JP2010242666A - Turbine for power generation and power generator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a turbine for power generation capable of efficiently depositing energy of wave power and hydraulic power under condition that energy possessed by both an incoming flow and an outgoing flow of a water wave is deposited and capable of being applied to a power generator which can be installed at an easily accessible site and whose maintenance is easy. <P>SOLUTION: Vertical rotation axes 21, 23 each having two gears at upper and lower portions thereof are disposed inside the turbine from side to side. A plurality of blades 63 are vertically fitted in between two strings of chains arranged one above the other for connecting the two gears. The blades 63 are swingable but swingable angles thereof are limited by stoppers which are disposed on the chains and move with the blades 63. At this time, the blades 63 automatically select directions to move themselves, to thereby obtain power in the same direction from both an incoming flow and an outgoing flow. The turbine can be extended vertically and horizontally, which makes it possible to adapt to anisotropic distribution of fluid flow energy. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention devises a turbine for obtaining mechanical rotation using wave energy and hydraulic energy, which are a kind of natural energy, and provides a power generator using the turbine. In this turbine, by actively considering the characteristics of wave power and hydraulic power, a device for efficiently accommodating such energy is devised.

Currently, human beings are faced with extremely serious problems such as global warming due to CO ₂ emissions and depletion of fossil fuels. To make civilized life sustainable, natural energy such as wave energy is effectively used. It is required to use. Actually, in addition to conventional hydroelectric power generation by dam construction, solar power generation and wind power generation are also in practical use. However, the use of wave energy or hydro energy without dam construction for power generation is not yet widely available, although many efforts and attempts have been made. Therefore, it is considered to be very significant to develop a turbine that efficiently accommodates these wave energy and hydro energy and to use it for power generation.

The wave and hydraulic energy accommodation mechanisms devised to date include (1) those that generate an air flow by using the vertical movement of the sea surface, and (2) mechanical reciprocating movements of the sea surface that use floating bodies. (3) A rotating body (turbine) submerged below the sea level is rotated by ocean currents such as tidal currents, (4) A wave is taken into a facility installed on the coast and its energy is taken in, etc. There is. The energy accommodation mechanism in the present invention is related to that described in (3). Propeller system, Darrieus system, saponium system and the like have already been proposed even if only this mechanism is viewed. These methods were originally considered when using wind energy, and are not sufficient for increasing accommodation efficiency as a mechanism used for wave energy or hydraulic energy.

The present invention is intended to improve a turbine having blades (blades), such as a propeller system, for wave power and hydraulic power. There are a flow direction vertical axis water wheel, a swing blade water wheel, and the like.

The cross-flow turbine is intended to use both the reciprocal flow in the waves for power generation, and changes the use site of the impeller by forward flow and backward flow. In the all flow direction vertical axis water turbine, the direction of the blade changes depending on the direction of the fluid flow, and only the blade that contributes to the same rotation of the rotating shaft receives the fluid flow, and the other blade is parallel to the direction of the fluid flow. Has been devised. As a result, it can be applied to a fluid flow having an arbitrary direction. Further, in the oscillating blade turbine, by incorporating a blade whose direction can be oscillated according to the direction of the fluid flow, the vertical movement of the fluid in the waves is used for the rotation of the turbine in one direction.

These devices are devised such as passing away some of the waves or disabling part of the device itself. However, as a result, problems such as abandoning part of the fluid flow energy and the size of the device becoming too large compared to the range of waves to be used occur, and the energy storage of the turbine (and hence the generator) It's not the best way to increase efficiency.

Patent Publication 2003-120499 Patent Publication 2002-364513 Patent Publication 10-288139

“New Energy Dictionary”, supervised by Yoichi Tsuji, published by Industrial Research Council, p. 593 (written by Haruo Uehara)

(1) As a wave power generation method that is often adopted at present, pressure is applied to the air in contact with the sea surface due to the elevation of the sea surface, and the air flow generated by this is used to turn the air turbine. There are things that convey energy inside the floating body. Moreover, in hydroelectric power generation widely performed in rivers, a large head is artificially created by storing water in a dam, and a water flow flowing between the heads is used for driving a turbine. In these power generation methods, a part of the potential energy is mainly used out of the energy of the fluid flow. However, the fluid flow has not only the potential energy of the fluid but also its kinetic energy. The density of the fluid is much higher than the density of air, and the wave energy in shallow water is small and the proportion of kinetic energy is large. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of the turbine, the kinetic energy of the fluid flow must be increased. It is desirable to accommodate as directly as possible.

