Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

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Revision as of 03:10, 5 July 2022 by 172.70.210.125 (talk) (Clue)
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Is anybody going to try to calculate the amount of power such a turbine could collect? -- Dtgriscom (talk) 19:24, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Good idea; what should we use for an estimate of the geometry for https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine ? The final panel makes it look like the blade diameter is about twice the size of a fist. [1] says "exhaled air velocity varies from 2.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s (5.66 ± 1.57 m/s, mean ± SD) and exhalation time varies from 2.10 s to 8.21 s (4.42 ± 1.73s, mean ± SD)."
I guessed 10 cm radius and used that mean breath speed. I should have used the top 9.9 m/s though, shouldn't I? 172.70.214.185 20:56, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
After a closer look at that article, the mean is more appropriate. 172.70.206.95 21:19, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Although these miniscule wind turbines don't generate much power, mice probably don't need much. Barmar (talk) 21:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

That's certainly a fair point. How much power would a mouse-sized fridge need? 172.70.206.95 21:23, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Someone please check my mouse energy needs math and assumptions. I made a couple misplaced decimal mistakes getting to where it is now, and I'm going to have another beer. 172.70.211.52 22:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm confused by the statement that smaller turbines are less "efficient". There's nothing about efficiency at that link. 172.70.114.43 22:33, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

The graph shows the ratio between size and output has risen from about half to 85%. What is a better term for this? I'm pretty sure one of the multiple definitions of efficiency is technically correct, but it can never hurt explaining better. 172.69.33.113 22:42, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
Changed to "relative power output" but I'm not sure that captures the idea very well either. 172.69.33.113 22:44, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Well wind turbines may not scale down ideally but still better than nuclear power plants. I suspect those have fixed minimal size and it's pretty big. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:32, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Apparently nuclear power can be "as small as a button cell" but mice are vulnerable to radioactive hazards, and haven't solved the waste disposal problem. 172.70.214.185 23:45, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the power output of a solar panel directly dependent on its size (and wether it's covered with snow, angle to the sun, clouds? And prolly something I'll think of as soon as I hit save).172.70.131.106 23:55, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Yes, but the power per size doesn't increase with size like wind turbines do. 172.69.33.63 00:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

What is the smallest Tesla Powerwall available for purchase? 172.70.206.163 02:00, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

You probably want an 18650 or similar cell, which are frequently discarded on the street and thus easily obtainable by mice. 172.69.33.171 03:02, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Why doesn't pico hydro have the same problems scaling down as wind? They're both fluid turbines. 172.70.214.185 02:24, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

For the same reasons that small fans have several vanes, but large wind turbines have only three. I remember reading something about the physics (it's a laminar versus turbulent thing) but I can't remember the details now. I'll update here if I can find it. 172.70.210.125 03:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
Here's part of it, but doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. 172.70.210.125 03:10, 5 July 2022 (UTC)