JP6439430B2 - Wave power generator float - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power generator, and more particularly, to a float for a wave power generator that generates power by wave power.

  As a wave power generation device having a float, those disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known. The wave power generation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a coastal wave power generation device having a pile standing from the sea floor to the sea and a movable part disposed on the outer periphery of the pile. is there. The float is provided in the movable part, and the movable part is swung by the wave force. The pile is provided with a generator and a pinion gear for operating the generator, and a rack gear provided in the movable part rotates the pinion gear to generate electric power.

  On the other hand, the wave power generation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is an offshore type wave power generation device, and includes a support column provided with a generator and a float disposed on the outer periphery of the support column. It is a floating object. And, by arranging a mooring line connecting the anchor and the pillar arranged on the sea floor at the bottom of the pillar, when a wave is generated, a difference is generated in the swing between the pillar and the float. . In addition, the structure which produces electric power by the rack gear which moves up and down with the swing of the float meshes with the pinion gear of the generator provided inside the support is the same as the wave power generator disclosed in Patent Document 1 It is.

Utility Model Registration No. 2510876 JP2013-18196A

  The coastal wave power generation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a generator installed on the upper outer periphery of a pile. For this reason, the generator has a risk of failure due to the influence of salt water. On the other hand, in the wave power generation device disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the generator is provided inside the support column, the risk of failure due to the influence of salt water is low. However, in the wave power generator disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the generator is provided inside the pillar that is a long object, the maintainability is poor, and in order to maintain the generator and the like, the entire apparatus It may be necessary to recover and disassemble the product.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a float for a wave power generation apparatus that has a low risk of failure of a generator due to the influence of salt water and that can maintain good maintainability of the generator.

The wave power generator float according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a wave power generator float that generates electric power by raising and lowering along a pile that is erected from the sea floor to the sea. A float having a through hole for inserting a pile includes an air chamber for adjusting buoyancy by water injection and a machine room, and an air intake duct. Inside the machine room, a generator having a rotating shaft, and the rotation A pinion gear that transmits rotational force to the shaft and an air compressor are provided, the pinion gear protrudes inward from a side wall that forms the through hole, and an intake duct connected to the air compressor is connected to the intake duct It is characterized in that a cable for piping and power transmission is drawn .

  Moreover, in the float for wave power generators having the above-described features, a plurality of the generators are provided inside the float, and the plurality of generators are evenly arranged radially around the through hole. It is good to do so. By setting it as such a structure, the electric power generation efficiency by one float can be improved.

Further, the float in the wave power generator float having the features as described above, a machine room for placing the generator, by a configuration in which an air chamber for adjusting the buoyancy by water injection, mechanical While the chamber has a sealed structure, it is possible to control float settling and levitation by inflow and discharge of seawater into the air chamber.

Moreover, in the float for wave power generators having the above-described features, by providing an air compressor in the machine room , it is not necessary to pump air from the outside when the floated float floats. For this reason, it is possible to control the sedimentation and floating of the float by remotely operating the air compressor ON and OFF.

  Further, in the float for a wave power generator having the above-described features, an inclined surface having a slope toward the bottom surface may be provided outside the float on the lower end side of the side surface that is the offshore side in the installed state. . With such a configuration, it is possible to improve the oscillating property with respect to a wave having a short wavelength.

  By having the characteristics as described above, the generator can be disposed in the sealed structure, and therefore, the risk of failure due to the influence of salt water is low. Moreover, the maintainability of the generator can be kept good.

It is a figure which shows the side surface structure of the whole wave power generator which employ | adopts the float for wave power generators which concerns on embodiment. It is an AA section in Drawing 1, and is a figure showing the composition of the internal plane of the float concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the air compressor provided in the machine room of the float, and its piping. It is a figure for demonstrating the example in case the number of generators with which a float is equipped is set to three. It is a figure for demonstrating the example in the case of increasing the number of lamination | stacking of the room | chamber which comprises a float, and making a machine room multistage.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the float for a wave power generation device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in drawing, FIG. 1 is a figure which shows the side surface structure of the whole wave power generator which employ | adopts the float for wave power generators which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. Further, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the air compressor provided in the machine room of the float and its piping.

