractical and unsafe to have working wind turbines as theme park rides. But it would be feasible to turn them into theme park rides, and be powered by wind turbines elsewhere. Would be a cool idea all in all, but I'm not sure if it's a particularly practical one!