RU2829763C1 - Wave pump power plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: hydropower engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to renewable hydropower sources and can be used to generate energy from wave motion. Wave pump power plant comprises platform 1 with arranged on it wave receiving chambers, connected through check valves 5, 6, 7 with common pipe 8 connected to turbine equipped with electric generator, and wave receiving shields installed on both sides of the platform on its front part, on their rotary supports. As wave receiving chambers there used are piston pumps of double action 2, 3, 4 arranged on floats 9, 10, 11 and equipped with weights 12, 13, 14. Rods 15, 16, 17 of pumps 2, 3, 4 are connected to upper ends of support rods 18, 19, 20, lower ends of which are fixed on platform 1. Suction and discharge branch pipes of pumps 2, 3, 4 are equipped with flexible tubes 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. Tubes 22, 23, 24 of suction branch pipes in air pumping mode are brought into air. In water pumping mode, tubes 22, 23, 24 are lowered into water. Tubes 25, 26, 27 of discharge branch pipes are connected through check valves 5, 6, 7 to pipe 8 supplying air or water to the turbine.

EFFECT: invention is aimed at improvement of reliability, efficiency and expansion of functional capabilities of a wave electric installation capable of pumping both air and water.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The proposed invention relates to renewable sources of hydropower and can be used to generate energy from the movement of waves in seas, oceans and large lakes, and then in basins.

There are numerous known wave installations that use various options for converting wave energy, in particular for obtaining and storing compressed air, which is then sent to turbines equipped with electric generators.

Known [1], for example, is the “Wave energy installation” by the author V.G. Sokolov, according to the USSR author’s certificate No. 1211443, IPC F03B 13/12.

The installation contains elastic cylinders connected to an energy converter made in the form of hydraulic cylinders with spring-loaded pistons, rods with toothed notches, and piston cavities connected by means of pipelines to the cylinders, and ratchet wheels equipped with torsion springs connected to the shaft of the electric generator and interacting with the notches of the rods.

The waves, hitting the elastic cylinders, cause a change in their volume, which leads to the movement of the pistons under the action of the liquid filled in the cylinders and in the pipelines, while the toothed cutting of the rods acts on the ratchet wheels, twists the springs that accumulate the energy of the waves, and rotates the shaft of the electric generator.

The disadvantage of this installation is its complexity and unreliability due to the presence of gear transmissions and springs, which are unstable components when they are in water for a long time.

Also known [2] is the “Mobile wave power station” by Shcheklein S. E. and Popov A. I. under Russian patent No. 2580251, IPC F03B 13/24, containing a floating platform with a wave-receiving chamber.

This device contains a wave-receiving chamber made in the form of a V-shaped tunnel extended along the wave front with side walls, an inclined lower plane at its entrance and with a spring-loaded valve at the exit of the narrow part of the tunnel connected to an air duct connected to a compressed air storage facility, the exit of which is connected to an air turbine, wherein the platform contains cavities filled with water to create adjustable buoyancy and it is connected to the support by means of flexible cables.

This device is mobile and has a simple design with minimal material consumption.

The disadvantage of this power plant is its limited efficiency, due to the wave-receiving chamber receiving limited mechanical energy from the impact of the part of the wave that has penetrated into the chamber volume.

The closest analogue (prototype) is [3] “Mobile wave energy plant” by A. I. Popov under Russian Federation patent No. 2783167, IPC F03B 13/14; H02K 35/00; E02B 9/08; B63B 11/14.

This power plant contains a platform on which wave-receiving chambers are located along the direction of the wave movement, made in the form of elastic cylinders, connected to an air duct through spring-loaded and check valves with a compressed air storage facility, the output of which is connected to an air turbine equipped with an electric generator, and on both sides of the platform, on its front part, wave-receiving shields are fixed with the help of rotary supports at an angle to the direction of the wave movement, the opening angles of which are adjusted by mechanical clamps.

The disadvantages of this device are the need to develop and use non-standard designs of elastic cylinders with spring-loaded valves for their opening and closing when waves hit. The number of deformation cycles (bending-unbending) of the elastic material of the cylinders is limited, the springs rust under the influence of sea water and the degree of their elasticity also changes over time, which reduces the operating time and overall reliability of the power plant.

The objective of the proposed invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned shortcomings, increase reliability, efficiency and expand the functional capabilities of a wave power plant capable of pumping both air and water.

The technical problem that the present invention solves is the creation of a means for a specific new purpose, a power plant with higher productivity by expanding the arsenal of technical means, in particular:

- wave-receiving chambers are made in the form of double-acting piston pumps that change their volume under the influence of wave impact;

- pumps together with weights are placed on floats, creating the necessary Archimedes buoyancy force;

- the use of unreliable spring-loaded valves is eliminated.

The technical result is achieved due to the fact that in a wave pump power plant containing a platform with wave-receiving chambers placed on it, connected through check valves to a common air duct pipe connected to a turbine equipped with an electric generator, and wave-receiving shields installed on both sides of the platform on its front part on their rotary supports, double-acting piston pumps placed on floats and equipped with weights are used as wave-receiving chambers, the pump rods are connected to the upper ends of the support rods, the lower ends of which are fixed to the platform, and the suction and discharge pipes of the pumps are equipped with flexible tubes, wherein the tubes of the suction pipes in the air pumping mode are led out into the air, in the water pumping mode the tubes of the suction pipes are lowered into the water, and the tubes of the discharge pipes through check valves are connected to a common pipe supplying air or water turbine.