(2) The waves are reciprocating when viewed locally. Nevertheless, in order to obtain a turbine rotation in a certain direction, methods have been devised, such as passing through the flow in one direction, and selecting and operating only one side of the turbine according to the backward flow. In these systems, half of the fluid flow kinetic energy is abandoned or the area of the fluid inlet is halved compared to the area occupied by the turbine. Therefore, it is important for improving the performance of the turbine to utilize both the forward flow and the return flow equally.

(3) A wave is a surface wave generated on the sea surface, and its amplitude attenuates rapidly as it travels deeper than the sea surface. Moreover, in many cases, water flows in rivers spread in the width direction of the river. These means that the energy distribution of both wave energy and hydraulic energy is broadly spread in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the fluid flow and parallel to the surface of the stationary fluid. In order to improve the performance of the turbine, it is necessary to efficiently store energy distributed in such a highly anisotropic manner.

(4) In addition to incorporating a turbine with high energy storage efficiency, the power generation system is desired to have convenience in installation location and ease of maintenance during operation.

As a turbine that makes it possible to satisfy these conditions, the front and rear openings (fluid inlet and flow) have a plurality of rotating shafts perpendicular to the surface of the stationary fluid and extended in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the fluid flow. We propose a power generation system that devises a structure having an outlet and generates electric power by taking the rotation obtained by operating the structure in a fluid into a generator that is not immersed in the fluid.

The following devices are made in the internal structure of the turbine according to the present invention. First, two upper and lower gears having the same central axis and rotating integrally with the vertical rotation shaft are attached to the vertical rotation shafts supported at both left and right ends, separated by the vertical width of the blade (blade). The upper gears and the lower gears on the left and right sides are connected by respective chains. A blade having a shape similar to a rectangle in the interval between the two upper and lower chains is vertically attached while being separated by an appropriate distance in the chain direction (FIG. 2). In this attachment, a blade rotation shaft is added to one of the left and right ends of the blade itself, and a projecting support attached to a chain in advance on a hole bearing opened above and below the blade rotation shaft. Fit the shaft. Alternatively, a support shaft extending up and down from the blade rotation shaft is inserted into a bearing attached to the chain edge. With this device, a blade that can rotate around the blade rotation axis while being supported by the upper and lower chains is attached (FIGS. 5 and 6). However, the rotation of this blade must be automatically controlled by the direction of fluid flow. In order to make this possible, control plates that are perpendicular to the upper and lower sides of the blades are attached in advance and arc-shaped guides centered on the lower edge of the blades at the ends of these control plates (opposite to the rotation axis). A path (lead gap) is opened, and at the same time, the blade is cut at a position where the lead gap intersects the blade. A projecting restrictor (stopper) fixed in advance to the chain is inserted into the two upper and lower lead gaps (FIGS. 5 and 6). With this device, the blade automatically selects the direction according to the direction of the fluid flow, and then directly receives the momentum of the fluid flow. As a result, both the forward flow and the double flow give a force in the same direction to the blade, and this force can give the rotation of the gear in the same direction (Fig. 7). Note that the energy of the fluid flow that is widely and one-dimensionally distributed can be efficiently accommodated by extending the opening to the left and right by extending the chain or adding a rotation axis. Moreover, the fluid flow energy distributed in the depth direction can also be accommodated by stacking the blade layers vertically to form a multilayer.

As described above, the three-dimensional structure of the turbine in which the swingable blades are vertically arranged between the two upper and lower chains passed to the left and right gears makes it possible to solve the required problem.

The turbine according to the present invention directly stores the kinetic energy of the fluid flow, utilizes both the forward and backward flows in the waves equally, and can cope with the anisotropy of the energy distribution. And hydraulic energy can be stored efficiently. Of course, this can reduce the cost of power generation by using this turbine. In general, since the existence density of natural energy is low and distributed widely, it is inevitable that the power generation cost becomes high. However, the present invention is expected to contribute to the promotion of the use of such natural energy. The

The device according to the present invention can make the fluid flow inlet and outlet rectangular (or similar) depending on the fluid flow energy distribution. This is expected to make the installation of the present apparatus very easy because there are fewer restrictions on the installation location than a circular device similar to a windmill.

In the turbine according to the invention, the direction of the axis of rotation finally driven by the fluid flow is perpendicular to the stationary fluid surface. When the rotating shaft is pulled into the generator, the generator can be installed outside the fluid. This is convenient for generator installation, maintenance and power transmission.

