AU2022205263A1

AU2022205263A1 - Asynchronous Reciprocation Engine

Info

Publication number: AU2022205263A1
Application number: AU2022205263A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Alan Stanley
Original assignee: Stanley Alan Mr
Current assignee: Stanley Alan Mr
Priority date: 2022-07-15
Filing date: 2022-07-15
Publication date: 2024-02-01

Abstract

Disclosed is an engine and system for the generation of power from the force of gravity using closed loops that use no resources in operation, said system having at least two water reservoirs at different high elevations, a lower 5 reservoir to provide power and a higher reservoir to provide reciprocation, both being connected to a piston engine at a much lower elevation, said engine having two pistons in separate chambers within a cylinder, said pistons being connected by a connecting rod such that they move in tandem, the upper piston providing power from a pipe connected to the lower reservoir while the lower [O piston is isolated during the power stroke, the lower piston providing reciprocation from a pipe connected to the higher reservoir, returning water from the upper chamber and the lower chamber to the lower reservoir, said reservoirs being connected by a pipe with a pump lifting water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir to close the loop in the system, said upper 15 reservoir having an overflow pipe to return excess water to the lower reservoir. Figure 1 30 soo4 MO 200sto

Description

Figure 1

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT ASYNCHRONOUS RECIPROCATIONENGINE

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best

method of performing it known to me.

I

This invention relates to the generation of electricity in a sustainable manner. In

recent years, it has become necessary that our civilisation stop using fossil fuels

to generate electricity. Most of the replacement options such as wind power and

solar power are intermittent and incapable of fully displacing generators

powered by coal or gas. Nuclear power is too expensive and too dangerous.

Hydropower is restricted to places where suitable elevations and hydrological

conditions allow the construction of dams with sufficient flow rates to allow

electricity generation.

[o This invention aims to solve the problem ofreplacing coal and gas generators

by providing a closed-loop power generation system to turn the force of gravity

into dispatchable power in a manner that uses no resources once initial

conditions have been met. The system has at least two water reservoirs at

elevations above the engine, one reservoir being at a higher altitude than the

other. At least two pipes connect the reservoirs, one pipe having a pump capable

of lifting water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir at the same rate

as water passes through the engine, the other being an overflow pipe to allow

excess water to flow back from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir if the

pump flow exceeds the engine flow. Each reservoir has a pipe running downhill

to the engine to carry water to and from the engine under pressure. The

difference in elevation between the lower reservoir and the upper reservoir will typically be 10% of the difference in elevation between the lower reservoir and the engine. Referring to Figure 5, a schematic of the system shows this loop.

Water flows from the reciprocation reservoir 120 through the engine 130 to the

power reservoir 100 and a pump 110 returns the water to the reciprocation

reservoir.

This system can be installed at any location where suitable elevation differences

can be found. On a hill, on a mountain, on an escarpment, in a pit such as a

worked-out open-cut mine or a disused underground mine or inside a tall

building with the reservoirs in the upper floors and the engine in a basement.

[o The amount of power produced depends upon the elevation difference between

the reservoirs and engine and the size of the engine. It is scalable from small

domestic or farm installations of a few kilowatts on a 20-metre elevation

difference up to grid-scale multiple gigawatt generators installed on

mountainsides with 500 metre elevations.

Referring to Figure 1, the engine has a cylinder 100 which is divided into an

upper chamber 110 and a lower chamber 120 by a disk 130 that is fixed to the

cylinder. This disk may be cast, welded or bolted into the cylinder to fix it and

make a high-pressure seal between the two chambers. The disk 130 is

perforated by a hole 140 to allow a connecting rod 220 to pass through the disk.

The upper chamber 110 contains a power piston 200. The lower chamber contains a reciprocation piston 210 connected by a connecting rod 220 to the power piston 200 such that movement by the power piston will cause the same movement by the reciprocation piston and vice-versa.

