GB2463313A

GB2463313A - Horizontal rotor for marine current energy extraction

Info

Publication number: GB2463313A
Application number: GB0816605A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Guillaume Stewart-Jones
Original assignee: QUESTOR CORP C
Current assignee: QUESTOR CORP C
Priority date: 2008-09-11
Filing date: 2008-09-11
Publication date: 2010-03-17
Also published as: GB0816605D0

Abstract

A long horizontal axis rotor is used to extract energy from ocean or river currents. Inlet and exit funnels may be provided to guide flow over the rotor, and there may be a mesh to prevent debris or large creatures accessing the rotor. Two or more contra-rotating rotors may be linked in series (figure 4). The rotor may drive a hydraulic pump to transfer energy generated to shore or to a surface platform.

Description

Oceanic Current Energy Extraction System Switching from fossil fuel consumption to clean energy is a vital step in the struggle to contain C02 emissions and mitigate the effects of global warming. Electricity generation comprises approximately 1/3 of the total fossil fuel emissions, mainly from coal-fired power stations. There are numerous natural resources that can be tapped into to derive energy that can be converted to electricity. The demand for electricity is extremely high, and growing, prompting urgent requirement to find alternative clean energy technologies that are highly economically viable and environmentally acceptable.

The oceans have many very large-scale currents that move large bodies of water in a directional flow consistently. Here, this invention makes use of the oceanic current energy to generate electricity. Equally the technologies here can be applied to sea currents, tidal currents or river currents. Since the scale of the ocean is so large, the scale of the devices that extract energy can also be extremely large-scale, and thus generate huge amounts of electrical power.

This invention describes a novel ocean-orientated rotor system that funnels the flowing water onto rotor blades that collect the kinetic energy into an axis which then transfers that force via hydraulic fluids to the surface (platform) or shore for driving electricity generating dynamos. The rotor should be positioned horizontally in the water, and can be several hundred or thousand meters long. There are several key features of the invention, as described below.

The Funnel, figures 1 and 2. This comprises of a ramp from the ocean bed that positions the rotor into an appropriate height that the funnel captures fast flowing water and concentrates the pressure to the rotor. The upper plate of the funnel acts to collect the flowing water and apply it at pressure through the rotor by working in conjunction with the lower ramp plate. Furthermore there are side plates that help contain the water at the ends of the device. There is also a plate that is positioned horizontally above the rotor, and could follow the curvature of the rotor to help guide the flowing water more efficiently through the turbine blades. The funnel mouth can either be comprised of flat plates, or preferably parabolic plates as shown in figure lb. The funnel would have a mesh or netting to protect from large organisms or debris entering funnel and accessing the rotor.

The Rotor, figure 1, figure 3. This is a long rotor positioned in the ocean that collects the kinetic energy of the flowing water as funnelled into a turning motion of the axle.

Because of its great length, but the relatively slow moving water, the central axis gathers a great amount of tourque, albeit at low rotational frequency. Essentially, the motion of the water energy is collected along the length of the axis and can be accessed in a condensed form at the ends where the hydraulic pumps or dynamos are positioned.

Terminal hydraulic pumps: These are positioned at the end of the axle so as to harvest the tourque energy and transfer it via hydraulic fluid piping to the shore or an offshore platform for conversion into electrical energy. Therefore a closed hydraulic circuit would be set up from the rotor to the electricity plant on shore. At the electricity plant, the power carried in the hydraulic fluid would be used to drive dynamos. Due to the low velocity of the hydraulic fluid, yet it's great pressure, the loss of energy in transporting the fluid along the pipeline would be relatively small, and the use of hydraulics to transfer the energy avoids the risks associated with electricity generation at depth in the water.

The scale of the rotor can be up to lOOm in diameter (each blade measuring 50m wide) and several kilometres long. In this way, a large body of water can be processed and energy harvested at a massive scale with few operating units, and economy of scale.

These devices can be assembled at a port or on a ship at the site of installation, and assembled off-shore.

Several rotors can be adjoined to harvest more efficiently the energy from funnelled water (figure 4). This would entail housing more than one rotor in a shaped housing to direct the flow of water through subsequent rotor blades, appropriately positioned. The outflow from one rotor would pass through another rotor, and due to the high pressures of the water generated by the funnel, several rotors can be rotated synchronously to maxim ise the energy output from one site. Futhermore, since the rotation of the second, fourth, etc rotor would be opposite to the first, third etc. rotors, the oppositely rotating pairs of dynamos or hydraulic motors can be structurally paired up and fixed to each other so the net tourque on the foundations to the bed of the unit is zero as generated from the device.

The shape of the blades can be straight or curved as shown in the diagrams. Curved blades may provide the advantage of being more efficient at capturing the energy than straight blades. Furthermore a rear funnel may be placed on the device to generate suction, as like lift on an aerial wing, further enhancing the force of water flow through the device. End.

Claims

Oceanic Current Energy Extraction System Claims: 1) Any long horizontal rotor structure used for capturing oceanic current energy.
2) The structure of a current-capturing funnel, shaped and positioned to flow high-pressure water onto the top half of the rotor blades.
3) A housing device for the horizontal rotor to optimise the transfer of flowing water onto the rotor blades 4) The positioning and housing of two or more rotors in series in a housing that passes the flow from one rotor to another, optimising the capture of energy by multiple rotors.5) Linking the dynamos physically in pairs, and due to the opposite operating direction, the net tourque applied to any supporting structure becomes zero.6) The use of associate hydraulic units to convert the tourque energy from the rotor axle to hydraulic fluid motion.7) The transfer of energy from the device by hydraulic fluid piping to an on-shore or platform based electricity-generating plant.1) A rear funnel that generates suction and assists in the generating of water flow through the central rotor. Ends.Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows Oceanic Current Energy Extraction System Claims: 1) Linking the dynamos physically in pairs and due to the opposite operating direction, the net tourque applied to any supporting structure becomes zero.2) The use of associate hydraulic units to convert the tourque energy from the rotor axle to hydraulic fluid motion.3) The transfer of energy from the device by hydraulic fluid piping to an on-shore or platform based electricity-generating plant.