GB2492747A

GB2492747A - Sunlight trapper for desalination and producing electricity

Info

Publication number: GB2492747A
Application number: GB1110841.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nassim Molany; Hamed Molany
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-06-27
Filing date: 2011-06-27
Publication date: 2013-01-16
Also published as: GB201110841D0

Abstract

A sunlight trapper comprising a plurality of light trapping tubes 1 held by a vessel 12 with an opening 11 in its base and condenser 6 wherein the tubes 1 float upon the surface of a body of water 5 and each tube comprises a hollow body with a tapered base 3 and solar cells 2 lining the interior walls. In use, light hits the inside of a tube with some being absorbed by a solar cell and the rest reflected back to hit the opposite side wall of the tube to another solar cell and so on. The sunlight is converted into electricity and heat that causes the surrounding water to evaporate. The water vapor passes through a condenser 6 that converts it back into pure desalinated water 8 which drips into a container 7. Water is able to enter the vessel via the opening in its base. The surrounding water also cools the solar cells 2, which increases cell efficiency and water evaporation. The container 7 maybe surrounded by airbags 9 to prevent sinking. The trapper may be used to purify seawater.

Description

Title: Sunlight Trapper

Technical Field:

The current invention refers to a machine for optimal capturing and utilization of sunlight energy for purifying sea water or other sources of water and generating electricity.

Background Information and Prior Art:

Man has discovered that sunlight is a great free source of energy which can be used for many purposes and has therefore designed many types of machines or devices to capture sunlight energy. So many electrical items today work using sunlight as an alternative source of power.

Current methods and machines however lack the optimum capturing and absorption of light from the sunlight energy. Research has shown that enough sunlight hits the surface of earth every day to be used as the main source of energy for all our daily activities without the need for any other source of energy. For example, in 2002, research showed that the sunlight energy that hit the earth surface in one hour was more energy than the world used in one year. Also, it showed that the amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.

In many countries where the weather is usually cold and there is not much sunlight, the optimum capturing of sunlight energy at the rare times of sunshine is a critical. In other countries where the weather is mostly sunny, they can highly benefit from the increased utilization of sunlight energy rather than having it wasted and it can become a great source of energy for many purposes.

The current machines for this purpose have the following downside effects: 1. The amount of light absorption is still not at its optimum level due to the shape of the devices that are designed for this purpose.

2. Limitations of design and where they can be installed.

3. High cost materials used.

4. They cannot both desalinate and produce electricity at the same time.

5. Desalination methods currently used require high energy to facilitate the process.

6. Current desalination methods leave a waste-product called "brine" which is a high concentration saline water that is flushed back into the sea. This waste product causes a lot of harm to the marine environment due to the high concentration of salt when it is first injected back into the sea and it takes time for it to be dissolved into sea water.

7. The efficiency of solar cells in converting sunlight energy into electricity is lower when they are heated up and when their temperature rises.

Statement of the Invention

The present invention proposes a sunlight trapper device that uses inverted pyramidal trapper tubes placed on the surface of sea for desalinating sea water or other places for purifying other sources of water and for generating electricity at the same time using the optimum absorption of sunlight energy.

Optional Features: -This device can be designed on a transport boat or ship, where the device is designed in some sections of the boat to capture the sunlight energy for purifying sea water for the usage on the ship as well as produce the electricity to run the boat or ship without the need of using any other form of energy or fuel. The device can also store any extra electricity and water to be transported to the sea-shore for later usage. Every ship or boat that sails into water for any purpose (entertainment) tourism, fishing, transport, etc...] can therefore also act as a solar plant for producing desalinated water and green electr city.

-Alternatively, the device can be designed as an artificial mini-island on the surface of sea water where plants are grown on it. Parts of it may be designed for people to ride on as a boat and other parts act as a mini-island with plants that are irrigated using purified water that is derived in the process of the desalination of sea-water using sunlight energy. This mini-island will not only be grown by the irrigation of the desalinated water but will also act as a floating producer of green electricity and pure water that are stored for later usage.

-Can be designed in small size for home-usage or any other tower or building usage Advantages of the Invention: 1-Most importantly, the machine has the ability to absorb and imprison maximum amount of light without allowing it to escape or reflect back due to the design of the deep inverted pyramidal tubes.

2-The sunlight trapper not only uses the absorbed sunlight energy for water desalination but also for the production of electricity at the same time.

