阅读说明：本技术 涡流加速风能塔 (Vortex accelerating wind energy tower ) 是由 B·米兹瑞特 于 2019-03-07 设计创作，主要内容包括：能量收集建筑结构具有多个层,垂直的竖井(中央涡流塔)将风向上引向顶部的出口,竖井中有多个风力涡轮机。多级的集风区暴露于多个方向。风向标枢转至逆止位置,以将风重新定向为向内朝着竖井旋转。风向阻旋器接收并进一步将风向内和向上重定向到竖井中,以馈入空气涡流,从而在不同高度驱动涡轮机。在集风区内可包括两个同心级的风向标,内级风向标具有在一个方向上变形而在另一方向上不变形的表面。该建筑物可以包括集风水平之间的居住区。加热的空气可以释放到竖井的底部以供给涡流。在最高层,另一台风力涡轮机可以将风向上拉。(The energy harvesting building structure has multiple levels, and a vertical shaft (central vortex tower) directs the wind upward to a top outlet, with a plurality of wind turbines in the shaft. The multi-stage wind-collecting area is exposed to a plurality of directions. The vane pivots to a backstop position to redirect the wind to rotate inwardly toward the shaft. The windward vortex breaker receives and further redirects the wind inward and upward into the shaft to feed the air vortex, thereby driving the turbine at different heights. Two concentric stages of wind vanes may be included within the wind collection region, the inner stage vanes having surfaces that deform in one direction and do not deform in the other direction. The building may include populated areas between wind collection levels. The heated air may be released to the bottom of the shaft to supply the vortex. At the highest level, another wind turbine may pull the wind upwards.)

1. An energy harvesting building structure comprising:

a plurality of layers;

a central vortex tower passing through each of the plurality of levels and configured to direct moving air received from the plurality of levels upwardly toward an outlet at a top of the building structure;

at least one wind turbine located in the central vortex tower for harvesting energy from the wind;

a plurality of horizontally oriented air intakes, each air intake disposed within a different respective one of the plurality of levels, each horizontal wind collection area being exposed to incident wind in a plurality of different directions via the air intake facing outside the building structure;

at each horizontal wind collection area, a plurality of movable wind vanes each pivotally mounted on a respective vertical pivot axis, each said movable wind vane having a limited range of oscillation and being configured to pivot to a respective position at the end of its limited range of oscillation upon exposure to incident wind for redirecting incident wind to hover inwardly towards the central vortex tower; and

in at least one horizontally oriented intake, a respective wind direction spinner is located radially inward of the plurality of movable wind vanes and defines a plurality of stationary wind directing surfaces configured to receive and redirect incident wind from the movable wind vanes such that the incident wind continues to hover inward and is directed upward into the central vortex tower to feed a vortex of air therein to drive at least one wind turbine.

2. The building structure according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of movable wind vanes comprises a first plurality of wind vanes disposed in a radially outer portion of the horizontal wind-gathering zone, and a second plurality of wind vanes disposed in a radially inner portion of the horizontal wind-gathering zone, a radially inward edge of each wind vane of the first plurality of wind vanes configured to abut a radially outward edge of a respective one of the second plurality of wind vanes to form a surface for redirecting incident wind.

3. The building structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least some of the movable wind vanes comprise an open frame and a deformable portion mounted on one side of the open frame, wherein when the deformable portion is on a leeward side of the open frame relative to incident wind, the deformable portion deforms in response to the incident wind such that the deformable portion adopts a generally curved shape to redirect the incident wind along a curved path, and when the deformable portion is on a windward side of the open frame relative to the incident wind, the deformable portion contacts and rests against the open frame to redirect the incident wind in a generally flat shape.

4. The building structure according to claim 3, wherein the deformable portion comprises a flexible vertical surface suspended from the open frame, and wherein the open frame comprises one or more supports that contact the flexible vertical surface when the deformable portion is on the windward side of the open frame.

5. A building structure according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the deformable portion comprises a pair of surfaces coupled together using a hinged connection that allows a limited range of relative pivoting of the pair of surfaces about a vertical axis.

6. The building structure according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein said flexible vertical surface is a retractable sail or surface, each of said at least some movable vanes further comprising a housing for said retractable sail or surface, and a mechanism biased to retract the retractable sail or surface into the housing.

7. The building structure according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the flexible vertical surface is a curved panel comprising two or more hingedly coupled rigid portions.

8. The building structure according to claim 2, wherein each vane of the second plurality of vanes includes a selectively deformable portion having a first face and a second face opposite the first face, wherein the selectively deformable portion deforms to have the first face with a generally concave vertical surface for redirecting incident wind along a curved path when the first face is exposed to incident wind and when the second face is leeward relative to the incident wind, and the selectively deformable portion deforms to have the second face with a generally flat vertical surface for redirecting incident wind along a straight path when the second face is exposed to incident wind and the first face is leeward relative to the incident wind.

9. The building structure according to claim 8, wherein the curved path or the straight path smoothly opens into another respective air duct defined by a respective wind direction rotator.

10. The building structure according to claim 8 or 9, wherein each of the first plurality of wind vanes is rigid.

11. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the air intakes are exposed to incident wind from all horizontal directions.

12. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the building structure is a multi-angled building structure.

13. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the building structure is a circular building structure.

14. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the plurality of floors comprises three floors, each floor having a respective horizontal wind-collection zone.

15. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein an uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes is configured to horizontally feed incident wind to another dual wind turbine located in the central vortex tower and aligned with an uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes, the other dual wind turbine being configured to draw air within the central vortex tower upwardly when driven by wind from the uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes.

16. The building structure according to claim 15, wherein the other dual wind turbine comprises:

a peripheral wind turbine comprising a plurality of upwardly pitched or upwardly curved turbine blades and a bottom surface, the bottom surface isolating the peripheral wind turbine from the central vortex tower and a top of the peripheral wind turbine facing the central vortex tower, the upwardly pitched or upwardly curved turbine blades configured to rotate another wind turbine and force the wind upwards when exposed to the wind; and

an internal wind turbine open to the central vortex tower at the top and bottom and including a plurality of fan blades fixedly coupled to the wind turbine for rotation therewith, the plurality of fan blades configured to draw air from below the other wind turbine up to above the other wind turbine.

17. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising a plurality of horizontally oriented venturi funnel structures located outside of the air intake, the venturi funnel structures comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, or a combination thereof, configured to receive and concentrate incident wind to the air intake.

18. The building structure according to claim 17, wherein one or more walls of the venturi funnel structure are exterior walls within the building structure that may occupy building space.

19. The building structure according to claim 17 or 18, wherein one or more surfaces of the venturi funnel structure comprises a solar panel.

20. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 19, further comprising one or more vertical outer walls, each vertical outer wall configured to receive and redirect incident wind inwardly to a respective one of the air intakes.

21. The building structure according to claim 20, wherein said vertical outer wall is flat or curved.

22. The building structure according to claim 20 or 21, wherein each of said vertical outer walls is oriented along a respective axis passing through a center of said building structure, said center containing said central vortex column.

23. The building structure according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the one or more outer walls serve as outer walls of a staircase.

24. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 23, further comprising a hot forced air generation system located below a lowermost one of the horizontally oriented air intakes, the hot forced air generation system being configured to generate and feed hot air upwardly to the central vortex tower in an upward spiral corresponding to an air vortex.

25. The building structure according to claim 24, wherein said hot forced air generation system comprises a central cylinder having a fixed worm-type vane configured to receive and feed said hot air upwardly and impart an upward spiral motion to said hot air.

26. The building structure according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the hot forced air generation system comprises one or more heat sources configured to generate the hot air, wherein heat from the one or more heat sources is further used to generate one or more of: building heat, building water heat, mechanical energy and electrical energy.

27. The building structure according to claim 26, wherein the one or more heat sources comprise geothermal heat sources and incineration heat sources.

28. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein a vertical height of a first one of the horizontally oriented air intakes is greater than a vertical height of a second one of the horizontally oriented air intakes located below the first one of the horizontally oriented air intakes.

29. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 28, further comprising one or more occupiable building floors.

30. The building structure according to claim 29, wherein at least one of said occupiable building floors is located between consecutive horizontally oriented air intakes.

31. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein the diameter of the central vortex tower increases upwardly when passing through at least one of the plurality of horizontally oriented air intakes.

32. The building structure according to claim 31, wherein a first of the individual wind chokes is flush with a first horizontal wind-gathering zone and a second of the individual wind chokes is flush with a second horizontal wind-gathering zone above the first horizontal wind-gathering zone, the first of the individual wind chokes having a diameter less than a diameter of the second of the individual wind chokes.

33. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 32, wherein the exterior surface of the building structure comprises a smooth exterior surface treatment.

34. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 33, wherein the air intake comprises an adjustable louver that is reconfigurable between an open position allowing wind to pass and a closed position for inhibiting wind from passing.

35. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 34, wherein the wind direction vortex breaker is configured to direct incoming wind on an active side into the central vortex tower in a circular and upward direction and further to create suction on a passive side from which air is siphoned into the central vortex tower.

36. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 35, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces define a plurality of channels, each channel including a respective wind inlet and wind outlet, and wherein the wind outlet of each of the plurality of channels is directed upwardly to prevent wind expelled therefrom from entering one of the plurality of channels with each other.

37. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 36, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces of the wind direction choke define channels of progressively decreasing cross-sectional area to compress incident wind.

38. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 37, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces and the plurality of movable wind vanes of the wind direction rotator are collectively configured to gradually redirect incident wind.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to energy collection structures and, more particularly, to building structures that collect and utilize wind, solar, geothermal and incineration energy.

Background

Power generating windmill and turbine

Over the years, the reserves of oil, coal and other natural gas for industries producing energy and electricity have been decreasing worldwide. These industries, while severely polluting air and our land and water sources, have become a major target for leading scientists and public criticism. Clean, pollution-free and renewable energy projects become the key point of future energy production. Many concepts are designed and manufactured each year, and new concepts are patented and tested each year. In solar panel, wave, tidal and many other types of power generation systems, wind-based designs and turbine generators have a significant impact on today's planning of our present and future power plants. There are many configurations in the horizontal and vertical wind turbine design concepts, each with many advantages and disadvantages.

