Patent ID: 7086823

Claim:
A device for producing a vortex similar to one of a group consisting of dust-devils, waterspouts, and tornadoes, comprising an impervious vertical axis cylindrical wall of roughly circular cross section, (a) wherein said wall is open at the upper end, (b) wherein said wall has a plurality of air entries at the lower end, (c) wherein the height of said wall is substantially less than the height of said vortex, (d) wherein the height of said air entries is substantially less than the height of said wall, (e) wherein a plurality of deflectors in said air entries direct the air entering the circular wall away from the radial direction and towards the tangential direction, (f) wherein said deflector have a predetermined orientations relative to a line extending from said deflector to the axis of the cylindrical wall, (g) wherein the quantity of air entering said circular wall is controlled with a plurality of adjustable restrictors located upstream of said deflectors, (h) wherein the rotation of the air entering said circular wall is controlled by using said restrictors to channel the air through deflectors with the appropriate orientation, (i) wherein the vortex is started by temporarily heating the air in said circular wall using fuel as the primary heat source, whereby said vortex is used to produce mechanical energy, to produce electrical energy, to produce precipitation, or to improve the performance an associated cooling tower.