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The SOLAR VORTEX GENERATOR

by Earl Senchuk
(Marquette, MI. USA)

The following documents provide information regarding my invention, the Solar Vortex Generator. It reveals how the invention came to be, its purpose, with whom I plan to work, his credentials, where I’ve been with the invention, and my comments and goals.

There is a patented "Solar Vortex Electric Power Generator," patent #6722593, that should not be confused with, or misinterpreted to be related in any way to my Solar Vortex Generator as this patent title is sometimes referred to on the internet.

My SVG is not patented, although the invention disclosure was submitted to my patent attorney to establish time of conception two years ago, near the time when I took the prototype to Michigan Technological University for review by some respectable scientists.

In attendance at the meeting at MTU were Dr. Jeffrey Allen, the top scientist with a specialty in thermal transfer, and his assistant. Also in attendance was Dr. Frank Underdown, whose specialty areas are nanotechnology and alternative energy. Dr. Underdown is with whom I plan to work in the near future. Carlton Cruthers, the CEO of the Smart Zone, was also in attendance, as was my 91 year old father, and my brother, Mark. The planned, one hour long meeting at MTU lasted for four hours.

The conclusion at the meeting at Michigan Technological University is that there is a possibility that the Solar Vortex Generator might outperform the Solar Updraft Tower, but only if a heat retentive skin could be developed to keep the heat from escaping. I have the ability, and part of the means to make that skin, but lack the resources to finance the building and testing of the panels.

With Dr. Underdown’s experience in grant writing, we are hoping to secure an SBIR grant for $150,000 to do research studies on the existing prototype first to see what can be learned from actual results in micro scale. This would constitute Phase I. If the results prove favorable following Phase I, then we plan to ask for $500,000 to $1 million for Phase II. Phase II would involve R&D utilizing the new heat retentive skin in a larger, more accurate scale model from which to ascertain results that could be expected at full scale. Phase III is to approach investors for commercial development.

Dr. Frank Underdown’s website URL is: http://www.nanosciencecenter.net/



All witnesses to a Solar Vortex Generator prototype demonstration know that a minimal amount of air artificially induced by a small, ceramic heater into a single portal is sufficient to turn the turbine. This is an amount of air that could very likely be matched or even exceeded in a natural setting. And, there are 15 additional portals. Even in such small scale, test results on the existing prototype might prove worthy of a second look, and proof from Phase I, given the resources, could come in a short amount of time.

The invention disclosure excerpt to follow explains how the invention came to be. Other supportive documents occur further down. They are in the following order:

1. The Solar Vortex Invention Disclosure (history and purpose of invention)
2. Communications re: Grant funding for the SVG
3. My 200 word write-up submitted to the $200 million GE ecomagination Challenge currently in progress. (<500 words allowed)


INVENTION DISCLOSURE


INVENTOR: Earl Senchuk

ADDRESS: 207 W. Arch Street, Marquette, MI 49855

INVENTION NAME: Solar Vortex Generator (also referred to in this text as SVG)

HISTORY: The SVG came about as a result of observations made through the course of designing and manufacturing a patented home hobby greenhouse, and another of my inventions called "The FireTent", as in a tent for over a fire. (See photo A)

Photo A: Scale model of the "FireTent" which led to the Solar Vortex Generator

Presented to Anchor Industries, the largest tent manufacturer in the United States, the FireTent was proposed as a potentially marketable product for campers as a means to eliminate concern over a rained out camping trip.

The intention was that the tent surface area offered primary protection from inclement weather and that rising heat from a fire through the opening would deflect incoming rain and discharge smoke.

An actual, full scale working prototype was developed by Anchor Industries and has been in use by this inventor every year since 2002. While in use over the course of that time, observations were noted that led to the development of the SVG. Photo of the full scale prototype to follow on the next page (see Photo B)

Photo B: The full scale FireTent prototype in use at Muskallonge Lake State Campground in Michigan

Besides the usual discharge of smoke, wind gusts happened at times, and spectacular vortices of sparks seemed to be sucked out of the opening at the top rather quickly. At one time, while observing a rather dramatic effect outside and above the tent area, a friend was called over to witness a phenomenon of violent action on the trees 20 feet above the fire that seemed extraordinary for such a small fire at the time.