HAWT (horizontal axis wind turbine) was the oldest thought conceived many centuries ago. Since its creation, which has been modified, today's HAWTs are very complex and more efficient, providing a viable alternative to creating clean energy.

Major challenges and disadvantages of HAWT: even with advanced blade designs, in order to be a viable energy source, the tower of the wind turbine must be tall and have a large diameter blade sweep, which is sensitive to damage during periods of high wind. The axis needs to be aligned with the wind, which requires a wind sensing and orientation mechanism. HAWTs are highly undesirable near populated areas and in densely populated areas. They may also pose a hazard to birds and air traffic. Their repair and maintenance can be very cumbersome and expensive, especially when replacing damaged or worn parts.

A Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is a wind turbine whose main rotor axis is arranged transverse to the wind (but not necessarily vertical), while the main components are located at the bottom of the wind turbine. This arrangement allows the generator and gearbox to be placed closer to the ground, facilitating maintenance and service. The VAWT does not need to be aligned with the wind and therefore does not need wind sensing and orientation mechanisms. The major drawbacks of earlier designs (Savonius, Darrieus, rotating turbines, and Giromill turbines) include significant torque variation or "ripple" during each revolution, and large bending moments on the blades. Later designs solved the torque ripple problem by helical swept blades.

The axis of a vertical axis wind turbine is perpendicular to the wind flow lines and perpendicular to the ground. A more general term encompassing this option is "horizontal axis wind generator" or "cross flow wind generator". For example, the original Darrieus patent, us 1835018, includes both options. VAWT has many advantages over conventional (HAWT):

VAWT is omni-directional and does not need to track the wind. This means that they do not require complex mechanisms nor do they require motors to yaw the rotor and pitch the blades. They have the ability to take advantage of turbulence and gusts of wind. The HAWT does not collect such wind, actually causing accelerated fatigue of the HAWT.

The VAWT gearbox is much more fatigued than the HAWT gearbox. Replacement is less costly and simpler, if desired, since the gearbox is easily accessible on the ground. This means that no cranes or other large equipment is required on site, thereby reducing costs and reducing environmental impact. Motor and gearbox failures typically increase the operating and maintenance costs of HAWT wind farms both offshore and offshore.

Research in the physics and mathematics department at university of California, also indicates that the output power of wind farms that are carefully designed using VAWT can be several times that of HAWT wind farms of the same size. Over the past two decades, many different advanced VAWT designs and projects have been developed that significantly improve mechanical efficiency as well as power output. The features of today's more complex VAWT designs and projects can be classified into the following categories:

the working principle of a solar up-blowing power plant (SUPP), also called a solar chimney power plant, is chimney up-blowing force. Solar panels fired by waste heat air at the bottom of the plant and drawn into tall chimneys, creating a strong upwind powering vertical or horizontal axis turbines at the bottom, middle, top or combinations thereof of their chimneys. These power plants are very large, tall and occupy many acres. The construction of such plants requires a large capital investment and a long-term return on investment. The output of these devices is not constant, the efficiency is still low, and depends to a large extent on the height of the chimney and the surface area of the solar collector. One of many examples of this technique is described in U.S. patent No. 2009/0212570 a1 and U.S. patent No. US2004/0112055 a 1.

Solar Downdraft Power Plants (SDPP) are also a very large project, working on the principle of an "evaporation-driven downdraft power generation system" that combines dry air heated by the sun's rays of sunlight with H20, acting as a powerful catalyst producing powerful natural downdraft air. The cooling caused by the evaporation of the water droplets, combined with the weight of the unevaporated water droplets, causes the air to become heavier, denser, and submerged deep in the tower. At the bottom of the tower, the air is compressed horizontally, driving multiple turbines as it exits the base of the tower. The maximum productivity of the plant is when the ambient relative humidity is minimum (afternoon). An example of such a design is the "solar wind tower" project that will be built in arizona. The plant will occupy 640 acres with a tower height of over 2,200 feet and a diameter of 1,200 feet (patent No. 8,517,662B 2). The construction of such plants requires a large capital investment, and thus, the multi-tiered participation and investment in long-term investment recovery is critical and difficult to obtain. Several such plants have been proposed and are widely publicized and hyped, but have not been built to date.

The yaw vane VAWT typically includes a plurality of vertically positioned fixed stator vanes that are circumferentially spaced about the rotor. In a single or multiple row configuration, these fixed vanes act as vertical surfaces oriented to force the wind in a desired direction and directed through the narrow portion of the stator vane to compress the wind and its velocity into the rotor blades, thereby driving the turbine. There are many designs and projects today that, although they use the same principles, differ in the way they capture and direct the wind into the rotor blades. Examples of this principle can be seen in patent numbers US 6740989B 2, US 5852331 a and WO 2014043507 a 1.

The design principle of compressed air VAWT or HAWT is to capture wind at a multi-directional overhead intake collector, forcing the wind downward through a funnel, thereby collecting the wind by the venturi effect. The funnel then directs the wind further to a second horizontal venturi constriction where the turbine generator is located. The wind exits the funnel through a diffuser. An example of such a concept is the project of Sheerwind INVELOX. The project has attracted much publicity and investment, but the validity of some of the data and calculations published by the company is questioned.

The vertical multi-stage VAWT represents the concept of stacking together a single yaw turbine as described in 008, thereby multiplying the power output. An example of this concept is the item named kiosk. Based on the KIONAS values and computational studies received by Demos t.tsahalis in 2016 and 2017, this project is not competitive with large structures producing 2 to 3MW of power, but it is the main competitor for smaller structures with a range of 10 to 100 kW.

Building Surface Wind Turbines (BSWTs) are a concept that uses wind pressure on the vertical wall surfaces of a building and compresses the wind pressure using angled horizontal wall type fixed vanes to power small multiple HAWTs. A conceptual computational study entitled "New Building Integrated Wind Turbine System Utilizing buildings" (A New Building-Integrated Wind Turbine System Utilizing the buildings) by Jeongsu Park et al, edited by Frede Blaabjerg was published in Energies, volume 8, phase 10, page 11846-11870 in 2015. The conclusion states that the producible power estimated from this type of system can only provide 6.3% of its required power, compared to the energy consumption of a high-rise dwelling, and no project using this principle has been installed so far.

Building-oriented wind turbines (BSDWT) are a high-rise building concept with slightly convex outer walls that direct the wind toward the mechanical floor where the WAVT is located. An example of this concept is the 1,015 foot seudu, high, guangzhou, which was completed in 2013. This project represents an advanced method of integrating renewable energy in high-rise buildings.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an energy harvesting building structure that harvests wind energy using a vortex structure. The building can collect energy from wind as well as other energy sources such as solar, geothermal and incineration. Multiple energy sources may be cooperatively collected and utilized, for example, by using thermal energy to assist in maintaining a wind vortex. According to one aspect of the invention, an energy harvesting building structure comprises: a plurality of layers; a central vortex tower passing through each of the plurality of levels and configured to direct moving air received from the plurality of levels upwardly toward an outlet at a top of the building structure; at least one wind turbine located in the central vortex tower for harvesting energy from the wind; a plurality of horizontally oriented air intakes, each air intake disposed within a different respective one of the plurality of levels, each horizontally oriented air intake being exposed to incident wind in a plurality of different directions via the air intake facing outside the building structure; at each horizontally oriented air intake, a plurality of movable wind vanes pivotally mounted respectively on respective vertical pivot axes, each said movable wind vane having a limited range of oscillation and being configured to pivot to a respective position at the end of its limited range of oscillation upon exposure to incident wind for redirecting incident wind inwardly toward the central vortex tower; and in the at least one horizontally oriented intake, a respective wind direction vortex breaker is located radially inward of the plurality of movable wind vanes and defines a plurality of fixed wind directing surfaces configured to receive and redirect incident wind from the movable wind vanes such that the incident wind continues to hover inward and is directed upward into the central vortex tower to feed a vortex of air therein to drive the at least one wind turbine.

Unlike all concepts of energy recovery designs and systems as described in the background, which only use one or at most two design principles to generate power, on the date of use or disclosure, the implementation of the CIVAR energy tower is based on up to six different physical design principles: the physical design of the building itself, the windsurfing and sailing principles, the venturi effect principle, the fireplace updraft principle, the bathroom fan exhaust principle and the tornado vortex principle. The CIVAR energy tower is integrated into an interactive generator by using the heat of a solar system, a wind system and a geothermal system and waste incineration as energy sources and simultaneously using all six principles. The building structure of the CIVAR energy tower is intended to take full advantage of the wind exposure to capture multiple levels of wind and direct it through a movable wind vane into the central vortex tower through an internal fixed wind direction vortex breaker. At the same time, heated air is forced through the grounded air inlet into the bottom of the vortex column. The chimney effect pulls air upward and combines with multiple horizontal compound vortex air inlets, the air is rotated, excited, and clustered to the tower top outlet, thereby powering multiple generators at different levels. Traditionally, wind power plants have either formed part of tall towers or were installed on top of buildings and other structures, but in densely populated areas they are obvious and undesirable. In CIVAR energy towers where no wind power plant is visible from the outside or inside of the building, the building is made visually attractive and people friendly. In addition to being used as a power generation facility, a CIVAR tower can also accommodate a variety of uses, such as residential, office, or light industrial types. The CIVAR power tower generates 24/7 current year round and is constructed to be hurricane proof, providing high power production in high winds. The access energy generated during high winds can be stored in multiple lithium batteries or by pumping water to a higher ground reservoir nearby and using it to run a hydraulic turbine to a lower water reservoir during periods of low power generation by the building. To achieve maximum energy production, it is desirable to locate the CIVAR energy tower above ground or with a lot of foreseeable wind exposure. The CIVAR energy tower will be the first project to use all six physical principles simultaneously to generate power, provide multiple occupancy within the same building, and at the same time be physically not the only non-intrusive but a very attractive and people-friendly building.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a hybrid, interactive, vortex-accelerated recovery (CIVAR) energy tower that can potentially be a 100% clean energy recovery building with multiple internal occupancy rates, particularly a structure designed for generating energy to operate the building's energy requirements. The present invention can use wind, solar, geothermal and waste incineration heat by combining all these sources into one interactive energy generation system and convert it into clean energy. The present invention may embody air intakes on multiple floors of a building to interact within a central vortex tower in a vertically compounded manner. In the present invention, the positive and negative forces of the wind in the central vortex tower act together to generate, accelerate and increase the vortex wind force, without wind generating devices visible from the outside or inside, which makes the building more visually appealing and people friendly.