Both pistons have rings around the sides to prevent exchange of fluids past the

pistons along the cylinder walls. Similarly, the orifice 140 through which the

connecting rod passes has rings in its wall to prevent passage of fluids between

the lower and upper chambers. These rings may be metal as in an internal

combustion engine or rubber or some other suitable synthetic material as in

water taps. The operation of the engine requires the opening and closing of

[O valves to regulate water flow. These will be computer-controlled and may be

opened and closed by actuators 500 that are hydraulically operated,

mechanically operated by cams on rotating shafts or by means of electrically

operated actuators as may be chosen by the engine manufacturer.

The upper chamber 110 is open at the top above the power piston 200 to allow

power take-out from the top of the power piston.

A water pipe 300 brings high-pressure water from the lower reservoir into a

plenum chamber 310 that will connect inlet and return pipes to the inlet pressure

pipe. An inlet pipe 320 connects the plenum chamber to a valved opening in the

upper chamber 110 below the power piston 200. Opening of the power valve

400 allows the high-pressure water to fill the upper chamber below the piston

200, pushing the power piston 200 up. The difference in pressure between the

chambers below and above the power piston is the source of power in the

engine in exactly the same way that a pressure difference allows a piston in a

steam engine or an internal combustion engine to generate power.

The lower chamber 120 is closed at the bottom and has three valved openings.

A recirculation pipe 350 carries water from the chamber above the reciprocation

piston 210 to the chamber below the reciprocation piston. During the power

stroke, the recirculation stop valve 410 is open to allow this flow. Also during

the power stroke, the return stop valve 420 is closed, preventing interaction

[o between the lower chamber 120 and the plenum chamber 310.

The reciprocation valve 430 is closed during the power stroke so all the water

movement in the lower chamber is isolated. Movement of water from above the

reciprocation piston 210 to below it during the power stroke is assisted by

gravity, reducing the pumping loss associated with moving the reciprocation

piston. Figure 2 shows the engine part-way through the power stroke.

The power stroke is initiated by opening the power valve 400. The speed of

piston movement is restricted by the flow rate through the valve opening and by

the load on the power piston such that it remains below 20 m/s to prevent

excessive friction. Lubrication is provided by the water providing the power.

When the power piston rises, it pulls the reciprocation piston up with it. At the top of the piston stroke, the power valve is closed to bring the piston pair to a halt. Figure 3 shows the engine at the top of the piston stroke.

To begin the reciprocation stroke, the recirculation stop valve 410 is closed,

sealing the chamber above the reciprocation piston. The return valve 420 is then

opened to allow water passage from below the reciprocation piston through the

return pipe 330 to the plenum chamber 310, as shown in Figure 4a. The

reciprocation valve 430 is then opened, connecting the lower chamber above the

reciprocation piston 210 to the inlet pipe 340 that connects the engine to the

upper reservoir as is shown in Figure 4b. The power valve 400 is then re-opened

[o as shown in Figure 4c, allowing the piston pair to move. Water from the upper

reservoir is at a higher pressure than water in the lower reservoir, so the

reciprocation piston 210 is pushed down and pulls the power piston 200 down

with it. Water in the upper chamber 110 below the power piston 200 is pushed

back out the inlet pipe 320 into the plenum chamber 310. Water in the lower

chamber 120 below the reciprocation piston is also pushed back out the return

pipe 330 into the plenum chamber 310. Figure 4d shows the engine part-way

through the reciprocation stroke. If there is only one cylinder, the water in the

plenum chamber 310 is pushed back up the inlet pipe 300 into the lower

reservoir. The pipes 340 and 300 with the engine between them thus become a

u-tube that allows water to flow in a controlled manner between the upper

reservoir and the lower reservoir. As mentioned earlier, a pump lifts water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir at the same rate as water flows through the engine, closing the loop.

A typical engine may have a stroke of 5 metres, with a power stroke taking

about 0.5 second and the reciprocation stroke taking about 2.5 seconds. The

pressure in the pipes will be limited by the materials used, which may be plastic

or aluminium for low-power domestic or farm systems with pressures less than

10 bar but will probably be stainless steel for commercial engines where the

pressures will be in the region of 40 bar. Large ship internal combustion engines

typically operate at about 20 bar while small internal combustion engines may

[O operate in the region of 35 to 40 bar, so current materials will allow the

asynchronous reciprocation engine to operate with power pressure at 40 bar and

reciprocation pressure at 44 bar. More exotic materials such as carbon-fibre

composites have been used to construct pressure containers to operate at 300

bar, so it may be possible to make engines that operate at higher pressures using

those materials to manufacture stronger pipes and cylinders.