  First, an overall configuration of a wave power generation apparatus 10 that employs a wave power generation apparatus float (hereinafter simply referred to as a float 28) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The wave power generation device 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a pile 12 and a float 28 that can move up and down along the pile 12 as a basic configuration.

  The pile 12 is erected with a base 14 disposed on the seabed as a base point, and has at least a height at which a tip thereof is on the sea (above the sea surface). The pile 12 has a hollow structure, and has a through-hole 16 through which a cable for power transmission is inserted on the lower end side. A guide rail 18 and a rack gear 20 are provided on the outer periphery of the pile 12 along the longitudinal direction.

  The guide rail 18 is a rail for guiding the lifting and lowering of the float 28, details of which will be described later. In order to support the raising and lowering while suppressing the swing of the float 28, the guide rail 18 is configured with the front end surface and the three surfaces of the both side surfaces as support surfaces. The rack gear 20 is a gear that meshes with a pinion gear 38 that cooperates with the rotating shaft of the generator 34 provided in the float 28. In the wave power generation device 10 according to the embodiment, the rack gear 20 is disposed along a base plate 22 that is directly attached to the outer periphery of the pile 12. By using a separate structure from the base plate 22 directly attached to the pile 12, the position of the rack gear 20 can be adjusted. For this reason, it is possible to finely adjust the degree of engagement with the pinion gear 38. Moreover, in this embodiment, it is set as the structure which arrange | positions the guide rail 18 and the rack gear 20 on a straight line which passes along the center of the pile 12, respectively. Further, the straight line connecting the paired guide rails 18 and the straight line connecting the rack gear 20 are arranged so as to have a 90 ° relationship.

  Moreover, the float upper stopper 24 and the float sedimentation stopper 26 are provided in the upper end side and lower end side of the pile 12, respectively. When the length of the pile 12 that extends to the sea at low tide is 5.8 m, the float upper stopper 24 allows the float 28 to move up and down ± 2.4 m or more even at high tide when the sea level is about +1.5 m. It should be provided at a position where it can be secured. By providing the float upper stopper 24 at such a position, it is possible to sufficiently secure the movable range of the float 28 even during stormy weather with a wave height of 4.8 m.

  Next, details of the float 28 according to the embodiment will be described. The float 28 plays a role of generating electric power by moving up and down along the pile 12 by receiving wave power. The float 28 according to the embodiment is secretly divided into a machine room 30 and an air room 32, and the machine room 30 is provided with at least a generator 34 and an air compressor 40. The generator 34 plays a role of generating electric power by rotating the rotating shaft. A reduction gear 36 is provided between the rotating shaft of the generator 34 and the pinion gear 38. A cable (not shown) for transmitting power is connected to the generator 34. The float 28 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided with two generators 34. In the case where a plurality of generators 34 are provided, it is preferable to arrange them uniformly in a radial pattern with the axis of the pile 12 as a base point. This is because the weight balance of the float 28 is stabilized. By increasing the number of generators 34 provided in one float 28, the power generation efficiency with respect to wave power can be improved. In the case of the present embodiment in which there are two generators 34, the generators 34 are arranged in a point-symmetrical positional relationship with the axis of the pile 12 as a base point.

  The air compressor 40 plays a role of adjusting the buoyancy of the float 28 by supplying air to the air chamber 32 while improving the atmospheric pressure of the machine chamber 30. The float 28 may be sunk to the seabed during stormy weather. For this reason, the machine room 30 is adjusted so that the atmospheric pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure by about 0.5 atm. Even when the float 28 is settled by about 3 m, the atmospheric pressure in the machine room 30 is the seawater. It is comprised so that it may become higher than the intrusion pressure.