Drawings

The following brief description of the drawings is merely a brief description and/or general description to clarify the contents of the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a typical CIVAR energy recovery wind platform showing the basic octagonal concept, its dimensions and proportions, and the position and interrelationship of typical "outer, middle and inner ring" wind vanes and wind turbines.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a typical CIVAR wind energy recovery platform showing the basic octagonal concept, capturing maximum wind exposure by outer ring pivoting and middle ring bending wind vanes (by way of sailing principle) leading into an "inner ring" fixed winddirection spinner.

FIG. 3 depicts details of the ring bending vane in a CIVAR, showing two options. Option a has a sail-type flexible wind vane design and option B has a ridged wind vane design. The figure also shows the position of the vane pivot point relative to the wind direction.

FIG. 4 is a 3-dimensional view of a ring-curved wind vane in a CIVAR, showing the deflection of the wind vane with respect to wind direction and pivot point.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating total wind exposure for a typical wind platform having an outer ring pivoting vane, a middle ring pivoting and yaw vane, an inner ring fixed wind choke vane, and a vertical wind wall.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the top intake showing the external and internal wind turbines in the CIVAR vortex tower. It also depicts a 3D map of an external wind turbine with curved or serrated blades.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section of a schematic view of a CIVAR vertical tower concept showing multiple intakes at different building levels and the combined effect of increasingly powerful wind vortices.

FIG. 8 is a 3-dimensional schematic diagram showing a typical inner annular winddirection choke from two horizontal tuyeres working together to increase the power of the central tower wind vortex CIVAE.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a CIVAR energy tower building showing all parts and components of the composite wind vortex concept and the location of the wind turbines.

Fig. 10 depicts a schematic of a multi-layer stack of cells in a CIVAR energy tower that will increase the vortical wind force by adding each stage to the tower.

Fig. 11 is a conceptual elevation of the exterior of a CIVAR energy tower building showing the options of multiple air intakes, vertical wind walls and inclined peripheral walls and areas of multiple occupancy levels.

Fig. 12 is a 3-dimensional conceptual view of a complete octagonal CIVAR energy tower showing the air intake, wind wall, peripheral tilt wall, and the dispersed vortex wind outlet.

Fig. 13 shows a plan view of a CIVAR energy tower octagonal building wind platform level with one curved building attached to accommodate multiple occupancy additional levels.

Fig. 14 depicts two graphs. Fig. 14A infers a plan view of the CIVAR energy tower wind platform shown in fig. 13. Fig. 14B represents a plan view of the same building as fig. 14A, but with an open concept in occupancy level, available for multiple occupancy.

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of the division of occupancy levels of a CIVAR energy tower into residential use. The following is a conceptual elevation of a completed CIVAR tower, with a main entrance and additional extended ground buildings.

Fig. 16 schematically shows a mechanical cell that may be located at the bottom of the CIVAR energy tower.

Detailed Description

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The term "and/or" includes all combinations of one or more of the listed items. The singular words "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include both the singular and the plural. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "represents, means," "comprising," "… …, consisting of … …" specify the presence of stated features, operations, elements, and components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of other features, operations, elements, components, and groups thereof. By describing the invention of a CIVAR vertical tower, a number of processes and functions are disclosed, each having its unique advantages, and which may be used in conjunction with one, more or all of the other disclosed features, operations or components. Hereinafter, the phrase "CIVAR energy tower" representing the present CIVAR energy tower invention and its various terms is used by all of the phrases, partial phrases, or the singular phrase "CIVAR" all of which refer to the full phrase "CIVAR energy tower" invention.

The disclosure is to be considered as illustrative and clear of the invention and portions thereof, and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments shown in the drawings, summarized below, figures, or description. It should be understood that the drawings, which are presented and/or suggested below, are schematic and/or conceptual in nature and do not represent the ultimate structure of the described invention.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details and functions are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In order that the foregoing description of the CIVAR energy tower invention and the description thereof may be more readily understood and appreciated, it should be understood that the drawings are drawn in order, with progressive drawing numbering following the order of description from 01 to 16 to provide information, discussion and illustration.

According to an illustrative embodiment, the invention of a CIVAR energy tower embodies six separate components to interact simultaneously to capture the heat of wind, sun and geothermal and/or waste incineration sources and combine it into powerful vortical energy to run multiple wind generators at the same power level, generating 5 to 6 times more power than HAWT under the same storm conditions. The CIVAR energy tower is based on six different and independent physical principles: the physical design of the building itself, the windsurfing and sailing principles, the venturi effect principle, the fireplace updraft principle, the bathroom exhaust fan principle and the tornado vortex principle. The principles will be discussed and referred to, individually or collectively, by reference to fig. 1 through 16.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a

The physical design of buildings embodies octagonal structures of various heights. Other multi-angled buildings and/or rounded configurations may be used as variations of the octagonal design. A multi-angled building structure refers to a (usually convex) structure, which may have five, six or more side walls in the shape of regular polygons, for example. The height and diameter of the octagonal structure determine the final amount of power generated by the CIVAR energy tower and the interior space available for various uses. As shown in fig. 1, the plan view of a CIVAR building wind platform consists of several parts. Octagonal building 10 fills outer radius 10A (dashed line) and its radius is divided into 3 equal parts: an outer ring 7, a middle ring 8 and an inner ring 9, comprising the parts 3, 4 and 5. In this current configuration, the width of the rings is shown as 20 feet (6m), but can be modified to accommodate various requirements. Other important features of the architectural design are discussed and referenced in fig. 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12-15.

By mounting two rows of pivoting and deflecting wind vanes, the surf sail and sailing principle is used in a CIVAR energy tower. As shown in fig. 1, the outer ring 7 is made of rigging material, the outer ring 7 having a vertically pivoting wind vane 1, the pivot point 11 being on the outer periphery of the building. The middle ring 8 is embodied as a vertically pivoting wind vane 2, the pivot point facing outwards, consisting of a flexible curved material and/or a ridged moving part, mounted on a ridged pivoting frame with an opening, carrying said wind vane. The wind vane is illustrated in more detail in figures 2, 3 and 4. As shown in fig. 1, the pivot point of the wind vane 2 forms part of a ring 8, located in the middle, between the outer wind vanes 1, forming part of a ring 7. Such division divides one straight side of the octagonal building into four equal sections 6.

Inner ring 3 (hereinafter "inner ring") constitutes 1/4(5 feet) of inner ring 9, having a total width of 20 feet, and also includes wind turbines 4 and 5, 3/4(25 feet) representing the ring, containing a plurality of vertically fixed angled wind vanes. The starting point of the internal wind vane is located in the centre of each wind vane 2 and is inclined in the correct direction (in the slope of said wind vane 2) starting from the wind entry point to continue to accelerate the wind flow while beneficially increasing the power of the central wind vortex and thus the vortex incidence angle to the blades of the wind generators 4 and 5. The internal wind vane is discussed in more detail in the description of fig. 8 and 9.

FIG. 2

The overall schematic of a typical wind platform of a CIVAR tower (with some slight variations possible at different levels) depicts the functionality of the wind vanes 1 and 2, their pivot points 11 and the range of oscillation 12 of the wind vanes. The vertical vane oscillates on its pivot point 11 depending on which direction the wind enters the CIVAR structure. Away from the centre of the platform, the ridged wind vanes 1 oscillate under the influence of the incoming wind until they contact the pivot point of the wind vane 2. The wind vane 2 consists of an open rigid frame, and the sail has slats or curved plates on the blade side of the frame into the wind direction. As in sailboard and sailboat motion, the principle is based on using the power of the wind and the curvature of the sail, which is adjusted by trimming to capture the maximum exposure and wind energy to drive the boat. In the CIVAR concept, two rows of pivoting wind vanes and the principle of wind sail curvature are used to direct the wind, with limited and possibly minimal drag on the inner tower wind turbine. Once the incoming wind hits the open frame of the wind vane 2 and the sail or curved panel is located on the blade side of the frame, the sail or curved panel will project away from the frame in a curved configuration to allow the wind to flow unimpeded towards the inner ring-fixed wind vane 3, which further increases the angle at which the wind enters the central tower. This configuration allows the CIVAR wind platform invention to capture a large portion of the wind near the platform (e.g., near 100%), while limiting energy losses due to wind turbulence and lack of a favorable wind vane design or its location.

The open frame of the wind vane may include an outer frame, an opening to allow wind to pass through the opening in the outer frame, and one or more supports, such as a cross-beam, between opposing edges of the outer frame. The sail or curved panel (also referred to as the deformable portion) is located on one side of the open frame. When the sail or curved panel is on the leeward side of the open frame, wind will pass through the opening in the outer frame and bend the sail or curved panel away from the open frame. When the sail or curved panel is on the windward side of the open frame, the wind pushes the sail or curved panel toward the open frame. The sail or curved panel (e.g., support thereof) thus contacts the support and/or the external frame. This contact will prevent further movement of the sail or curved panel through the opening of the open frame and will give the sail or curved panel a substantially flat configuration in contact with the support.

