The idea to optimise the utilisation of scarce resources and translate renewable resources into more productive avenues was brought to light by Dmitriy Balashov at this year’s Lexus Design Award held during Milan Design Week.

The Russian industrial designer was one of the six finalists for his ‘Green Jet Blast Energy’, a design that aims to collect the energy generated by an aircraft during take off and return it for various uses at the airport.

Balashov, who studied at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, is inspired by unique and innovative ideas that offer comfort and rationality. For this project, he considered the excessive consumption of expensive energy that we rely upon for much of the world to function. And while we all try to get more conscious of our use, certain aspects have become a necessity more than a luxury. This today, includes air travel; and therefore, the energy used by jet engines of powerful aircraft.

Having lived near an airport for many years piqued Balashov’s interest in this field. While he aspired to be a pilot, today his focus lies on engineering that can help minimise, channelise and re-look at the way energy in this field is used, wasted, and has the potential to be harnessed. The fundamental principle here is to capture the energy generated by the jet blast and return it to the airport to meet its electricity requirements.

With an Airbus A 380 reaching a speed of 46 m/sec within a distance of 80-120 meters during take off, it consumes an incredible amount of energy and expels an equally considerable amount of energy as blast. Balashov has created a device through which part of this energy can be collected and returned to the airport’s grids for various uses.

However, as the energy created cannot be stored for future use, it has to be productively channelised at the very moment of its yield. “Given the significant number of flights, and therefore take offs at regular intervals, a considerable amount of energy, approximately 10 KwH, can be captured and further used. The greater the number of aircraft tapped, the higher will be the energy generation,” explains Balashov.

“The prototypes of this project have only been developed as a mock-up of the original model. It is difficult to test the efficacy of this proposal given the colossal size of the equipment that is required to derive results. The scale of the equipment is essential to higher energy generation,” he adds.

As an inventor, Balashov is optimistic about his idea and believes that the same can be applied and similar results can be accomplished through tidal energy as well, by only altering the properties of the apparatus and the mechanism. Till then, ‘Green Blast Jet Energy’, a one-of-its-kind device, can capitalise on obtaining free energy to the economic benefit of energy supply at airports.

Read more about the Lexus Design Award 2019 at the Milan Design Week and its other finalists:

1. Algorithmic Lace by Lisa Marks
2. Solgami by Prevalent
3. Baluto by Jeffrey E.Dela Cruz
4. Hydrus by Shuzhan Yuan
5. Arenophile by Rezzan Hasoglu