JP6377832B1 - Ocean current and tidal current generator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a power generation apparatus capable of efficiently generating power by using ocean currents and tidal currents that are natural energy.
A seawater channel 6 that penetrates through a box-shaped device main body 1 and opens at side surfaces opposite to each other, and a rotating shaft 9 that is opposed to each other with an intermediate portion of the seawater channel 6 interposed therebetween. A pair of rotating turbines 8 that are rotatably supported by the top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3 and that are part of the impeller 10 that is externally mounted on the rotating shaft are positioned in the flow path 6, and power is generated by the rotation of the rotating turbines 8. And a generator 11 to be used.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ocean current / tidal current power generation apparatus that generates power using the energy of ocean currents and / or tidal currents.

  In recent years, with the rapid increase in energy demand on a global scale, there is a risk of depletion and pollution as an alternative or newly added energy source for fossil fuels such as oil and LNG, nuclear power, etc. Various research and development efforts are being made to use natural energy without energy.

  As such natural energy, sunlight, wind power, and the like can be used, but all have the disadvantage that the output stops or fluctuates greatly depending on time and season. On the other hand, especially in Japan, the area is small, but the surrounding area is surrounded by the sea, so if power generation using ocean currents and tides with infinite energy density is possible, It can be used as a powerful energy source that is not affected by

  As a power generation device using this kind of ocean current / tidal current energy, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below is known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-259064

  This invention is made | formed in view of this situation, and makes it a subject to provide the electric power generating apparatus which can generate electric power efficiently using the ocean current and / or tidal current which are natural energy. .

To solve the above problems, ocean current, tidal current power generator according to the present invention of claim 1 includes a box-shaped apparatus main body side is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate, the apparatus main body through a seawater flow path forming an opening in the through-direction end portions of the apparatus main body Te, a portion of the armored impeller to the rotating shaft with the rotating shaft is rotatably supported on a the top plate and the bottom plate A pair of rotary turbines positioned in the seawater flow path, a generator for generating electric power by rotation of the rotary turbines, and drainage devices provided at both ends in the axial direction of the rotary turbines. The inner cylinder and the outer cylinder arranged coaxially with the axis, the drain channel formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder and communicating between the blades of the impeller, and the circumference of the drain channel A plurality of guide plates arranged at intervals in the direction, and the blade Seawater discharged from and is characterized in Rukoto is ejected to pivot the axial direction.

Invention according to claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, the upper Symbol drain passage is formed as the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the axis is gradually increased toward the axial direction from the impeller side It is characterized by being.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the outer surface of at least one of the top plate and the bottom plate is gradually applied from the opening side to the drain outlet side of the drainage channel. An inclined guide plate is provided that is separated from the top plate or the bottom plate and has a tip facing the drain port.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the side surface of the apparatus body has a width dimension between the side surfaces between the openings in the seawater channel from the opening side. It is formed by the inclined surface which becomes gradually large toward the intermediate part side.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein a plurality of water guide walls are spaced between the side surfaces between the opening in the seawater channel and the rotary turbine. It is characterized by being placed.

According to the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, a pair of rotations are performed by the seawater flowing into the seawater channel by installing the seawater channel of the apparatus body in the sea in a direction along the ocean current. The turbine can be rotated and generated by a generator. Moreover, since a pair of rotating water turbines in which the impeller is integrated on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft is used as the driving means of the generator, it is compared with a case where propeller blades are used as the water wheel as seen in Patent Document 1 above. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the power generation efficiency can be greatly increased. As a result, it is possible to efficiently generate power by using ocean currents and tidal currents that are natural energy.

According to the invention described in claim 1 , since the drainage channels communicating between the blades of the impeller are provided on both end surfaces in the axial direction of the rotating turbine, the seawater of the rotating turbine is rotated. By draining a part from the drainage channel, the seawater around the device main body can be sucked into the seawater channel by the diffuser effect, and the power generation efficiency can be increased.

In addition, in the invention described in claim 2 , since the cross-sectional area of the drainage channel is formed so that the cross-sectional area gradually increases in the axial direction from the impeller side, The above-mentioned diffuser effect can be enhanced by reducing the drainage resistance.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3 , the outer surface of at least one of the top plate and the bottom plate of the apparatus main body is gradually separated from the top plate or the bottom plate from the opening side of the seawater channel toward the drain port side of the drainage channel. Since the inclined guide plate is provided, an upward flow or a downward flow in the direction of flowing along the inclined guide plate and away from the drain port is generated in the ocean current along the outer surface of the apparatus body, and the pressure on the drain port side is generated. In the same manner, the drainage from the drainage channel can be promoted to further enhance the diffuser effect.

According to the invention described in claim 4 , since the side surface of the apparatus main body is formed by the inclined surface in which the width dimension between the side surfaces gradually increases from the opening side toward the intermediate side, Without increasing the size of the main body, it is possible to increase the power generation output by incorporating a rotating turbine of an impeller having a relatively large outer diameter.