Fig. 2 includes diagram details a and B, showing the schematic operation of the wind vanes 1 and 2 with respect to the wind direction and the position of the pivot point of the vane. If the pivot point of the wind vane is located on the right side (looking down) into the wind direction "detail a", the wind vane 1 will hit the pivot point of the wind vane 2 (see range of the swing 12). In this case, the sail or curved panel is located on the windward side of the frame and is pushed into the open frame of the straight ridge shape by the wind, preventing the sail or panel from protruding. In this case, the support of the open frame prevents the sail or panel from extending. The straight wind vane 2 will be pushed by the wind to contact the fixed wind vane of the ring 3 and direct the wind into its opening unhindered without creating damaging or hindering forces.

Detail B (on fig. 2) also shows the schematic operation of the wind vane 1 and 2 in relation to the wind direction and the position of the pivot point of the vane. If the pivot point of the wind vane is located to the left (looking downwind) of the incoming wind direction detail B, the wind vane 1 will hit the pivot point of the wind vane 2 (range of oscillation 12), so that the wind vane 1 pivots to the backstop position at the end of its range of oscillation. The wind vane 2 is also pivoted to a non-return position at the end of its range of oscillation when it contacts the edge of the fixed vane 3. In this case the sail (hereinafter referred to as the sail or curved panel) is located on the leaf side of the straight ridged open frame, thus, once the sail or panel hits the inner ring fixed vane 3, it provides a well-defined way for the sail or panel to elongate and deflect its surface to accommodate the full force of the wind flowing into the ring 3 vane and to direct the wind through the ring 3 fixed vane opening with substantially no obstruction, no (or limited) breaking or obstructing forces.

FIG. 3

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of a middle ring 2 pivoted vane/sail with slats with automatic extension and/or bending capability to maximize the wind direction to the fixed inner ring vane 3. The figure also shows the pivoting action of the wind vane approaching with respect to downwind and/or upwind. In particular, the figure shows two options for the concept of vane construction.

Option 2A depicts a schematic view of a ridged open frame 13 of a wind vane 2, where the sail with slats 15 is in an extended position, the bending of the extended sail being controlled using an extension limiter 15R to accommodate any angle of wind approaching the wind vane. In order to extend the sail without the force of the wind acting on the wind vane 2, the extended sail is automatically retracted 14 around a pivot position behind the open frame of the wind vane 2 by means of a tension cable or spring load and into a sail housing 16 at the pivot point of the wind vane 2. This concept is derived from the self-rolling sail principle used on sailboats. This is similar to the self-roll-up principle on sailboats.

Option 2B depicts a schematic view of a wind vane 2, i.e. a ridged open frame 13 and two or more hinged ridged panels in an extended position to accommodate any angle of wind approaching the wind vane 2. In the absence of wind on the wind vane 2, the protruding ridged panel automatically retracts around the pivot position, with the help of tension cables or spring loads, back to a straight position behind the open frame of the wind vane 2. The figure also shows the extended position of the wind vane 2 behind the open frame 19B and its pivoted position on the left wing 18L, and in front of the open frame 19A, the wind vane in a narrow position, and the pivoted position on the right wing 18R, both relative to the incoming wind.

FIG. 4

Fig. 4 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram showing a typical wind vane 1 and 2, each located on opposite sides of a central CIVAR tower 5. The figure shows the direction of incoming wind to simultaneously activate the wind vanes 1 and 2 on opposite sides of the central tower 5, directing the wind directions in opposite directions to each other. The figure also shows a circle 10C, on which circle 10C all pivot points of the wind vane 2 are located.

Looking downwind, the left wind vane 1 contacts the downwind pivot point 18L of the wind vane 2 and the ridged open frame 13 of the wind vane 2 is pushed onto the downwind fixed wind vane 3. The sail of the wind vane 2, below denoted both the sail and the curved panel, is pushed by the wind to project from its casing 16 to form a curved sail 19A to smoothly redirect the wind direction and guide it to the ring 3 holding the wind vane.

At the same time, on the opposite side of the wind vane 1, the pivot point of which is on the right side HR, will also hit the downwind pivot point of the wind vane 2. In this case the sail is on the windward side of the frame and is pushed by the wind into the straight ridged open frame of the wind vane 2, preventing the sail from protruding 19B. The pivot point of the straight wind vane frame 13 of the wind vane 2 on its right side 18R will be pushed by the wind to contact the downwind fixed wind vane of the ring 3 and direct the wind into its opening without obstruction and without damaging or hindering forces.

FIG. 5

Fig. 5 is a plan view depicting the CIVAR energy tower building as a whole, and depicts both the full "active wind exposure" of the upwind side AWI and the "passive wind" of the contralateral PWI. As shown, on the active windward side AWI, the windward platform forces the wind into the central vertical tower 5 through the active wind vanes 1 and 2 and the inner ring fixed wind vane 3, the active wind vanes 1 and 2 and the inner ring fixed wind vane 3 being angled with respect to the vertical to increase the circumferential wind vorticity of the wind upon entering the central vertical tower. Due to the design of the internal wind vane 3, pushing wind upwards (see fig. 8), the power of the rotating forced air entering from the active side of the ring 3 wind platform AWI will create a negative pressure, creating a silencing effect on the passive side of the wind ring 3 platform PWI, siphoning more available air through the inner ring 3 into the central vortex tower, which can also be described as a vertical axis, through which the wind can flow upwards.

Specifically, the figure shows two pivoting wind vanes 1 and 2, whose pivot point 18A shows its pivoting direction downwind to the right and pivot point 18B shows its pivoting direction downwind to the left. When looking downwind on the left, the wind vane 2, is pushed into contact with the downwind fixed vane 3 and protrudes 19A to divert the wind smoothly into the direction of the vane 3. When looking downwind on the right, the wind vane 2, pushed to touch the downwind fixed vane of the inner ring 3, has its sail pressed against the frame of the vane, creating a direct wind surface 19B to smoothly divert the wind moving in the direction of the vane 3.

Unlike on the depicted fig. 1, the periphery of the octagonal building 10 is located outside the circle 10A. This means that only scale and scale changes and is limited to only the functional part of the CIVAR invention has no effect. The building size described in this invention consists of size 10C, which is the same size as shown in fig. 1, consisting of sections 7, 8 and 9, totaling 60 feet, while 10D represents 20 feet, 1/3 of size 10C. The dimensions shown may be modified if the overall proportion and functionality of the entire CIVAR energy tower is not compromised. The figure also depicts eight vertical sections of building C, located at the outer periphery of the straight channel connection points of the building, forming part of the overall design of the CIVAR energy tower invention. This concept is also part of the present invention, improving wind exposure through the design of the building itself. The purpose of the vertical wind wall C, which introduces even more wind into the wind platform of the octagonal building, is shown with the arrows of AWI, and also acts as a structural member of the overall CIVAR tower structure. The outer horizontal perimeter line 10B connecting the vertical wind walls C represents an inclined horizontal wall, also shown and described in fig. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15, to promote compression of the incoming wind prior to entering the wind platform.

FIG. 6

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the basic octagonal concept of a CIVAR energy tower wind platform, capturing the passive air exposure PWI available for maximum available wind exposure AWI, guiding it smoothly with vertical wind wall C, outer pivoting wind vane 1, middle pivoting wind vanes 2 and 2A, and inner ring fixed wind vane 3 to accelerate and maximize wind power operation its wind turbine. Specifically, the figure shows the top of the CIVAR energy tower intake platform with top unit intake TUWI/24 (FIG. 7).

The figure also includes a 3-dimensional conceptual view of the top tier wind platform wind turbine and its blade orientation 4, which may be adjusted to optimize various requirements. The height 25 of the turbines 4 and 5 is variable depending on the height of the top wind platform inlet. The double top-level turbines represent the outer turbines 4, separated from the inner circular wind turbines 5 by a vertical cylindrical separation, driven by top-level wind intakes, powered by incoming horizontal wind, the inner circular wind turbines 5 being driven by central tower vortex wind entering from below.

The air inlet is oriented substantially horizontally and may also be referred to as a horizontal wind collection area.

FIG. 7

Fig. 7 shows a typical cross-sectional view of a CIVAR energy tower building, embodied in units of internal occupancy, such as ground unit GU, base unit BU, top unit TU and roof top, with sloped external walls to capture wind using venturi principles and direct it into individual CIVAR tower wind platforms. This schematic cross section shows the air intakes at the floor unit air intake GUWI, the base unit air intake BUWI, the top unit air intake TUWI, interacting vertically in a compound fashion to produce accelerated vortex wind power generation as the wind is forced upward toward the vortex outlet tower 32. Each intake level represents a powerful circulating wind vortex entering the vertical tower, increasing the total power of said vortex, operating the wind turbine at different levels (FIG. 9)

The floor unit contains a central machine room 20 in which air is heated by a heat exchanger and enters the bottom of the central vortex column 21 by intake air through floor ducts and inlets at the building floor 21. The acceleration of the vortex wind is generated by the following physical principles: first, positive pressure enters the central vortex column through the intake 21. The forced air is heated by the heat exchanger and emanates like a chimney burning the fire of the fireplace. This in itself creates an updraft in the central vortex column. Second, the building itself is designed to direct and compress incoming wind using its vertical and horizontal shape as a wind collector. Third, the wind is compressed by the GU, BU, and TU units, which contain internal spaces and are designed using venturi principles to have peripheral angled walls and direct it into the wind platforms 22, 23, and 24 where the wind is again compressed. Fourth, the compressed channel wind entering the wind platform is guided by pivoting and flexible wind vane a, embodied as wind vanes 1 and 2, using sailing and windsurfing principles. Fifth, there is a fixed internal vane B containing internal vanes 3 that are angled and tilted upward (see fig. 8) to create a powerful rotational motion that rotates upward using the tornado vortex principle. Sixth, the induced draft principle, which represents the principle of a bathroom fan, is created by multiple wind turbines in the CIVAR central vortex tower and the top internal wind turbine 5. Coacting with the external turbine 4 and generating a strong upward suction, the plurality of wind turbines pull the vortex upwards towards the vortex tower outlet. This multiple "push and pull" or "blow and siphon" principle makes the invention of a CIVAR energy tower a potentially unique example of collecting wind energy and multiplying its power to operate a vertical axis wind turbine at multiple levels.

