Boundary-Layer Vorticity Harvesting for Turbine-Free Wind Energy

Kinetic energy embedded in near-surface turbulent airflows can be harvested directly from rotational motion, without turbines or bulk flow interception.

One-Sentence Discovery

Recoverable wind energy exists within persistent micro-vortices and shear layers near surfaces and obstacles, and can be transduced by compliant oscillators without relying on large-scale wind rotors.

The Physical Mechanism

Rough surfaces, building edges, and terrain features generate stable vorticity structures within the atmospheric boundary layer. These rotational flows carry kinetic energy that does not contribute to mean wind velocity but persists as localized turbulence. Flexible fins, membranes, or beams placed in these regions experience driven oscillations through vortex interaction, converting rotational kinetic energy into mechanical motion.

New Scientific Object

Vorticity Energy Density Gradient (VEDG): a measurable spatial gradient describing recoverable rotational kinetic energy per unit volume within turbulent boundary layers, independent of mean wind speed.

Edge-of-Practice Experiment

Place compliant oscillatory elements adjacent to roughness features in a wind tunnel or outdoor boundary-layer flow. Compare harvested mechanical or electrical energy under laminar and turbulent conditions at equal mean wind velocity.

Binary outcome: If oscillatory elements produce sustained net energy output in turbulent regimes absent in laminar flow, vorticity harvesting is validated.

Why This Matters

This approach opens wind energy harvesting in environments unsuitable for turbines—urban corridors, rooftops, and complex terrain—by accessing a previously ignored kinetic energy reservoir.