The DWT design uses a combination of established wind power concepts, including aerofoil, concentrator, deflector, diffuser, venturi, and toroidal vortex (donut-shaped vortex) designs, creating energy harvest reservoirs larger than the frontal area of the DWT. The DWT, being more like a large building with an internal turbine than a HAWT with large external rotating turbine blades, mitigates many of the problems of HAWTs. The DWT is expected to lower the cost per unit of energy produced over its total lifetime with a longer operational life, lower maintenance costs, and an increased operational range of wind speeds, whilst lowering the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance difficulties.

 

The DWT, having concealed blades, eliminates the danger from catastrophic failure of blades, the environmental threat to wildlife, and minimises noise pollution and the psychological perception of residents living in areas surrounding DWT installations.

The DWT has a disadvantage in high material usage when compared to a HAWT; however, the manufacturing and transportation process is simpler and is expected to have a longer operational life. The tower can be manufactured, shipped, and installed using standard equipment and practices from the commercial building industry and the shipbuilding industry, with the onshore DWT being constructed horizontally, then tilted up, and the offshore DWT being constructed horizontally in drydock and towed to location. Minimal infrastructure changes are required as the DWT utilises well-established manufacturing processes, common low-cost materials that are easy to recycle, common construction transport infrastructure, common construction cranes, small turbine blades that can be made from low-cost material, and common-sized trucks for transportation.

 

The DWT using contra-rotating electromagnetic windings coupled to a 4 rotor Continuous Energy and Momentum Schema (CEMS) energy harvester turbine with a synchronising gearbox located internally mid-level, significantly reduces the gearbox load with 20% of the torque and 2% of the power anticipated to be transmitted through the gearbox significantly reducing the chance of failure and thus significantly reducing the cost of the gearbox, fire hazard from gearbox overheating, and lowers the cost of service. A longer operational life is expected due to minimal cyclic forces on short robust internal turbine blades that can be made from more durable, common low-cost material, therefore significant minimising impact from environmental conditions.

 

The DWT, having a ducted fluid flow, uses a simple, low-cost toroidal gate valve to throttle or stop the internal fluid flow, thus eliminating the need for a brake to stop the turbine. A simple park brake can be used to hold the turbine from free movement after the gate valve is closed. Elimination of the brake is significant as brakes are a common cause of fire for HAWTs.

 

The DWT onshore foundations and offshore fixed or floating platforms are expected to be simpler to design, with the DWT tower bending loading expected to be minimal during steady state operational fluid flow conditions due to the DWT tower having a neutral drag coefficient. The DWT inlet aerofoil body drag coefficient is approximately equal to zero, and the outlet aerofoil body drag coefficient is approximately equal to -0.23, with a small positive mast drag coefficient. With a neutral drag coefficient, single cylindrical pontoon offshore floating platforms will remain upright regardless of the steady state wind speed.