FIG. 8

Figure 8 shows a three dimensional conceptual view of a plurality of wind platform wind inlets and an inner ring of vanes 3 which act as wind vortex finders forcing the wind to rotate in an upward direction. The wind direction rotation resistors at the lower part and the middle part are designed in the same way, but have different diameters. In the lower vortex tower, the fixed inner ring wind direction rotation resistor 3A is located at the ground unit air inlet GUWI. The wind direction choke forces the incoming wind in a circular upward direction into the CIVAR lower vortex tower LVT. The next level above the base unit BU is the base unit inlet BUWI, which represents (looking up) the next level of compressed inlet air. The inner ring fixed wind direction vortex breaker 3B forces the incoming wind in a circular upward direction into the CIVAR central vortex tower MVT, which has a diameter larger than the diameter of the lower vortex tower LVT. This configuration introduces new wind into the CIVAR central vortex tower, thereby increasing the wind volume and vortex force when moving upward.

The next level above the top unit TU (fig. 7) is the top unit air intake TUWI, which represents the last level of incoming compressed air when looking up. The top unit air intake TUWI is proportionally twice as high as the lower air intake. For the sake of clarity, this figure only shows this height, without showing any details. It will be appreciated that the top inner ring fixed wind direction choke 3C only pushes wind in the circumferential direction, not up as wind direction chokes 3A and 3B do. The reason for this configuration is the design of the top twin turbine, including both blade designs. As shown in FIG. 6, the blades of peripheral wind turbines 4 are pitched upward, powered only by incoming compressed wind at a height TUWI. The internal wind turbines 5 forming part of the top twin turbines are powered by the wind vortices generated in the CIVAR central vortex tower. The top angled blade peripheral wind turbine (fig. 6) forces the compressed incoming wind up into the CIVAR vortex tower exit with a larger diameter than the inner central wind tower, increasing the wind volume and the vortex force as it moves up (see fig. 9). The top vortex tower TVT has a larger diameter than the wind vortex tower below the LVT and MVT. Like the lower level configuration, this concept introduces more fresh air into the CIVAR central vortex column, thereby increasing the air volume and vortex forces as one moves up toward the outlet of the central vortex column 32.

The peripheral wind turbine 4 is also referred to as the radially outer part of the twin turbine and the inner wind turbine 5 is also referred to as the radially inner part of the twin turbine. A cylindrical side wall is provided between the radially outer and radially inner portions to prevent wind from flowing between the two portions, but to direct the wind upwards.

FIG. 8 also includes FIG. 8A, which shows a cross section of the winddirection spinner design. The figure depicts a cross section of three winddirection rotators, the middle one also being shown in the 3D view (on the left side of the cross sectional view of fig. 8A), 3A and 3B respectively. The wind direction choke in fig. 3A is adapted to specifically accommodate the use and function of the CIVAR tower. The middle figure shows a wind direction rotation resistor 3A having the same vertical height throughout its physical entirety. The CIVAR wind direction rotation inhibitor embodies the bottom of a wind direction rotation inhibitor BVT and the top plate of a wind direction rotation inhibitor CVT, and has the same basic design as the rotation inhibitor 3A, but has a specific design function, namely the entering peripheral height is increased when entering a vertical CIVAR central tower. This particular progressive upward curving design of the bottom and top plates of the rotation resistor is a feature of the CIVAR central vortex tower invention and is shown in two options 3C1 and 3C 2.

The invention of the CIVAR winddirection spinner embodies the same design components as shown in example 3A in FIG. 8A, but the inner circular outlet heights of the winddirection spinners are different. In design 3Cl, the incoming wind height opening is the same as the inner ring of the central opening, but the wind direction spinner blades are curved to a height of 3Cl, following the curvature of the spinner top plate, as shown, accounting for an additional 66% of the total inlet height. In design 3C2, the wind intake height opening (i.e., the top plate of the wind direction spinner stop) is 25% higher than the inner ring of the central opening, and the wind direction spinner blades are curved, following the spinner stop top plate to a height of 3C2, as shown, accounting for an additional 50% of the total height of the intake. The percentage of the size and/or height of the C1 VAR winddirection spinner described herein may be modified to meet various requirements as long as the variations do not depart from the design concept itself. The purpose of the 3C1 and 3C2 wind direction choke design is to eliminate possible side wind turbulence entering the CIVAR central vortex tower. Wind from any direction will always be forced into the CIVAR central tower in one direction, feeding wind vortices into the tower.

FIG. 9

Fig. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a CIVAR energy tower building showing all components of the wind vortex manipulation, starting from the bottom of the building to the vortex tower exit opening at the top. In particular, the figure shows a peripheral vertical wind wall C that directs wind into the building. The floor unit GU, base unit BU, top unit TU and roof unit RU compress air into the wind platform and its intake, such as the floor unit intake GUWI, base unit intake BUWI, top unit intake TUWI and roof unit, forming part of the TUWI. In the GUWI, BUWI and TUWI wind platforms, the figure depicts a pivoting wind vane 1, a pivoting and extending wind vane 2 and an inner ring fixed wind vane spinner 3. The horizontal line FL of the dashed/dotted line represents the floor occupied internally in the units GU, BU, TU and RU. The CIVAR energy tower invention as described and depicted in the preceding paragraph, in which the compound swirl process is described and discussed.

The machine room 20 (fig. 7 and 16) is located in the center of the bottom of the CIVAR tower. The incoming air passes through the floor duct GD and its plurality of air intakes 38 (fig. 11) on the floor 39 and is drawn through the horizontal louvers 26 into the central air collector 27 where it is heated by a plurality of heat exchangers 53 and 54 in the machine room using the heat generated by the geothermal heat pump and waste incineration available in various ways (fig. 16). As in the fireplace chimney, the hot air will naturally rise, pulling air through the duct system GD. Even in the absolute absence of wind, air is naturally drawn from the floor ducting GD, pushing the neutral mounted electric fan 52 before entering the heat exchanger cylinder above, and then twisted into a circular motion by a fixed heated vane 55 (fig. 16), the fixed heated vane 55 being located on the inner wall of the cylinder leading to the top of the exit. In the presence of wind, the wind enters the ground air inlet GU, thereby changing the natural updraft principle into a forced hot air heating system, thereby pushing hot forced updraft through the circular heated wind vane cell 55 and into the central vortex tower. If more forced air is required, the electric fan 52 can be activated to create more force for the upwind.

At the ground level wind platform above the ground unit GU, the compressed wind enters the ground unit air inlet GUWI, which is conducted with the wind vanes 1 and 2 to the first inner ring fixed wind direction spinner 3A. The wind is forced to move circumferentially upwards, creating an additional upward force, drawing hot air from the smaller diameter hot air outlet (the size and proportion of the increase in diameter is variable and can be modified to suit various requirements). This creates the onset of vertical wind vortices in the CIVAR central tower. As illustrated in paragraph 032 and shown in fig. 5, the active intake AWI will create a negative pressure on the other side of the choke 3A, i.e. the passive intake PWI, siphoning off additional available air to supply the vertically growing vortex.

At the base level wind platform above the unit BU, the compressed wind enters the base unit air inlet BUWI, which communicates with the wind vanes 1 and 2 to the second inner ring fixed wind direction spinner 3B (the size and proportion of the wind direction spinner diameter increase is variable, and can be modified to suit various needs). The wind is forced to move circumferentially upward, creating additional upward force that pulls the hot air vortex breaker out of the lower smaller diameter vortex tower. The second air inlet at BUWI introduces new air into the CIVAR central vortex tower, thereby moving in the wind direction to increase the air volume and the vortex force. This interaction creates a composite force of vertical wind vortices in the CIVAR central tower. As explained in paragraph 032 and described in fig. 5, the active air intake AWI of the base stage will also generate a negative pressure on the opposite side, i.e. the passive air intake PWI, so that additional air is siphoned to feed the vertically growing vortex.

At the top stage wind platform above the top unit TU, the compressed wind enters the top unit air intake TUWI. The top unit air intake TUWI is proportionally twice as large as the lower air intake. The diameter of the compressed air entering the top inner ring fixed wind direction spinner 3C through the wind vanes 1 and 2 is the same as the wind direction spinner below, but it is higher to match the height of the wind platform due to the increase in the size of the air inlet. The diameter of the top rotation resistor 3 is variable and can be modified to suit various requirements. The wind is pushed upwards by the outer perimeter wind turbines 4 creating additional upward force pulling the hot air vortex breaker and the top internal wind turbines 5 out of the lower smaller diameter vortex tower. The third air inlet at TUWI introduces fresh air into the CIVAR energy tower, increasing the air flow and turbulence forces when moving upward to drive the exit turbine 31.

This compound force of vertical wind vortices in a CIVAR central tower is the result of three main principles: first, heated air is forced into the bottom of the vortex column; secondly, the positive driving force generated by the air inlets GUWI, BUWI and TUWI which are forcibly compressed is guided by the circular wind direction rotation resistors 3A, 3B and 3C and guided to the central tower frame along the upward direction, so that strong positive vortex force is generated; third, the suction created by the driving force and action of the top tier wind turbines 5 creates additional suction, pulling the vortices through the turbines to the exit of the CIVAR vortex tower. The vortex column 32 is deflected at the outlet 30 to deflect the vortex wind as it exits the column.

The figure also depicts the location of the wind turbine within the tower, as well as the location of the generator and associated machine room outside the CIVAR central vortex tower at multiple levels. The generator PG is equipped with a gearless transmission and can be operated more efficiently in low or high winds. The power generation apparatus PG is located near the respective wind turbines 4 and 5, but may be rearranged to meet various requirements.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of a

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the vertical stacking option of a CIVAR energy tower by introducing an intermediate unit MU to be placed and/or stacked between a base unit BU and a top unit TU. The intermediate unit MU is identical to the base unit BU as a whole, but can accommodate small changes without compromising the concept and function of the entire vortex column. The figure shows three stacking options that represent the variation of the CIVAR energy tower height and its power generation output, but are not limited to that shown.