In relatively shallow sea areas such as the coastal area, the flow of waves in waves tends to concentrate in the horizontal movement of the fluid because the flow component in the depth direction decreases and the flow component in the horizontal direction increases. is there. Since the turbine according to the present invention is suitable for reciprocating flow without vertical movement of the fluid, it is necessary to install it at a location where the waves include a lot of horizontal movement on the coast. This is not only advantageous for storing the battery, but also has the advantage of low installation costs. In addition, it is easy to transmit the generated power to the land.

In rivers, it can be said that the water flow that flows through natural terrain, rather than the place where there is an artificial head due to the construction of a dam, almost changes its potential energy into kinetic energy. The turbine according to the invention can also be applied to such non-reciprocating flows. By extending the water inlet / outlet of the turbine in the river width direction, it is possible to take in the water flow that flows in the river width direction. Because of this advantage, it is possible to accommodate hydraulic energy that extends across the entire river width, so by selecting a relatively rapid river with abundant flow, power can be generated without relying on dam construction.

The turbine according to the invention has the following advantages in terms of stability in installation. The fluid coming in from the fluid inlet of the turbine first strikes the blade and gives momentum, but as a reaction, the fluid flow gets a negative momentum in the opposite direction to the momentum obtained by the first blade. The fluid flow traveling in this manner collides with the blade on the outlet side again, receives positive momentum from the blade, and then flows out of the turbine. As a result, the fluid flow imparts rotation about the rotational axis of the turbine, but does not impart momentum in the direction perpendicular to the fluid flow direction to the entire turbine. For this reason, when the turbine is installed in a fluid, it is possible to reduce the work for stabilizing the turbine.

An overview (conceptual diagram) of the entire device is shown. The internal structure (conceptual diagram) near the drum is shown. An internal support (conceptual diagram) in the vicinity of the drum is shown. The rotating shaft (conceptual drawing) to which the gear is attached is shown. The blade (conceptual diagram) to which the control plate is attached is shown. (A) shows a support shaft indentation type, and (b) shows a support shaft projection type. The chain | strand part (conceptual figure) to which a braid | blade is connected is shown. (A) is a chain part for a support shaft intrusion type blade, and (b) is a chain part for a support shaft protrusion type blade. The blade surface angle distribution (conceptual diagram) when receiving a fluid reciprocating flow is shown.

In the production of the apparatus according to the present invention, the design must be made in consideration of the topography of the installation location, the weather, the waves at the location, the nature of the water flow (wave amplitude, water velocity, etc.) and the like. Therefore, a specific design example of the apparatus is not shown here. Rather, general points expected in device fabrication and implementation will be described with reference to the drawings.

With reference to FIG. Drum-like ones 13 and 14 are provided at both ends of the cabinet supported by the four columns 11, and rotating shafts 21 and 23 and gears centering on these are attached to the upper and lower sides. An inlet / outlet surrounded by a fluid flow inlet / outlet plate 15 is opened at the front of the cabinet, and fluid flows in and out from here. The fluid flowing in from this first collides with the blade 63 located on the inlet side and changes the direction of the blade, but the angle is a stopper (protrusion) inserted into the lead gap (conduction hole) in the control plate 65. It is limited by a shape limiter). The fluid flow applies a force in the right direction after changing the direction of the blade. Then, it collides again with the blade located near the outflow side on the rear surface. Again, after applying a leftward force while changing the direction of the blade, it flows out of the cabinet. The force applied to the blade reaches the gear through the chain and gives a couple to generate rotation around the rotary shafts 21 and 23. The obtained rotation is transmitted to the generator 17 to generate power.

The vertical width of the fluid inlet / outlet before and after the device is manufactured according to the wave or water flow depth at the installation site. If the depth at which these fluid flows occur is sufficient, it may be possible that strength and stability cannot be maintained with a single layer of blades extending in the longitudinal direction. In that case, gears and chains running in the horizontal direction are increased to two or more stages, and blade layers that are not excessive are mounted in multiple stages. The lateral width of the inlet / outlet can also be expanded while maintaining the stability of the apparatus by adding a rotating shaft with gears. The fluid inflow adjusting plate has an effect of preventing the fluid from leaking without flowing into the apparatus and increasing the speed of the fluid flowing into the turbine.