3-Some of the light absorbed by the sunlight trappers hits the solar cells to produce electricity while the rest of the light heats up the tubes and facilitates the evaporation of water surrounding it. When the heat absorbed is used to evaporate the surrounding water, the temperature of the solar cells does not rise because the heat is being used up and therefore the efficiency of converting energy into electricity is much higher in the solar cells.

4-In traditional desalination method, the problem of brine as a waste product of the factories causes a lot of harm to marine life when it is flushed back into water. In this invention, there is no waste product of brine after the desalination process.

5-The sunlight trapper performs a fast process of desalination without using any other energy or power.

6-Easily implemented anywhere on the sea-surface or surface of other type of water that requires vaporization or desalination.

7-The sunlight trapper can be used to enhance the sunlight needed for photosynthesis and irrigation for agriculture & horticulture.

8-The sunlight trapper can be used for solar lighting for interior illumination.

9-The sunlight trapper can supply the solar electricity for running the electricity needed in any building.

10-The sunlight trapper can supply Solar heating for buildings during cold weathers.

11-It can be used for solar cooking.

12-It can be used for solar vehicles.

13-It is efficient to use for solar public transportation systems.

14-It can be used for planes to work on solar energy.

15-It can be used in ships and boats to work on solar energy.

16-It can be Solar mini-island 17-Reduce need for other fuels in power plants, therefore reducing environmental effects

Introduction to the Detailed Description:

An example of the invention will now be described by referring to the accompanying drawings: o Figure 1 shows the Sunlight Trapper floating in the sea; o Figure 2 shows a view of the sunlight trapper in sea water; o Figure 3 shows a detailed view of the sunlight trapper boat; o Figure 4 shows a top view of the sunlight trapper boat; o Figure 5 shows another top view of the sunlight trapper boat; o Figure 6 shows the sunlight trapper boat viewed from underneath; o Figure 7 shows the detailed view of the trapper tube; o Figure 8 shows the detailed view of the condenser and the storage container; o Figure 9 shows a sample view of the mini-island;

Detailed Description:

The invention of sunlight trapper is a two-fold invention for the production of desalinated water and electricity at the same time using the energy of sunlight. (Figure 1 to accompany this section) The invention of the sunlight trapper works on high efficiency absorption of light in the specially designed trap pipes 1. These deep pipes that end in the shape of an inverted pyramid 3, absorb almost the full amount of light that hits them up with more than 90% rate of absorption. When light enters these trap pipes, as their name suggests, it is trapped and imprisoned. As light 13 hits any side of the pipe, some amount of it is reflected and hits the other side which then absorbs some and the rest reflects and hits the opposite side and this goes on until the deep end of the pyramid ended pipe 1 (Figure 7 to accompany this section).

The pyramidal trappers 1 are designed in a floating boat 12, where the boat contains an opening 11 at the bottom to allow sea water 5 to enter the boat When sunlight is trapped inside these pyramidal trappers 1, they get heated up and heat the surrounding water 5 causing it to evaporate 4. (Figure 1, 2 and 5 accompany this section) A condenser pipe 6 that runs deep in the sea S is connected to the boat 12 to allow the evaporated water 4 to flow into the condenser pipe 6 and as the water vapour 4 flows through the condenser pipe 6, it is condensed back into pure water 8 that drips into the storage container 7. The storage container 7 is surrounded by air bags 9 to keep it floating at the level of sea water 5 chosen depending on the amount of air blown into the bags. If the bags 9 are fully blown, the container 7 floats closer to the surface.

Alternatively, the container 7 can be connected by pipes 10 to the sea shore for the collection of the desalinated water 8. The sea water 5 keeps entering the boat 12 thro ugh the opening 11 to replace the previously evaporated water 4 and gets evaporated as well and this process works as a cycle. (Figure 1 and 8 accompany this section) The pyramidal trappers 1 are also designed to convert sunlight energy into electricity.