I presumed that the effect was caused by infrared radiation from the coals of a large and longstanding fire reflecting off the white internal surface of the tent onto the darker ground. This helped to increase the updraft of heated air which caused the trees above to shake abnormally. At this time, convection, and its potential for creating energy, was realized.

To add to that effect, at an earlier time, I noticed another phenomenon while burning some thick walled, cardboard tubes left over from one of my factory sewing operations.

One end of a tube was tilted up slightly and had thick, white smoke pouring out the top. The bottom end was still in the fire. I put a match to the white smoke and it burned with a blue flame. As I tilted the cardboard tube higher up, the effect was dramatic, almost like the flame of a rocket.

This is where I got my first demonstration of "chimney, or stack affect." Last year, while on a camping trip with some old trucking buddies, I explained the phenomenon.

It just so happened there was a large 600 pound hollow log nearby, so, we managed to recreate that affect. Here is what that looked like.

If you combine chimney affect to the buoyancy force of heated air rising, you can develop a lot of very fast moving air. That part is no different from the principle of a Solar Updraft Tower. From this point, the Solar Vortex Generator becomes different.

The next step for me is to develop an insulated, structural skin that will prevent heat loss through the walls of the cone and chimney. I know how to make that skin, but lack the resources to develop and test it.

That is where I hope GE can help. I wish to be involved in any manner that leads to finding a solution to the problem of global climate change. The SVG might not be the answer, but I believe it can lead to insights that may in turn lead to better solutions for our environment.

For a garage inventor like me to become successful producing something as grandiose in scale as a Solar Vortex Generator is admittedly unrealistic. It’s going to take the help of a lot of people. Right now, I have far more questions than answers. We know the SVG works; we would just like the opportunity to find out how well. Right now, everything revolves around our ability to get to Phase I.


PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION: To force the linear aspect of rising hot air into a helical aspect such as to establish a sustainable and manageable vortex that is consistently constricted upwards by means of a generally conical shaped structure, so that 100% of the forced density of air molecules at the apex of the vortex can be utilized to create electrical energy before exhausting out the chimney, but only after making full-face, perpendicular impact upon fixed-position impeller blades immersed within the vortex that are connected to a generator(s) positioned within the highest point of the vortex hollow so as to not affect, nor be affected by the vortex.

The success of the SVG relies totally upon a constant, reliable source of heat that can create a temperature differential between the inside of a structure and the outside ambient air, and can make that happen 24/7.

To follow is my submission to the GE ecomagination Challenge currently in progress. To learn more, go here

West of the Rockies, thousands of square miles of isolated desert are provided with dependable solar energy almost every day of the year. The Solar Vortex Generator (SVG) can utilize that solar energy by raising the temperature of a large amount of air by means of passive solar collection. With this increase in temperature, controlled convection accumulates to create a substantial wind.

The wind is channeled into becoming a compressed vortex whereby a generator(s) is immersed deeply into the hollow of that vortex to produce clean, carbon free electricity.

The SVG operates on the basic principle of convection (hot air rising). It’s sort of an hybrid between a Solar Updraft Tower and an Atmospheric Vortex Engine. One key difference from the others is that the SVG does not use the linear aspect of air passing over variable pitch blades of a turbine, which results in a lot of blow-by.

The helical aspect of the SVG vortex causes the air to impact 100% of the surface area of fixed position turbine blades perpendicularly. It’s far more efficient.

The manner of construction, once standardized, can create jobs wherever an SVG is built. The world has many deserts near areas in need of electricity. Once built, the cost to operate is limited to maintenance and management. The carbon free fuel is free of cost.

See Earl's website here

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