With reference to FIG. A cabinet reinforcing body 36 fixed to and integrated with the upper and lower bases 31 and 32 of the cabinet is continuous with an arm 34 and a column 33 for supporting a rotating shaft. The rotating shaft 21 passes through the vertical hole formed in the cylinder, and the rotating shaft can rotate. Gears 25 and 26 having a central axis coinciding with the rotation axis are incorporated above and below the portion where the rotation axis protrudes from the cylinder, and are integrated with the rotation axis. Chains 71 and 72 are wound around the gear, and a blade 63 is vertically fitted between the upper and lower chains with an appropriate interval.

The vertical width and horizontal width of the blade itself are determined based on the nature of the fluid flow at the installation site. Since the ease of activation depends not only on the moment of inertia around the gear rotation axis but also on the mass of the chain and the blade, these masses must be devised to be small while maintaining strength. Accordingly, the vertical width of the chain itself is selected in consideration of the condition for maintaining the strength and the condition for reducing the mass.

With reference to FIG. In order to facilitate understanding of the internal structure of the device shown in FIG. 2, this figure shows only the structural support after removing the rotating shaft and the upper and lower chains and blades to which the gears are attached. It is a thing. The entire support is connected to and integrated with the upper base 31 and the lower base 32 of the cabinet. The gear support shaft 33 has a hole 37 through which the rotation shaft passes. The gear rotation shaft support column 33 is connected to the upper and lower bases through the arm 34 and the upper and lower cabinet reinforcing bodies 35 and 36. The gear rotation shaft passes through the holes 38 and 37 and reaches the rotation shaft support hole 39.

FIG. 4 will be described. The rotating shaft 21 inside the drum transmits the rotation driven by the fluid flow to the generator. The centers of the upper and lower gears 25 and 26 that are integral with the rotating shaft coincide with the center of the rotating shaft. The distance between the gears 25 and 26 is selected so that the blade can be fitted.

Since a large moment of inertia around the gear rotation shaft makes it difficult to start, it is desirable to make it from a material with a small mass while maintaining strength. As for the structure of the gear, the moment of inertia can be reduced while maintaining the strength by cutting off the other part while leaving the framework connecting the center and the outer periphery of the gear as shown in the figure. The force transmitted from the blade through the chain gives the gear a couple for rotation. Increasing the gear radius in order to increase the couple is effective in improving the startability.

FIG. 5 will be described. One end of both ends of the blade 63 that receives the fluid flow is a thick rotating shaft. On the top and bottom of the blade 63, control plates 64 and 65 are attached perpendicularly thereto. The control plates 64 and 65 are provided with a lead gap 66 for inserting a stopper from the chain. In addition, notches 67 are provided above and below the blade so that the stopper can move to the front and back of the blade. In the blade type (a), there are bearing holes 68 into which a support shaft 75 (FIG. 6) for supporting the blade can be inserted above and below the blade rotation shaft. In the blade mold (b), the support shaft 69 protrudes and is inserted into the support bearing hole 76 (FIG. 6) attached to the chain edge.

It is desirable for the blades and chains to be lightweight and have sufficient strength. One of the blade types (a) and (b) is selected under the conditions. The blade rotates within a range of angles determined according to the direction of fluid flow. In order to improve this response, the moment of inertia around the rotation axis of the blade must be reduced. For this purpose, it is desirable to make the blade thin and use a light material. Although reducing the lateral width of the blade can also reduce the moment of inertia, an appropriate lateral width must be selected in consideration of the cycle of the reciprocating flow.

FIG. 6 will be described. The chain 71 is configured by connecting the chain bridge 72 with a connector 73 that can be bent at the positions of the upper and lower bridges. A stopper 74 is attached to the chain at an interval, and is inserted into the lead gap 66 (FIG. 5). In (a), the support shaft 75 protrudes from the chain bridge and is inserted into the support bearing hole 68 (FIG. 5). In (b), the support bearing hole 76 is attached to the chain edge, and the support shaft 69 (FIG. 5) is inserted. The lead gap 66 (FIG. 5) needs to be opened as necessary and sufficient, taking into account that the distance 74-75 or 74-76 is shortened when the chain goes around the gears at both ends of the device.

Sufficient strength is required because the force received by the blade from the fluid flow is concentrated on the protrusions (support shaft and stopper) extending from the bridge constituting the chain. The required strength depends on the velocity of the fluid flow. Depending on the fluid flow, it is expected that a simple structure as shown in (a) cannot provide sufficient strength. In that case, as shown in (b), a bridge or a border is newly added to the unit consisting of a bridge pair in the outer direction of the chain, and a support shaft and a stopper are provided on these.