The first schematic cross-sectional view T1 represents the complete original CIVAR energy tower as presently described, illustrated and depicted in the drawings of the present invention. A second alternative variant T2 depicts a CIVAR energy tower having one intermediate unit MU located between a base unit BU and a top unit TU. A third alternative variant T3 depicts a CIVAR energy tower having three intermediate units MU located between a base unit BU and a top unit TU. The figure also shows the wind platform inlets on these three variations, and their combined wind effect when increasing wind energy by adding more inlets to the CIVAR central vortex tower.

FIG. 11

The conceptual exterior elevation view of a CIVAR energy tower building also shows the design options 37 for the vertical wind wall C and the design options for the inclined exterior wall of a typical interior occupancy unit 35, such as GU, BU, and TU, and MU (fig. 10), to form a triangular configuration. In the present invention, the typical height of the unit can accommodate three layers, but many variations thereof can be implemented as long as the functionality of the CIVAR energy tower is not compromised. The elevation also depicts a CIVAR tower wind inlet WI, a floor wind intake 38, a finished exterior grade 39 and a sloped exterior wall unit 35 with cladding options such as solar panels 34 and 36 representing glass or solid panels.

In particular, the figure also shows a variant of the wind wall C to be constructed in different shapes CA, CB and CC. In the present invention, the figure depicts options CA and CC. Option CA is a flat (e.g. rectangular) wall shape. Option CB may be described as a drop shape or a convex shape using a flat wall portion. Option CC may be described as a drop shape or a bulge shape using curved wall portions. It should be noted that configuring CC is a great advantage for collecting wind via a vertical wind wall. The external inclination design variation of the internal occupancy units 35, e.g. CU, BU, MU, TU, is variable, but it is understood that the shallower the inclined walls, the better the wind flow entering the wind platform. This figure shows options 35A and 35B, but many other design variations are acceptable as long as they do not impede the flow of wind to the wind platform, as explained in the foregoing and preceding paragraphs and figures of the invention. At the top of the CIVAR energy tower is a central vortex tower opening, the inner wall of which is angled outwardly to turn the vortex wind 32 exiting the tower.

FIG. 12

Fig. 12 is a conceptual 3D diagram of an entire octagonal CIVAR energy tower showing different levels of air intakes, such as a floor unit air intake GUWI, a base unit air intake BUWI, and a top unit air intake TUWI. The air intakes are shown with functional level louvers made of ridged, non-rust, water-resistant material that can be opened and closed to maintain the wind platform area, or to increase and decrease the amount of air flowing into the interior of the wind platform. To make the figure easier to understand, the vertical wind wall of the CIVAR tower is shown as option CA (see FIG. 11) and the outer sloped wall of the interior occupancy unit 35 is shown as option 35B. The outer wall of the upper inclined wall of the cell 35 is shown as option 35B. The outer wall of the upper inclined wall of the cell 35 is covered with a transparent solar panel 34 and the lower part of the inclined wall is covered with a glass plate, which brings sufficient natural light to the inside of the cell 35. The roof of the CIVAR energy tower building 40 is flat and can accommodate more solar collectors, such as rotating solar panels, or tracking solar collectors to provide direct energy or running stirling engine generators. In the center of the CIVAR tower is the opening of the central vortex tower for discharging and splitting the exiting vortex wind 32. The height of the outlet tower can be increased to meet various requirements.

FIG. 13

Fig. 13 shows a plan view of a variation of the CIVAR energy tower building design, adding additional space to the internal footprint 43. The figure depicts a CIVAR tower plan view showing wind platform height, representing components designed in the original CIVER tower configuration (see FIG. 5), with the addition of an airfoil tower design 41 integrated into the original octagonal CIVAR tower. The figure depicts a vertical wind wall C (design shape option CC) with vertical traffic movement 44 through stairs within the wind wall, wind vanes 1,2, 3 and protruding wind vane 2A, and a central vortex tower wind generator 5. The additional wing towers 41 extend the full height of the octagonal CIVAR tower building, providing additional vertical traffic options via elevators 45 or other stairways. In the CIVAR invention shown in this figure, the scale provided on the figure is for reference only and is not intended to reflect the exact dimensions of the conceptual plan view and/or the entire assembly thereof. The figure shows the direction of entry of the wind WD and the wind vanes 1 and 2 on the wind platform being activated by the wind to facilitate the compressed wind entering the fixed wind vane 3 in a flow undisturbed manner.

The additional wing tower is designed to promote unobstructed wind flow into the CIVAR tower wind platform by the shape of its body and the additional vertical wind vane 42, the vertical pivot point 42A of the vertical wind vane 42 being on the windward side. The wing tower is located in the middle of one of the connection points of the CIVAR octagon, on the other side of the building where the building is favorable to prevailing wind. The pointed start of the winged building begins at the circle of the pivoting vane 2 and extends 100 feet 41A outward from that point toward the CIVAR tower. The width of the building is 50 feet 41B and extends 50 feet 41C beyond the outer point of the octagonal intersection of the building. As shown, the aspect ratio is 2: 1, some modifications may be made as long as the amount of air flowing to the CIVAR tower wind platform is not affected. In order to promote a proper and undisturbed wind flow, it is strongly recommended that the wall cladding of the CIVAR wing tower is textured, e.g. metal and/or composite panels.

FIG. 14

Fig. 14 shows two schematic plan views, one on the left side, and fig. 14A is the same view as fig. 13, showing the octagonal CIVAR energy tower at wind platform level, vertical wind wall C, tower 41 with new wing design shape with vertical wind vane and new space for internal occupancy 43.

The right hand figure 14B depicts the same octagonal CIVAR energy tower, but shows a typical occupancy level 35 plan view, between wind platforms, as shown in figure 11. The plan view contains the open space in the CIVAR octagon building 46 but does not include a central vortex tower with a plurality of wind turbines 5 but includes an airfoil tower appendage 41 with an interior space 43. Fig. 14B also shows the vertical wind wall C, its structural inner wall CST, the vertical stair flow in the wind wall 44 and the extra space available in said wind wall 44A. The plan view depicts a horizontal inner peripheral wall 4735 occupying a level and a horizontal outer peripheral wall 48 occupying the level 35. The wing tower appendage 41 includes an elevator 45 for servicing the various levels of the CIVAR tower building having the wing appendage.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic view of a

Fig. 15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a typical occupancy level 35 (see also fig. 11), which is an occupancy plan view of a CIVAR energy tower with wing shaped appendages. In the present invention of a CIVAR energy tower, the arrangement in this schematic shows an example of space division in plan view showing spaces 46A for apartments or apartment dwellings, each of approximately 3,000 square feet, and for smaller apartments, smaller bays 46B, each of 1,500 square feet. The space in wing tower 46C may be used as one unit or divided into two smaller units. The plan view also shows the pedestrian walkways, stairs 44 (see fig. 14) and elevators 45.

The figure also depicts a conceptual view of the entire facade of the CIVAR energy tower building, including the wing tower appendages 41. In this figure, the wind wall C and slight changes in occupancy level 35 are shown in elevation, showing the option of external tilt 35B, as shown in FIG. 11. The building also includes an underground appendage 49 having an entrance 50 thereto, the appendage 49 being for public, office or commercial purposes. Appendix 49 is an optional appendix and does not form part of the present CIVAR energy tower invention. It exists to show the good flexibility of the CIVAR energy tower building invention to adapt to the various needs of daily life while creating its own energy by using the invention as described and depicted in the present invention.

FIG. 16

As seen in fig. 16, a CIVAR machine room 20 (fig. 7) is centrally located at the floor or basement level of the building (see fig. 9), which contains a plurality of heat exchangers using water or oil based circulation systems, hereinafter referred to as heater wires, heating a plurality of vortex tower air intakes 38 via an interactive heating system, while providing hot air to the building using geothermal and waste incineration heat, hot water supply, and power generation via exhaust pipes.

Specifically, the function of the interactive heating system outlined in 061 is depicted in a schematic concept showing incoming air 51 entering the central vortex cylinder from the central air collector 27 (fig. 9) through the electric fan-type turbine 52, which would generate energy when in a neutral position in high winds or in an active position, which would enter the cylinder in the absence of wind. The forced air then enters the dual heat exchanger in the central cylinder HE1 and is heated by the geothermal heat chamber 53 from the geothermal heat source GTH and the incineration heat chamber 54 from the incineration heat source WIH, and then the forced heated air enters the upper portion of the central cylinder 55 through the fixed worm vane located in the cylinder, thus pushing the hot forced air into the central vortex tower CVT through and out the top cylinder outlet as it rotates.

When passing through the heating chambers of the heat exchanger HE1, the heating lines lead to the second heat exchanger HE2, enter the hot chambers 53A and 54A, heat building air from the building 56, which is driven and controlled by the fan 57, and exit through the heating chambers at the top to return to the heating BHS of the building. After both heating lines have left the second heat exchanger HE2, they enter the third heat exchanger HE3 to heat the domestic water from the ground supply 58 and exiting the building 59 with the combined hot cell 54C for mixing purposes. Additional on-demand electric water heaters may be located at various locations to meet various needs.

The only heating unit that generates contaminated exhaust gases in the system is the waste incineration unit WIH, which can generate very high heat. The unit using the air supply 60 to deliver the fire still has very hot exhaust air leaving the furnace which is directed through a multi-stage cleaning module 61 having a variety of filtration systems using many known prior art and catalysts to clean and filter the exhaust gases, first converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and then to breathable air (or similar systems commercially available), then by means of an on-line fan 62, directing the still hot and clean exhaust gases through a number of heat exchangers 63 to run a number of stirling engines 64 which run a generator 65 to provide power 66 to run a number of devices, and then finally leaving the building as clean, low-heat exhaust gases 67 (with the help of fans, if necessary).

While the preferred materials for the elements and embodiments of the CIVAR energy tower invention have been described, the invention is not limited to these materials. In various embodiments of the invention, other materials may include some or all of these elements.

