One of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers is trying something new and different: Attempting to reclaim the noise made by its jet engines and turn it into electricity.
According to Interesting Engineering, Boeing recently filed a patent to take the noise created during takeoff and landing and turn it into power. “Commercial aircraft jet engines produce noise at around 140 decibels, not to mention the noise of the wheels during landing, the wind being cut by the wings, etc.,” the website notes. By utilizing an “acoustic wave collector,” installed along the edge of runways, noise would be transformed into energy, used to power some of the airport’s other systems.
“The vibrational energy of sound waves would be converted into an airflow boost to a turbine, thereby generating electricity,” Interesting Engineering explains. “A substation would collect this energy and then distribute it to the appropriate sectors.” However, the engineer who designed this complex and somewhat lofty system admits it might be too pricey to be cost efficient.
For more information, read the article here.
Putting Noise to Good Use http://t.co/aFUPGr3X4U
Mike Cleaver liked this on Facebook.
That’s a neat idea, and I’m interested in reading the article/hearing the podcast… but IIRC, they taught us in science class that the entirety of the sound energy emitted by a full crowd during a CFL Football game, if captured, would be enough to heat a cup of coffee. But that was the 1980s, and THE WORLD HAS CHANGED.