The drawing Fig. 1 shows a conventional side view of the “Wave pump power plant”, and Fig. 2 shows a top view of it.

The power plant comprises a platform 1 with, for example, three double-acting piston pumps 2, 3, 4 placed on it, the outlets of which are connected through check valves 5, 6, 7 to a common air duct pipe 8 connected to a turbine equipped with an electric generator (not shown in the drawing), while floats 9, 10, 11 and weights 12, 13, 14 are fixed on each pump, and their rods 15, 16, 17, connected to pistons inside the pump cylinders, are attached to support rods 18, 19, 20, the lower ends of which are fixed on the platform.

Flexible suction tubes 22, 23, 24 are connected to the suction pipes of the pumps and are led out into the air during the air pumping mode or lowered into the water (shown in the drawing by dotted lines) during the water pumping mode, and tubes 25, 26, 27, connected to the discharge pipes, are connected to the check valves.

Fig. 2 shows that in order to improve stability, the power plant is equipped with supports 28, and in order to increase the amplitude (energy) of the wave, sliding wave-receiving shields 29 are used.

The "Wave Pumping Power Plant" works as follows.

Waves V, having passed through shields 29, successively strike pumps 2, 3, 4, floating on floats 9, 10 11. The Archimedes buoyancy force of the floats is selected from the condition that in free water (in the absence of waves) the floats can withstand the weight of the pumps and weights 12, 13, 14, fixed above them.

The pumps are placed along the platform so that adjacent pumps are spaced apart by half the wave length, so one pump will be at the top of the wave and the other at its trough. The drawings conventionally show a row arrangement of only three pumps, with pump 2 at level 21 in calm water, pump 3 at level 30 of the wave maximum, and pump 4 at level 31 of the wave minimum in its trough. The number of pumps in a row, as well as their total number in several rows, is determined by the required electrical power needed by a specific consumer.

The proposed power plant has two operating modes selected by the consumer: air pumping or water pumping. When pumping air to the turbine, the suction pipes 22, 23, 24 are placed away from splashes, precipitation or equipped with additional filters. When each wave sequentially passes through a series of pumps that rise and fall on their floats 9, 10, 11, the pumps pump air, which through pipes 25, 26, 27 and check valves 5, 6, 7 enters the common pipe 8 and then to the turbine (not shown in the drawing).

When pumping water to the turbine, suction pipes 22, 23, 24 are placed in the water (shown in the drawing by dotted lines) and, similarly, when each wave passes through a series of pumps and their sequential operation, water will flow under pressure through pipes 25, 26, 27 through check valves 5, 6, 7 into the common pipe 8 and then to the turbine.

The correct operating mode of this power plant is determined by the optimal ratio of the total weight of the pumps with their loads 12, 13, 14 and the need to have a large lifting force of floats 9, 10, 11. This is explained as follows.

The lower ends of the rods 15, 16, 17 of the pumps are secured to the support rods 18, 19, 20, and their upper ends are connected to the pistons inside the pump cylinders. For example, when the wave amplitude maximum level 30 is reached, the float 10 secured to the cylinder 3 must lift the weight of the pump 3 together with the load 13 by the Archimedes force, and in this case the piston moves downwards in the pump cylinder on the rod and water or air is sucked in through the tube 23. When the wave minimum (trough) level 31 is reached, the float 11 of the pump 4 with the load 14 moves downwards, and the total weight of the pump and the load must ensure the piston movement in the pump cylinder on the rod 17 upwards, squeezing out water or air through the tube 27 and the check valve 7 into the common pipe 8.

Thus, each wave, rolling along the platform, sequentially affects a number of pumps, forcing them to perform vertical oscillatory movements, ensuring the pumping of water or air into a common pipe 8 and then to the turbine.

The proposed wave power plant can also be used by the consumer in different modes. When working with air, a compressed air storage facility can be used, located at the bottom of the reservoir, the output of which is connected to the turbine by analogy with the above-mentioned Russian patent No. 2580251.

When working with water in large fresh water bodies, this device can be used as a conventional pumping unit for supplying water for domestic needs, or as a pumping unit for supplying fresh or sea water to a reservoir located at a higher level, from where it can be supplied to a hydro turbine for stable generation of electricity.

A roller-blade machine can be used as a universal turbine used for both water and air. It has a higher efficiency and high accuracy due to very small losses of the working fluid (air or water) participating in the energy extraction. This is explained by the fact that in this device the rollers are synchronized by gears with the circular movement of the blades and practically eliminate the free passage of the working fluid in the opposite direction. See, for example, "Flowmeters, liquid and gas meters. Modification "Nord" LLC "West-Metrology". [Electronic resource], access mode: www.west-metrology.ru.

Taking into account the above, the proposed “Wave Pumping Power Plant”, using typical standard units, can find wide application for settlements on the sea coasts, deprived of a centralized power supply.

Claims (1)

A wave pump power plant comprising a platform with wave-receiving chambers placed thereon, connected via check shut-off valves to a common air duct pipe connected to a turbine equipped with an electric generator, and wave-receiving shields installed on both sides of the platform on its front part, on their own rotating supports, characterized in that double-action piston pumps placed on floats and equipped with weights are used as wave-receiving chambers, the pump rods are connected to the upper ends of support rods, the lower ends of which are secured to the platform, the suction and discharge pipes of the pumps are equipped with flexible tubes, wherein the tubes of the suction pipes in the air pumping mode are led out into the air, in the water pumping mode the tubes of the suction pipes are lowered into the water, and the tubes of the discharge pipes are connected through check shut-off valves to a common pipe supplying air or water to the turbine.