While the CIVAR energy tower invention of the present invention, and its various embodiments, are fully described and depicted herein with particular reference to the preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions in a variety of applications, but are indeed different from the CIVAR energy tower in its entirety and in its various aspects.

In various embodiments, a CIVAR energy tower embodies an invention comprising a plurality of principles and innovative components that are combined into a visually appealing energy recovery structure that provides interior space for a plurality of spaces to help address today's clean energy needs without creating unnecessary visual barriers in densely populated areas, such as typical large wind turbines, providing clean energy production with a long useful life, and revolutionary new clean, inexpensive energy production has been developed until now for decades. At that time, the CIVAR structure can be easily constructed by changing all of its wind platform heights to occupy space, thereby constituting a part of the entire building.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a vortex-accelerated wind energy tower embodying the generation of CO-free energy by utilizing the sun, wind, and geothermal and incineration heat with multiple principles and functional inputs and simultaneous interactions₂Discharged electrical energy, including the following primary participating components:

physical design of the building itself (combining building with wind collection principle)

A plurality of fixed, pivotable wind vanes and wind-sensitive cyclones (using the principle of navigation)

Forced air heating, rotation and introduction into the central vortex column (using chimney principle)

Design and function of central vortex column (using tornado principle)

Wind siphon and suction (using bathroom fan principle)

Compounding and accelerating vortex wind energy by active simultaneous compression and siphoning (using venturi principle)

Embodiments of the present invention provide an octagonal (multi-angled or rounded) physical building embodying a design, its shape, proportions and its associated functions, particularly a structure designed for this purpose, to serve as vertical and horizontal wind collectors, comprising a plurality of components that capture a portion that may be close to 100% of its storm exposure and are directed unimpeded by compressing and accelerating incoming wind into the building's wind platform to create wind vortices within the building, and comprising a plurality of inclined horizontal walls with transparent solar panels and glass panels for generating electricity and capturing natural light to the interior of a plurality of occupied cells.

In some embodiments, the peripheral vertical wind wall design of a building of the same height as the CIVAR tower and forming part of an octagonal building structure is specifically designed to take advantage of the shape and configuration of the building to direct incoming wind into the building, which may be of the multi-angled or curved type, with flat vertical structural walls inside the outer side walls and using smooth exterior surface treatments (e.g., metal or composite paneling), suggesting a curved exterior wall configuration for maximum efficiency, representing a wider circle on the perimeter of the wall, and then narrowing the wall in a straight line to an interior point such that the pivot point of the outer ring vane meets the vane pivot point.

In various embodiments, the building includes a plurality of wind platform portals that direct incoming compressed wind into a central vortex tower, and a building unit whose peripheral horizontally inclined wall opens to a point on the outer periphery and is covered with transparent solar panels for single and/or multiple interior uses (e.g., residential, office, commercial, and light industrial uses) located between the plurality of wind platform portals that act as horizontal wind collectors that compress incoming wind using the venturi principle to direct it to the plurality of wind platforms.

In various embodiments, the building includes a tower construction as described above, but using ground units, base units and top units and wind platforms between the units as the starting assembly point, and stacking one or more intermediate units, identical to the top units, between the base units and the top units, thereby creating a vertically stacked CIVAR tower with multiple internal occupancy levels and higher energy production that can meet the needs of the building.

In various embodiments, the building includes a peripheral wind platform louvered access designed specifically for CIVAR buildings, with functional horizontal louvers having built-in heating options for cold climate zones, made of ridged, non-rusting water repellent material that automatically opens and closes using typical horizontal louver operating systems to maintain the wind platform area or increase and decrease the amount of wind flowing into the interior of the wind platform and provide a visual and sound barrier from the appearance to the building, and ridged wire mesh made of non-rusting material that prevents birds from entering the wind platform.

In various embodiments, the building is specifically designed to accelerate wind vortices within the central tower, wherein increasing the tower diameter of each of the wind table inlets (including a plurality of said wind table inlets looking up) causes a plurality of wind volumes to enter the central tower through the wind direction choke without creating a choke effect, and to exit the tower by enlarging the outlet diameter at the top of the tower to allow wind deflection.

In various embodiments, the building comprises a wing-shaped building in addition to a CIVAR tower building, where the proportions are 5 units in length of the building, 2.5 units in the widest part of the building, the width of CIVAR tower rings 1 and 2, each representing one unit (20 feet), including an aerofoil curved building, with a smooth metal or composite cladding, the same height as the CIVAR tower, and with the building's wingtips extending from the CIVAR tower and terminating at the pivot point of the middle ring wind vane 2 in that tower.

In various embodiments, and designed specifically for CIVAR towers, wing-shaped buildings (additional facilities) comprise two rows of vertically operating wind vanes, with a limited but advantageously calculated range of oscillation towards the centre of the building, made of ridged and waterproof material, with a horizontal frame structure strategically positioned around the tower to maximise the wind guiding effect, using a plurality of horizontal frames mounted on the building and pivoting vertically the wind vanes placed on the horizontal frames, and operating by the incoming wind to guide the wind towards the central vortex tower.

Various embodiments provide for the specific positioning of a plurality of fixed and movable vanes in a wind platform, directing and compressing wind into a swirling vortex and recombining it with a plurality of wind entry platforms including an outer ring pivoting ridged vane, a middle ring pivoting and deflecting vane, and an inner ring fixed windblocker vane.

In some embodiments, the outer ring includes a ridged pivoting weathervane comprising an open ridged frame, solid panels within the frame, telescoping bottom and/or top pivot pins with metal or nylon low friction pivot washers, rubber-type top and bottom bumpers on the other side of the frame pivot location for mitigating impact forces when hitting floor and ceiling flow restrictors on the mid-ring weathervane pivot point, in a CIVAR octagon configuration with the pivot location centered between each intersection of the octagon and the octagonal point where the building intersects, thus totaling 16 pivoting ridged weathervanes, with a specific range of oscillation, ranging between the pivot points of the mid-ring weathervanes, to smoothly direct incoming wind to the mid-ring weathervanes.

The wind vane has a limited range of oscillation and the limits of this range are referred to as the ends of the limited range of oscillation or alternatively as the check positions. The limit on the range of oscillation is provided by having a portion of the wind vane (e.g., the innermost edge anchored away from the pivot of the vane and traveling as the vane oscillates) contact a stationary object. The fixed object may be an anchoring portion of another wind vane radially inward of the wind vane. The stationary object may be a stationary part of the wind direction spinner.

In some embodiments, the middle ring pivoting vane comprises an open ridged frame consisting of 3 horizontal and 2 vertical ridged members made of aluminum or composite material with a housing at the pivot point to accommodate a retractable sail or curved panel that extends when it is located behind the frame into the wind direction and retracts into the housing to form a straight vane form when it is located in front of the frame (on the windward side of the incoming wind).

In various embodiments, the extendable medium ring wind vane sail has a slat or ridged but bendable panel mounted between pivot point locations inside a fully enclosed vertical ridged housing, the housing's exit point deflection opening is positioned behind the frame (as the pivot point for the vane) and stretched or mounted on opposite vertical sides of the same vane frame, extended by wind and retracted by a spring or similar mechanism located within the vane housing and having retractable preventer wires mounted on the open frame to limit deflection of the sail and/or panel, when viewed downwind.

In various embodiments, several diameter winddirection rotators are made of aluminum or composite waterproof material, including an inner ring double acting fixed vortex vane of the wind platform, positioned and angled to direct actively entering wind into a circular and upward direction into the central vortex tower, while creating suction on the passive side of the wind intake, through which wind from that side is siphoned into the central vortex tower.

In various embodiments, several different diameter winddirection vortex finders are of a diameter that includes a bottom internal inlet diameter for vertically incoming wind from below and an upper discharge outlet diameter that forms the top of the winddirection vortex finder outlet for vertically discharging wind, measured horizontally, of a size that matches the increasing width of the vortex tower upward at the entrance of the different wind platforms to allow more wind to enter the vortex tower, thereby increasing the vortical power of the wind.

In various embodiments, the inner ring windvane is embodied as a plurality of fixed vanes, wherein the vertical vanes are designed to match the angle of entry of the wind from the middle ring vane of the wind platform (both having opposite pivotal positions relative to the incoming wind), continue to direct the wind in the same direction as the incoming wind directed by the middle vane, compress it and direct it to the central vortex tower, thereby producing circular vortex-type wind motion, while creating negative pressure on the intake side of the passive windvane and siphoning usable air from the passive intake side into the central vortex.

In various embodiments, the length of the wind vane of the rotation resistor is longer at the lower vortex tower where the wind enters above the CIVAR ground unit as the wind inlet to the ground unit; on the intermediate windspinner, the length of the windvane of the spinner is shorter, where the wind enters above the CIVAR base unit, is the wind intake of the base unit to promote an increase in the diameter of the central vortex tower, allowing for an increase in the amount of wind entering the tower.

In various embodiments, the inner ring wind discouragers are embodied as a plurality of 16 fixed vanes designed to match the angle of incidence of the wind exiting from the middle ring vane and located at the exact center of the swing of the middle vane, starting at the outer periphery of the range of swing to match the opening of the vanes when they are activated by the wind and pushed into the outer points of the wind discouragers perpendicular to the vanes.

In various embodiments, the inner ring winddirection spinner embodies a housing made up of two circular concave rings, the lower part is a base assembly, the upper ring is a roof assembly, where the base is horizontal at the outer periphery of the rings and curves upward toward the inner smaller perimeter of the rings, forming a continuous unobstructed wind flow up into the central vortex tower, entering at a 45 degree angle, and the roof assembly of the winddirection spinner is at the same height as the wind entry platform (same or lower height of the base's inner exit), starting with the roof of the wind intake at the outer periphery level of the rings and curves upward toward the inner smaller perimeter of the roof ring, matching the diameter of the central vortex tower above, forming a continuous unobstructed wind flow up into the central vortex tower, entering at a 45 degree angle, as long as the change conforms to the design concept and its intended function, the size, degree, and/or height percentage of the wind spinner described herein may be modified to meet various needs.