In addition, when the inclined guide plate is provided on the outer surface of the apparatus main body as in the invention described in claim 3 , the width of the inclined guide plate facing the drain port of the impeller can be increased. become. Thereby, the big upward flow or the downward flow which separates from the drain outlet of an impeller by the said inclination guide plate can be produced, and the diffuser effect mentioned above can be improved further.

Further, in the invention according to claim 5 , since a plurality of water guide walls are arranged with a gap between the side surfaces between the opening of the seawater passage in the apparatus main body and the rotary turbine, the above-mentioned Seawater flowing into the seawater flow path can be rectified and guided stably to the impeller by the water guide wall, and damage to the blades of the rotating turbine caused by drifting objects accompanying the ocean current can be prevented.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of FIG. It is a front view of FIG. It is a side view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2. It is a disassembled perspective view of the rotary water wheel and drainage device of FIG. It is a top view which shows other embodiment of this invention.

1 to 7 show an embodiment in which the ocean current / tidal current power generation device according to the present invention is applied mainly to a power generation device using ocean currents. Reference numeral 1 in the figure denotes the main body of the ocean current / tidal current power generation device.
This apparatus main body 1 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped box shape in which a side surface 4 is formed between a top plate 2 and a bottom plate 3, and openings 5 are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction. And in this apparatus main body 1, the seawater flow path 6 penetrated between the openings 5 is formed.

  The seawater channel 6 is defined by an inner wall 7 provided in the apparatus main body 1, and is formed so that a cross-sectional area at the center between the openings 5 is smaller than a cross-sectional area on the opening 5 side. ing. Moreover, the recessed part 7a is each formed in the said center part of the inner wall 7, and the rotary turbine 8 is arrange | positioned on both sides of the seawater flow path 6 in each recessed part 7a. Further, a ballast tank 19 defined by the top plate 2, the bottom plate 3 and the inner wall 7 is formed in the apparatus main body 1.

  The rotary turbine 8 is a well-known one in which an impeller 10 is provided on the outer periphery of the rotary shaft 9, and both end portions of the rotary shaft 9 are rotatably supported by the top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3, respectively. A generator 11 is connected to the generator. A plurality of water guide walls 12 are arranged between the side surfaces 4 between the opening 5 in the seawater channel 6 and the rotary turbine 8.

  On the other hand, in the central part of the top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3, at positions facing both end faces of the impeller 10 of the rotating water turbine 8, an inner cylinder 14 containing the generator 11 and the inner cylinder 14 are surrounded. A double-pipe drainage device 13 including an outer cylinder 15 is fixed. Here, the inner cylinder 14 has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the inner peripheral end of the blade 10a in the impeller 10, and the outer cylinder 15 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer peripheral end of the blade 10a. As a result, a drainage channel 16 communicating between the blades 10 a of the impeller 10 is formed between the inner and outer cylinders 14 and 15.

  Further, the inner cylinder 14 is formed in a conical cylinder shape whose outer diameter dimension gradually decreases from the impeller 10 side toward the tip end side, and the outer cylinder 15 is gradually outer from the impeller 10 side toward the tip end side. The drainage channel 16 is formed so that the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the axis gradually increases from the impeller 10 side toward the axial direction. .

  Between the inner cylinder 14 and the outer cylinder 15, a plurality of guide plates 17 are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction for turning the seawater discharged from the impeller 10 in the axial direction and ejecting it.

  Further, on the outer surface of the top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3, an inclined guide plate 18 that is gradually separated from the top plate 2 or the bottom plate 3 from both the opening 5 side of the apparatus body 1 toward the drain outlet side of the drainage device 13 is provided. ing. These inclined guide plates 18 are provided at positions where the front end edge 18a faces the drain outlet at a position slightly higher than the outer cylinder 15, and are formed in a V shape in plan view.

  In order to generate power with the ocean current / tidal current power generation device having the above-described configuration, anchors are attached to the four corners of the device main body 1, water is poured into the ballast tank 19, and the seawater channel 6 is in a direction along the current. The main body 1 is installed stably in the sea. Then, the seawater that has flowed into the seawater channel 6 from one opening 5 of the apparatus body 1 increases the flow speed because the cross-sectional area of the seawater channel 6 is smaller on the center side than on the opening 5 side. The impeller 10 of the rotary turbine 8 is rotated by flowing to the center side. As a result, power is generated by the generator 11 connected to the rotary shaft 9 of the rotary water turbine 8.

  At this time, in this ocean current / tidal current power generation device, a drainage device 13 provided with drainage flow channels 16 communicating between the blades 10a of the impeller 10 on both end surfaces (that is, upper and lower end surfaces) of the rotary turbine 8 in the axial direction. Therefore, a part of the seawater that has rotated the impeller 10 of the rotary turbine 8 is drained upward and downward as a primary swirl flow from the drainage flow path 16 between the inner and outer cylinders 14 and 15.