FIG. 7 will be described. When receiving the forward flow 81 and the reverse flow 82, the blade 63 automatically selects an appropriate angle for each of the support shafts 75 as fulcrums. However, the angle is limited by the stopper 74. At this time, the same force 83, 84 in the horizontal direction is applied to the blade in both the forward flow and the backward flow.

The number of blades attached to the chain defines the size of the device, but is selected in consideration of the installation location, the fluid flow characteristics, the cabinet strength, and the like. Since the blades orbiting the gear do not contribute to the increase in the gear rotational force, increasing the ratio of the distance between the gears with respect to the gear radius is one factor for increasing the energy accommodation efficiency. The optimum value of the maximum angle (limit angle) that the blade can oscillate is thought to depend mainly on the inertia moment of the blade and the cycle of the reciprocating flow. It is desirable to be determined by

Possible locations for installation are close to the coast and where the sea floor is gentle. The land topography surrounding this place is a small bay, and it is still effective if the waves generated in the open ocean are concentrated in the bay. In addition, as for the topography of the seabed near this place, waves that have developed in a sufficiently deep open ocean and approached without being attenuated by the seabed are similar to the ellipse in the waves because the seabed near the installation site suddenly becomes shallow. A location where the shaped fluid flow is thought to be deformed into a flat reciprocating flow is desirable.

The installation location of the apparatus according to the present invention is also a candidate for a location where the tide is intense due to land topography and seabed topography. The tidal current is a long-period reciprocating flow of 2 reciprocations per day, and the apparatus according to the present invention is applicable. However, the advantage of this apparatus used in such a place is that the turbine can be freely expanded and contracted according to the terrain. This can be easily understood by looking at the difficulty in burying a windmill-like circular turbine in the sea.

In a river, a place having a wide terrain with a relatively wide head (and thus a strong flow) is considered as a candidate site. A dam that is not so high is provided in such a place, and the widened apparatus is installed at the bottom. In this case, the direction of the water flow is unidirectional, but the blades inside the turbine automatically adjust the angle so that the device can be widened in the river width direction. A large amount of power generation cannot be expected compared to power generation by a dam that artificially creates a large drop, but when this device is used, power generation with high cost-effectiveness is possible without destroying the environment.

As a method of installing this apparatus on the sea, it is conceivable to connect floating bodies to the left and right ends of the entire apparatus equipped with the generator and maintain the apparatus by this buoyancy. This floating body may be a hull-like one. In this case, the turbine according to the present invention is installed around a region where waves are generated by transversely pulling out the middle part of the hull. The entire hull is structurally connected at the bottom and top, so that the strength can be maintained and the generator can be installed on a ship located above the inundation line.

11 Device posts 4, 14 Gear storage drums 15, 16 Fluid inflow / outflow control plate 17 Generator 21, 23 Gear rotation shaft 25, 26 Gear 31 Cabinet upper base 32 Cabinet lower base 33 Gear rotation shaft support column 34 Rotation shaft support Arms 35 and 36 for supporting the columns Cabinet reinforcing bodies 37 and 38 Gear rotation shaft through holes 39 Gear rotation shaft bearings 61 Blade rotation shafts 63 Blades 64 and 65 Blade control plate 66 Stopper receiving lead gap 67 Stopper passage hole 68 Blade support Shaft bearing hole 69 Blade support shaft 71 Chain 72 Chain bridge 73 Chain bridge connector 74 Stopper 75 Blade support shaft 76 for blade type (a) Blade support bearing hole 81 for blade type (b) Forward 82 Return 83, 84 Reciprocating Force the blade receives from the flow

Claims (4)

A vertical rotation shaft with two upper and lower gears is arranged, and a blade is fitted between two upper and lower chains connecting the left and right gears. Although supported by a protruding support shaft (or indented into the chain edge) and can be rotated about this support shaft, its angle is limited by a stopper connected to the chain, Turbine for power generation that can be applied to both non-reciprocating flows. Add a vertical rotating shaft to which gears are attached and connect the gears by extending the chain where the blades are fitted, or add two or more chains to the upper and lower chains to add blades Turbine for power generation that can be expanded into left and right and up and down according to the anisotropic distribution of energy. By drawing the rotation obtained by the turbine according to the present invention into the generator, the generator can be efficiently accommodated in an anisotropically distributed energy such as a shallow water or a river without immersing the generator in the fluid. A power generator that can generate electricity. A turbine obtained by installing a turbine according to the present invention by opening a cavity transversely below the inundation line and having a vertical width at which a wave is generated is installed in the middle of a hull-like floating body. A power generator that generates power by taking the rotation of the motor into a generator located above the floodline.

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