In various embodiments, a mechanical heat air supply system is located at the bottom of the CIVAR central vortex column, including various embodiments: the integrated triple heat exchanger system delivers forced hot air twisted by a vertical thermal drive located in the cylinder above the heat exchanger, screws the hot air up into the central vortex tower, supplies heat to the building, supplies heat to the domestic water for the building and exhaust system to run multiple stirling engines to generate electricity.

In various embodiments, the CIVAR central vortex forced air heating system comprises a plurality of air intakes at the bottom of the building, wherein the duct leads to the central machine room through a fan-type vane motor set in neutral or operating mode to the bottom of a vertical cylindrical housing, internally equipped with a double hot chamber heat exchanger heated by geothermal and incineration heat by burning plants and human feces, the top cylindrical section comprising a plurality of rows of worm-type vanes on the inner circumference of said cylinder, rotating as the incoming forced air leaves the top of the cylinder.

In various embodiments, the integrated heat exchanger comprises a geothermal heating chamber and an incineration heating chamber of a central tower unit, wherein outlet heating lines from the heating chambers thereof enter a second heat exchanger, which also comprises the dual heating chambers, for heating and/or cooling air for the interior living space of the CIVAR building.

In various embodiments, the continuous integration of heat exchangers includes geothermal and incineration heating chambers, wherein an outlet heating line from the heating chamber of the second heat exchanger enters a third heat exchanger comprising a combined heating chamber as a unit to heat domestic water in a living space inside the CIVAR building.

In various embodiments, the combined action of energy for treating and utilizing waste incinerator waste heat uses known prior art and catalysts to clean and filter the exhaust gas by first changing carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and then to breathable air (or similar systems available on the market), and then introducing the still hot but clean exhaust gas through a large volume of air into a liquid heat exchanger with the help of a ducted fan to run multiple stirling engines running small generators.

The claims (modification according to treaty clause 19)

1. An energy harvesting building structure comprising:

a plurality of layers;

a central vortex tower passing through each of the plurality of levels and configured to direct moving air received from the plurality of levels upwardly toward an outlet at a top of the building structure;

at least one wind turbine located in the central vortex tower for harvesting energy from the wind;

a plurality of horizontally oriented air intakes, each air intake disposed within a different respective one of the plurality of levels, each horizontally oriented air intake being exposed to incident wind in a plurality of different directions via the air intake facing outside the building structure;

at each horizontally oriented air intake, a plurality of movable wind vanes pivotally mounted respectively on respective vertical pivot axes, each said movable wind vane having a limited range of oscillation and being configured to pivot to a respective position at the end of its limited range of oscillation upon exposure to incident wind for redirecting incident wind inwardly toward the central vortex tower; and

in at least one horizontally oriented intake, a respective wind direction spinner is located radially inward of the plurality of movable wind vanes and defines a plurality of stationary wind directing surfaces configured to receive and redirect incident wind from the movable wind vanes such that the incident wind continues to hover inward and is directed upward into the central vortex tower to feed a vortex of air therein to drive at least one wind turbine.

2. The building structure of claim 1, wherein the plurality of movable wind vanes includes a first plurality of wind vanes disposed in a radially outer portion of the horizontally oriented wind intake, and a second plurality of wind vanes disposed in a radially inner portion of the horizontally oriented wind intake, a radially inward edge of each wind vane of the first plurality of wind vanes configured to abut a radially outward edge of a respective one of the second plurality of wind vanes to form a surface for redirecting incident wind.

3. The building structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least some of the movable wind vanes comprise an open frame and a deformable portion mounted on one side of the open frame, wherein when the deformable portion is on a leeward side of the open frame relative to incident wind, the deformable portion deforms in response to the incident wind such that the deformable portion adopts a generally curved shape to redirect the incident wind along a curved path, and when the deformable portion is on a windward side of the open frame relative to the incident wind, the deformable portion contacts and rests on the open frame to redirect the incident wind in a generally flat shape.

4. The building structure according to claim 3, wherein the deformable portion comprises a flexible vertical surface suspended from the open frame, and wherein the open frame comprises one or more supports that contact the flexible vertical surface when the deformable portion is on the windward side of the open frame.

5. A building structure according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the deformable portion comprises a pair of surfaces coupled together using a hinged connection that allows a limited range of relative pivoting of the pair of surfaces about a vertical axis.

6. The building structure according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein said flexible vertical surface is a retractable sail or surface, each of said at least some movable vanes further comprising a housing for said retractable sail or surface, and a mechanism biased to retract the retractable sail or surface into the housing.

7. The building structure according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the flexible vertical surface is a curved panel comprising two or more hingedly coupled rigid portions.

8. The building structure according to claim 2, wherein each vane of the second plurality of vanes includes a selectively deformable portion having a first face and a second face opposite the first face, wherein the selectively deformable portion deforms to have the first face with a generally concave vertical surface for redirecting incident wind along a curved path when the first face is exposed to incident wind and when the second face is leeward relative to the incident wind, and the selectively deformable portion deforms to have the second face with a generally flat vertical surface for redirecting incident wind along a straight path when the second face is exposed to incident wind and the first face is leeward relative to the incident wind.

9. The building structure according to claim 8, wherein the curved path or the straight path smoothly opens into another respective air duct defined by a respective wind direction rotator.

10. The building structure according to claim 8 or 9, wherein each of the first plurality of wind vanes is rigid.

11. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the air intakes are exposed to incident wind from all horizontal directions.

12. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the building structure is a multi-angled building structure.

13. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the building structure is a circular building structure.

14. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the plurality of levels comprises three levels, each level having a respective one of the horizontally oriented air intakes.

15. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein an uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes is configured to horizontally feed incident wind to another dual wind turbine located in the central vortex tower and aligned with an uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes, the other dual wind turbine being configured to draw air within the central vortex tower upwardly when driven by wind from the uppermost one of the horizontally-oriented air intakes.

16. The building structure according to claim 15, wherein the other dual wind turbine comprises:

a peripheral wind turbine comprising a plurality of upwardly pitched or upwardly curved turbine blades and a bottom surface, the bottom surface isolating the peripheral wind turbine from the central vortex tower and a top of the peripheral wind turbine facing the central vortex tower, the upwardly pitched or upwardly curved turbine blades configured to rotate another wind turbine and force the wind upwards when exposed to the wind; and

an internal wind turbine open to the central vortex tower at the top and bottom and including a plurality of fan blades fixedly coupled to the wind turbine for rotation therewith, the plurality of fan blades configured to draw air from below the other wind turbine up to above the other wind turbine.

17. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising a plurality of horizontally oriented venturi funnel structures located outside of the air intake, the venturi funnel structures comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, or a combination thereof, configured to receive and concentrate incident wind to the air intake.

18. The building structure according to claim 17, wherein one or more walls of the venturi funnel structure are exterior walls within the building structure that may occupy building space.

19. The building structure according to claim 17 or 18, wherein one or more surfaces of the venturi funnel structure comprises a solar panel.

20. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 19, further comprising one or more vertical outer walls, each vertical outer wall configured to receive and redirect incident wind inwardly to a respective one of the air intakes.

21. The building structure according to claim 20, wherein said vertical outer wall is flat or curved.

22. The building structure according to claim 20 or 21, wherein each of said vertical outer walls is oriented along a respective axis passing through a center of said building structure, said center containing said central vortex column.

23. The building structure according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the one or more outer walls serve as outer walls of a staircase.

24. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 23, further comprising a hot forced air generation system located below a lowermost one of the horizontally oriented air intakes, the hot forced air generation system being configured to generate and feed hot air upwardly to the central vortex tower in an upward spiral corresponding to an air vortex.

25. The building structure according to claim 24, wherein said hot forced air generation system comprises a central cylinder having a fixed worm-type vane configured to receive and feed said hot air upwardly and impart an upward spiral motion to said hot air.

26. The building structure according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the hot forced air generation system comprises one or more heat sources configured to generate the hot air, wherein heat from the one or more heat sources is further used to generate one or more of: building heat, building water heat, mechanical energy and electrical energy.

27. The building structure according to claim 26, wherein the one or more heat sources comprise geothermal heat sources and incineration heat sources.

28. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein a vertical height of a first one of the horizontally oriented air intakes is greater than a vertical height of a second one of the horizontally oriented air intakes located below the first one of the horizontally oriented air intakes.

29. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 28, further comprising one or more occupiable building floors.

30. The building structure according to claim 29, wherein at least one of said occupiable building floors is located between consecutive horizontally oriented air intakes.

31. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein the diameter of the central vortex tower increases upwardly when passing through at least one of the plurality of horizontally oriented air intakes.

32. The building structure of claim 31, wherein a first of the individual wind rotators is flush with a first of the horizontally oriented air intakes, a second of the individual wind rotators is flush with a second of the horizontally oriented air intakes above the first of the horizontally oriented air intakes, and a diameter of the first of the individual wind rotators is less than a diameter of the second of the individual wind rotators.

33. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 32, wherein the exterior surface of the building structure comprises a smooth exterior surface treatment.

34. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 33, wherein the air intake comprises an adjustable louver that is reconfigurable between an open position allowing wind to pass and a closed position for inhibiting wind from passing.

35. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 34, wherein the wind direction vortex breaker is configured to direct incoming wind on an active side into the central vortex tower in a circular and upward direction and further to create suction on a passive side from which air is siphoned into the central vortex tower.

36. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 35, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces define a plurality of channels, each channel including a respective wind inlet and wind outlet, and wherein the wind outlet of each of the plurality of channels is directed upwardly to prevent wind expelled therefrom from entering one of the plurality of channels with each other.

37. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 36, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces of the wind direction choke define channels of progressively decreasing cross-sectional area to compress incident wind.

38. The building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 37, wherein the plurality of fixed air directing surfaces and the plurality of movable wind vanes of the wind direction rotator are collectively configured to gradually redirect incident wind.