A typical engine will have multiple cylinders arranged so that a complete cycle

of all cylinders will match the timing of the power and reciprocation strokes.

For example, if the power stroke is 0.5 second and the reciprocation stroke is

2.5 seconds, 5 cylinders will be required to produce continuous power, but it

will work more smoothly if 6 cylinders are used to allow some overlap of power strokes to ensure no diminution of exported power when an active piston is beginning or finishing a power stroke and thus not providing its full power. In this case, the movement of the water is more complex: during any reciprocation stroke, one or more other pistons will be in a power stroke, so water returned by the reciprocation of any cylinder will not be returned completely to the reservoir but will contribute to the active power stroke. In normal operation, one would expect 4 cylinders to be in reciprocation while one is in power stroke and the

6th is beginning or ending a power stroke. This reduces the flow back to the

lower reservoir and thus reduces the parasitic loss incurred by the pumping of

[O water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir. Flow and water level

monitors in the pipes and reservoirs will allow the controlling computer to

adjust the pumping rate to make the flow from the lower reservoir to the upper

reservoir match the flow rate through the engine from the upper reservoir to the

lower reservoir set by the speed of operation of the engine.

There are many ways in which power can be taken off this engine. For example,

a connecting rod attached to the top of the power piston could have a linear

generator upon it, or the connecting rod could be connected to a lever arm

connected to a shaft by a one-way bearing, the shaft having a flywheel attached

as well as a rotating generator, the modern version of a ratchet-and-pawl drive

where the return action is slower than the driving action. Or the connecting rod

could drive a smaller piston to push a higher-pressure working fluid through a turbine such as those in automobile automatic gearboxes to drive a shaft and a rotating generator.

Commercial versions will probably use another closed loop water system

driving a conventional hydro turbine such as a Francis turbine or a Pelton wheel

as follows. Referring to Figure 6, the upper part of the cylinder 605 in the

asynchronous reciprocation engine is attached to a plenum chamber 620. The

rest of the asynchronous reciprocation engine is not shown in this diagram but

can be assumed to be present below the upper cylinder 605. The chamber 610 in

the cylinder 605 above the power piston 600 is connected to the plenum

[O chamber 620 by a non-return valve 650 arranged such that the power piston 600

can push water up into the plenum chamber 620 but water cannot return through

that path. Water is held in a reservoir 685 and may flow through a low-pressure

delivery pipe 690 through another non-return valve 650 into the chamber 610.

During the reciprocation stroke, water is drawn into the chamber 610 in this

manner. During the power stroke, that water is pushed into the plenum chamber.

The non-return valve 650 prevents the return of water into the pipe 690 during

the power stroke. The plenum chamber is pressurised to the working pressure of

the power turbine, typically 1 bar less than the power inlet pressure in the

asynchronous reciprocation engine. That difference in pressure allows the

asynchronous reciprocation engine to lift the water to the turbine at an elevation

above the elevation of the water reservoir 685. The plenum chamber 620 has an air pocket 630 in it that is pressurised to the required turbine working pressure.

This pressurisation may be achieved by a compressorpump with overflow valve

maintaining the pressure or by another water pipe connecting the plenum

chamber to another reservoir situated above the engine at an elevation chosen to

produce the required working pressure. A power pipe 640 takes water from the

plenum chamber 620 through an isolation valve 695 to a turbine house 670. The

isolation valve 695 allows starting and stopping of the flow to the turbine to be

synchronised with the starting and stopping of the asynchronous reciprocation

engine. Within the turbine house 670, water is fed into a suitably sized turbine

[O or wheel (not shown) then allowed to escape through a return pipe 680 to the

reservoir 685. The turbine or wheel (not shown) is connected to a generator (not

shown) in the generator house 660 to isolate it from the water flows. This

arrangement of turbine and generator is common in hydro power systems. The

multiple pistons in the asynchronous reciprocation engine each push water into

the plenum chamber during the power stroke. The plenum chamber 620 with its

pressurising air pocket 630 smooths out the flow of water into a continuous

stream through the pressure pipe 640 and the attached turbine. The recirculation

of water from the reservoir, through the cylinder and the plenum chamber then

through the turbine and back to the reservoir is another closed loop. Since all of

this is operating at ambient temperatures, the loss to evaporation will be negligible. If necessary, all of the reservoirs can be closed with caps to prevent water loss to the environment.