  In addition to this, in this ocean current / tidal current power generation device, the top plate 2 or the bottom plate 3 is gradually formed on the outer surfaces of the top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3 of the device body 1 from the opening 5 side to the drain outlet side of the drainage channel 16. Since the inclined guide plate 18 separated from the main body 1 is provided, a secondary upward flow and a secondary downward flow that flow upward and downward from the tip of the inclined guide plate 18 are formed by the ocean current along the outer surface of the apparatus body 1.

  As a result, the upward primary swirling flow and the downward primary swirling flow discharged from the drainage device 13 are sucked to promote drainage from the drainage flow path 16, and as a result, the seawater around the device body 1 is caused by the diffuser effect. Can be sucked into the seawater flow path 6 to increase the power generation efficiency of the rotating water turbine 8.

  Furthermore, according to the ocean current / tidal current power generation device, since the pair of rotary turbines 8 in which the impeller 10 is integrated on the outer periphery of the rotary shaft 9 is used as the driving means of the generator, the rotary turbines 8 have the same shape. By using the same, parts common to each other can be used, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the power generation efficiency can be increased as compared with the case of using a generator using a conventional propeller blade. .

  Between the opening of the seawater channel in the main body of the device and the rotating water turbine, a plurality of water guide walls are arranged at intervals between the side surfaces, so the seawater flowing into the seawater channel is rectified by the water guide wall. In addition to being able to lead to the impeller stably, it is possible to prevent the drifting objects accompanying the ocean current from flowing to the rotating turbine wheel, thereby preventing the blade from being damaged.

  In the above embodiment, only the case where the ocean current / tidal current power generator according to the present invention is applied mainly to a power generator using an ocean current has been described. However, the present invention is provided between the inner and outer cylinders 14 and 15 of the drainage device 13, for example. The guide plate 17 can be removed to apply to a tidal current power generation device that generates power by tidal flow four times a day.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotary turbine 8 and the inner cylinder 14 of the drainage device 13 that covers the generator 11 attached to the rotary shaft 9 of the rotary turbine 8 are detachable by bolts and nuts. If it is provided, the rotating turbine 8 and the generator 11 can be integrally removed and replaced with a new one, and it is possible to perform maintenance in a short period of time.

  Further, as in the other embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the side surface 20 of the apparatus main body 1 is formed by an inclined surface in which the width dimension between the side surfaces 20 gradually increases from the inlet side to the intermediate side of the seawater channel 6. If formed, the outer diameter of the rotary turbine 21 may be relatively larger than the outer diameter of the rotary turbine 8 shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 without excessively increasing the size of the apparatus main body 1. As a result, the power generation output can be increased.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Top plate 3 Bottom plate 4, 20 Side surface 5 Opening 6 Seawater flow path 8, 21 Rotating water wheel 9 Rotating shaft 10 Impeller 10a Blade 11 Generator 12 Water guide wall 13 Drainage device 14 Inner cylinder 15 Outer cylinder 16 Drainage channel 17 Guide plate 18 Inclined guide plate 19 Ballast tank

Claims (5)

A box-shaped device body having a side surface formed between the top plate and the bottom plate;
A seawater flow path forming an opening in the through-direction end portions of the apparatus main body through the apparatus main body,
A pair of rotary-turbine part of the armored impeller to the rotating shaft was located in the sea water flow path with the rotating shaft is rotatably supported on a the top plate and the bottom plate,
A generator for generating electricity by rotation of these rotary turbines ;
A drainage device provided at both ends in the axial direction of the rotary turbine,
The drainage device
An inner cylinder and an outer cylinder arranged coaxially with the axis,
A drainage channel formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder and communicating between the blades of the impeller;
A plurality of guide plates arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction in the drainage channel,
Current-tidal power generating apparatus according to claim Rukoto seawater discharged from the impeller is ejected to pivot the axial direction. Upper Symbol drainage flow path, ocean current, tidal current power generation according to claim 1, characterized in that the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the axis toward the axial direction from the impeller side is formed to gradually increase apparatus. On the outer surface of at least one of the top plate and the bottom plate, there is provided an inclined guide plate that is gradually separated from the top plate or the bottom plate from the opening side toward the drain outlet side of the drainage flow path and the tip faces the drain outlet. Current-tidal power generating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is. The side surface of the apparatus main body is formed by an inclined surface in which a width dimension between the side surfaces gradually increases from the opening side toward an intermediate portion side between the openings in the seawater channel. Item 4. The ocean current / tidal current power generator according to any one of Items 1 to 3 . Between the opening and the rotary hydraulic turbine in the sea water flow path, a plurality of water guide wall as claimed in any one of 4 to claims 1, characterized in that it is spaced between the side Ocean current and tidal current power generation equipment.

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