Team Archives | HWS Towers

“How much does the Wind Energy learn from Wind Sailing (…and viceversa) ?” (HWS)

January 15, 2022January 4, 2022 by hwstowers

As along last decade, completely new wind boats like Americans Cup AC75 monohull vessels (*) are appearing, completely new concepts with an exceptional efficiency which allows to fly over the sea near to 100 Km/h, or even surpassing (∼104 Km) with a Windsurf (**).

(*) The newest American’s Cup AC75 are 75 feet (22.86m) keel-less yachts, which rise out of the water on hydrofoils and glide across the surface to reach speeds in excess of 50 knots (93 Km/h).

The Challenger yacht “Luna Rossa” had maxed out at 53,4 knots (99 Km/h), (…) and Team New Zealand’s “Te Rehutai” is rumoured to be even faster.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/09/sport/americas-cup-yachts-speeds-sailing-spt-intl/index.html

(**) On Thursday, November 18, 2021, in Namibia, Mr. Bjorn Dunkerbeck (the famous Dutch & Canarian 52-year-old famous windsurfer) broke that speed barrier, hitting 103,67 Km/h over a two-second time gap, and holding an average speed of 101,00 Km/h kilometers per hour over a 100-meter stretch of water.

Source: https://www.surfertoday.com/windsurfing/bjorn-dunkerbeck-hits-windsurf-top-speed-of-103-67-kmh
YouTube video, showing windsurf “flying” at near 104 Km/h: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt3DQNUJXkc
YouTube video: Topspeed of 102,35 km/h at Luderitzspeedchallenge 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XcRpbVb_gk

“HWS-AirCRANE 30 t finalizada, con la ayuda de la Comision Europea, programa Horizon 2020-SME Instrument Fase 2, nº 804858”

September 13, 2021January 14, 2021 by hwstowers

“HWS is proud to present the self-climbing AirCRANE”

September 13, 2021December 18, 2020 by hwstowers

After 3 years of work HWS has finished the demonstrator of the self-climbing AirCRANE, a 30 t net-lifting capacity unit. Once the technology/concept has been tested and validated, HWS is confident in scaling it up to 250 t or down to 5-10 t (for construction).

In this type of cranes two concept should be distinguished:

How it climbs.
How it anchors to the structure.

In the case of the AirCRANE:

➜ The climbing process is mechanical, based on three innovative devices which moves along the main girder. This innovative concept introduces the possibility to climb along vertical surfaces with trunk transitions, irregularities, inclined walls, etc.

➜ The anchoring system is conducted by means of a pair of spikes that are inserted into some cavities left in the tower. A reliable anchoring can be assured relying mainly in gravity force.

In all climbing systems, both processes are innovative, and hence, patented. In AirCRANE: WO2019002654 and ES201930707.

Find more information in this self-explanatory video:

This project (from March 1^st, 2018,to October 31^st, 2020) has been developed with the support of the European Commission under the grant program “Horizon 2020-SME-Instrument Phase 2, no. 804858” (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/804858).

The first AirCRANE unit has been manufactured in KEYTECH (AMOND GROUP) (https://www.keytech.es/) (http://amond-group.com) facility, located in Lecumberri, SPAIN.

We would be happy to show it to interested professionals of the wind energy sector.