The amount of power that can be generated will depend upon the physical

environment and the design of an individual engine. In general, higher pressures

produced by greater elevations will allow higher power outputs. And power

output is determined by the surface area of each of the pistons. Larger pistons

can move more water through a turbine and thus produce more power.

Table 1 shows some calculated outputs for various piston sizes for a 40 bar inlet

pressure. The total losses column is the sum of turbine losses, generator losses

[o and pumping losses in closing the loop. Metric figures are used: metres, square

metres, watts. A spreadsheet is provided containing several versions of this with

formulae used to calculate the power produced and losses incurred at various

elevations.

Table 1

power total gross power reciprocation plenum piston piston nom losses output head head pressure stroke area 38,954,028 6,080,938 45,034,966 400 410 3700000 5 1 77,908,057 12,161,875 90,069,932 400 410 3700000 5 2 116,862,085 18,242,813 135,104,898 400 410 3700000 5 3 155,816,113 24,323,750 180,139,863 400 410 3700000 5 4 194,770,141 30,404,688 225,174,829 400 410 3700000 5 5 233,724,170 36,485,625 270,209,795 400 410 3700000 5 6 272,678,198 42,566,563 315,244,761 400 410 3700000 5 7 311,632,226 48,647,500 360,279,727 400 410 3700000 5 8 350,586,255 54,728,438 405,314,693 400 410 3700000 5 9 389,540,283 60,809,375 450,349,658 400 410 3700000 5 10 584,310,424 91,214,063 675,524,488 400 410 3700000 5 15 779,080,566 121,618,751 900,699,317 400 410 3700000 5 20 1,947,701,414 304,046,877 2,251,748,292 400 410 3700000 5 50 3,895,402,829 608,093,755 4,503,496,584 400 410 3700000 5 100

At present, the largest piston engines we use are ship engines where the pistons

may be 0.96 min diameter, yielding a surface area of 0.72 metres squared.

Constructing larger pistons as indicated in Table 1 may require some research

and development as to appropriate methods, whether casting directly from

molten metal, forging heated metal in moulds or laminating thinner disks to

achieve the required size and rigidity. Aluminium alloys or stainless steel are

the obvious choices for materials, being impervious to rust, but some lighter and

stronger composite material based on carbon fibre may be needed for very large

pistons for the largest engines. The pistons will be constantly cooled and

lubricated by water so they will not be subjected to the heat and friction stresses

that occur in internal combustion and steam engines. This will make it easier to construct pistons from a suitably laminated composite material. Similar considerations apply to the valves that control water flow: they will need to be light enough to be moved quickly, opening and closing in a small amount of time, perhaps one or two tenths of the designed power stroke duration, and strong enough to provide good seals against the working pressures. The speed of valve opening and closing will need to be monitored and adjusted by computer controls to prevent water hammer from destroying parts of the engine and pipelines.

Many ofthe mountainous areas that are most likely to provide suitable sites for

[O the engine are in colder climates where ambient temperatures are below the

freezing point of water for much of the year. In these environments, the working

fluid cannot be pure water: it will need to be adulterated with some other fluid

such as glycerol to act as an anti-freeze agent to prevent the water in the system

from solidifying. Or the water will need to be replaced with some other

incompressible fluid with a lower freezing point such as linseed oil which

freezes at -24 C. Petroleum products are available with lower freezing points

but are not desirable because of adverse environmental effects if they are

spilled.