The inside wall of the trappers contains small solar cells 2 placed in a specific slanted position to absorb the optimum amount of sunlight. The amount of sunlight that does not get converted into electricity and is absorbed by the walls of the trappers 1, heats up the surrounding water 5 to evaporate it and eventually desalinate the water. The rest of the sunlight energy as mentioned earlier is converted into electricity using the solar cells 2. The efficiency of the solar cells 2 in this way is also higher because they do not get heated up. The heat is transferred to the wall of the trappers and transferred to the surrounding water 5, hence leaving the solar cells 2 with a lower temperature that increases their efficiency in converting the solar energy into electricity. (Figure 7 accompanies this section) The sunlight trapper can be designed on sections of a transport or entertainment ship to supply the desalinated water and electricity needed to run the ship and that needed for the journey. Also, the machine makes it possible store extra desalinated water and electricity to be transported to the shore after the journey because enough sunlight shines for the purpose of usage and storing of energy. (Figure 2 and 3 accompany this section) Also) the sunlight trapper may be designed as a floating mini-island device. In this case, part of the desalinated water is used for the irrigation of the plants 15 and the other part is stored, while electricity generated is also stored. The mini-island can be built large enough to become a tourism spot where tourists can visit the isiand and perform various activities such as fishing and or other water activities. The sunlight trapper can be built around the mini-island to surround it with the trappers 1 or as a section of the mini-island depending on the shape and size of the island. (Figure 9 accompanies this section) The sunlight trapper has also solved the problem of brine which is the waste product of many desalination plants. Brine is highly concentrated saline water which includes the salt that is separated from the water and as a waste product is flushed back into the sea.

This highly concentrated saline water is very harmful for the marine environment due to the amount of salt present in this water which takes time to be spread in sea water and before it does so, it usually causes a lot of damage to the marine life. The sunlight trapper solves this problem because there is no waste product in the process of desalination. It happens as a natural process which is happening in the sea everyday but we have designed a device to make use of some of the evaporated water and turn it into desalinated water. Therefore, with the sunlight trapper, we can also save the marine environment from alternative methods that cause indirect harm such as that caused by brine. (Figure 1 and2 accompany this section)

Claims

<claim-text>Claims 1. A sunlight trapper device that uses inverted pyramidal light-trapping tubes placed on the surface of sea for desalinating sea water or other places for puri'ing other sources of water and for generating electricity at the same time using the optimum absorption of sunlight energy.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. Pyramidal trapping tubes according to claim 1, designed with slanted solar panels attached to the sides of the tube to capture light and convert it to electricity.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1 where the remaining light that gets absorbed to heat the tubes, acts as the water desalination energy.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the efficiency of solar cells in converting solar energy to electricity is higher because the heat is transferred to the surrounding water keeping them at a lower temperature and higher efficiency.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the light entering the trapper tubes hits sides of the tube where with each hit some of the light gets absorbed and the rest reflected back to hit the opposite side of the tube until it goes deep in and as it reaches the inverted pyramidal section, it is almost fully absorbed with more than 90% rate of absorption.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the base of the trapper tubes is designed in the shape of an inverted pyramid.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the device is designed in a floating boat, where the boat contains an opening at the bottom to allow sea water to enter the boat.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where sunlight heats up trapper tubes and heat the surrounding water causing it to evaporate.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where a condenser pipe that runs deep in the sea, is connected to the boat to allow the evaporated water to flow into the condenser pipe.</claim-text> <claim-text>10.A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1 and 9, where the condenser pipe is connected to a storage container where pure water drips into the container.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, 9 and 10, where the storage container is surrounded by air bags to keep it floating at the level of sea water chosen depending on the amount of air blown into the bags.</claim-text> <claim-text>12.A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, 9, 10 and 11, where the storage container can be connected by pipes to the sea shore for the collection of the desalinated water.</claim-text> <claim-text>13.A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the sea water keeps entering the boat through the opening to replace the previously evaporated water and gets evaporated as well and this process works as a cycle.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the device can be designed on sections of a transport or entertainment ship to supply the desalinated water and electricity needed to run the ship and for the journey.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1 and 14, where the extra desalinated water and electricity produced is stored to be transported to shore after the journey.</claim-text> <claim-text>16.A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the device can also be designed as a floating mini-island where part of the desalinated water is used for the irrigation of the plants and the other part is stored, while electricity generated is also stored.</claim-text> <claim-text>17.A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the mini-island can be built large enough to become a tourism spot where tourists can visit the island and perform various activities such as fishing and or other water activities and the sunlight trapper can be built around the mini-island to surround it with the trappers or as a section of the mini-island depending on the shape and size of the island.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. A sunlight trapper device according to claim 1, where the sunlight trapper does not produce any waste product in the process of desalination or production of electricity and this saves marine life from other alternative methods with waste products that affect the environment.</claim-text>