Claims

Claims

Claim 1: an asynchronous reciprocation engine, said engine having a cylinder

divided into two chambers by a separating disk, an upper chamber and a lower

chamber, said disk being perforated to admit passage of a connecting rod, said

perforation being lined with rings to prevent passage of fluids between the

upper chamber and the lower chamber, said upper chamber containing a piston

(the power piston) connected by a connecting rod to a similar piston (the

reciprocation piston) contained within said lower chamber, said pistons having

rings on the outside to prevent fluid from passing said pistons between said

[O pistons and said containing cylinder, said upper chamber being perforated with

at least one hole having water movement controlled by a valve, said perforation

connected by an inlet pipe to a water reservoir (the power reservoir) at elevation

above the engine to provide working pressure to the engine through said valved

perforation, said upper chamber being open above said power piston to allow

power to be taken from said power piston, said lower chamber being closed at

the bottom but perforated by three holes, two of said holes being connected by a

recirculation pipe to allow water to flow from the lower chamber above said

reciprocation piston to the lower chamber below said piston, said recirculation

pipe having in it a valve capable of admitting or preventing water flow, said

recirculation pipe being connected at the bottom to a return pipe having a valve

in it capable ofpreventing flow from the recirculation pipe, said return pipe being connected to said inlet pipe such that water expelled from the lower chamber when said return valve is open is passed back to said power reservoir, said lower chamber having a valve in the third perforation connected to a second inlet pipe, said second inlet pipe being connected to a second reservoir

(the recirculation reservoir) at a higher elevation than said power reservoir, said

power reservoir being connected to said recirculation reservoir by a pipe having

a pump to lift water from said power reservoir to said recirculation reservoir,

said power reservoir being connected to said recirculation reservoir by a second

pipe to allow overflow from said recirculation reservoir back to said power

[o reservoir, said engine thus forming a closed loop that recirculates water through

the reservoirs and engine, said valves and pump being controlled by a

computerised system with suitable actuators and measuring instruments to allow

said computerised system to control the operation of said engine and pump to

regulate water flows between said reservoirs through said engine and by said

pump.

Claim 2: an engine as in Claim 1 having multiple cylinders connected by a

plenum chamber to said inlet water pipe and said power reservoir and connected

by a second plenum chamber to said reciprocation inlet pipe and said

reciprocation reservoir, said engine being controlled by an enhanced

computerised system capable of initiating the power strokes of pistons in said engine and reciprocation strokes of said pistons such that they operate in sequence to produce a continuous power output.

Claim 3: A power generation system consisting of an asynchronous

reciprocation engine as in Claims 1 and 2 where the power is extracted by a

connecting rod on each piston, said connecting rod being connected to a linear

power generator; or said connecting rod being connected to a lever connected to

a one-way bearing to drive a shaft connected to a rotating power generator, said

shaft having a flywheel to store power between power strokes of said engine; or

said connecting rod being connected to a pumping piston, said pumping piston

[o being arranged to drive working fluid through a small turbine to drive a shaft

connected to a rotating generator.

Claim 4: A power generation system consisting of an asynchronous

reciprocation engine as in Claims 1 and 2 where the power is extracted by the

power pistons in said engine driving water into a plenum chamber maintaining a

working pressure, said plenum chamber providing a continuous flow of water to

a turbine or a Pelton wheel, said turbine or wheel being connected by shaft to a

rotating generator to produce electricity or to provide rotational power to

industrial machines, said turbine or wheel having an outflow leading to a water

reservoir from which said water can be passed backto the asynchronous reciprocation engine for pushing into the plenum chamber, said arrangement being a closed loop for water flow.

Claim 5: A power generation system consisting of an asynchronous

reciprocation engine as in Claims 1, 2, 3 and 4 where the working fluid is not

water or is water adulterated with an anti-freezing agent.

Claim 6: A system that uses an asynchronous reciprocation engine as

hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings to pump

water from one reservoir to another reservoir at a higher elevation.

Claim 7: A power generation system that uses an asynchronous reciprocation

[o engine to provide power as hereinbefore described with reference to the

accompanying drawings.

Claim 8: A system that uses an asynchronous reciprocation engine to provide

rotational power as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying

drawings.