  The float 28 is provided with an intake duct 42. The air intake duct 42 has such a length that the tip of the air intake duct 42 protrudes to the sea even when the float 28 is settled on the seabed. A pipe (intake pipe 50) connected to the air compressor 40 is disposed at the base end of the intake duct 42, that is, at a connection portion with the float 28. In addition, a cable (not shown) for power transmission is drawn into the intake duct 42. As shown in FIG. 3, the front end portion of the intake duct 42 is secretly sealed while having a structure through which an intake pipe 50 and a cable (not shown) are inserted. This is to keep the pressure in the machine room 30 higher than the standby pressure. Here, the air compressor 40 is housed in a pressure-regulating box 40 a that is secretly sealed in the machine room 30. The intake pipe 50 that takes in external air through the intake duct 42 is connected to the pressure regulating box 40a. A discharge pipe from the air compressor 40 is branched into a machine room path pipe 52 for supplying air to the machine room 30 and an air chamber path pipe 54 for supplying air to the air chamber 32. Both the machine chamber path pipe 52 and the air chamber path pipe 54 are provided with solenoid valves and regulators, and the air discharge path and discharge pressure are controlled.

  The air chamber path pipe 54 is provided with an electromagnetic switching valve 54a. The electromagnetic switching valve 54a is an electromagnetic valve that switches between a path for sending air supplied from the air compressor 40 to the air chamber side path 54b and a path for sending air flowing back from the air chamber side path to the discharge path 54c. The air chamber side path 54b is provided with a branch path 54d, and a manual release valve 54e is provided at the tip of the branch path 54d arranged outside the float 28.

  With such a configuration, the supply of air to the air chamber path pipe 54 is stopped, and the air chamber 32 is connected by connecting the air chamber side path 54b and the discharge path 54c by switching the electromagnetic switching valve 54a. The inside air is discharged, seawater flows into the air chamber 32, and the float 28 can settle. Here, by providing the manual release valve 54e and the branch path 54d, even if a malfunction occurs in the electromagnetic switching valve 54a, the air in the air chamber 32 is manually discharged and the float 28 is settled. Can be made.

  After the float 28 is settled, the air switching path 54 b and the air chamber side path 54 b are connected by the electric switching valve 54 a to operate the air compressor 40 and supply air to the air chamber path pipe 54. By doing so, the air is sucked through the intake pipe 50 arranged in the intake duct 42 and filled into the air chamber 32. Thereby, the float 28 can be levitated. The cable drawn through the air intake duct 42 is drawn from the upper end side of the pile 12 to the lower end side through the inside of the pile 12, and drawn out to the outside of the pile 12 through the through hole 16. With such a configuration, power can be transmitted to the coast through the seabed.

  In addition, a through hole 44 for inserting the pile 12 is provided at the center of the float 28. The through-hole 44 is provided with a pinion gear 38 that meshes with the rack gear 20 provided in the pile 12 and a guide roller 46 that contacts the guide rail 18 (generic name including the end surface roller 46a and the side roller 46b). The pinion gear 38 rotates as the float 28 moves up and down while meshing with the rack gear 20, and rotates the rotating shaft of the generator 34 via the speed reducer 36.

  The guide roller 46 can stabilize the ascending / descending operation of the float 28 by rotating in contact with the guide rail 18. In the float 28 according to the embodiment, the guide roller 46 is composed of an end surface roller 46 a that abuts on the end surface of the guide rail 18 and two side rollers 46 b that abut on the side surface of the guide rail 18, and the axis of the pile 12 is a base point. Are provided so as to be symmetrical. By providing the guide roller 46 in this manner, the movement of the float 28 in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the guide rail 18 can be restricted when the float 28 is viewed in plan. For this reason, the float 28 can be stabilized and the meshing state of the pinion gear 38 with respect to the rack gear 20 can be kept favorable.

  Further, the float 28 according to the embodiment is provided with an inclined surface 48 having a gradient toward the bottom surface on the side surface located on the offshore side in the installed state. Providing such an inclined surface 48 on the side surface where the wave is pushed can improve the oscillating property with respect to a wave having a short wavelength. That is, the oscillating property of the float 28 with respect to a small wave can be improved.

  In addition, on the bottom surface of the float 28, in addition to a water intake (not shown) for taking seawater into the air chamber 32, an anode portion 50 for preventing electric corrosion is provided to prevent corrosion of the entire float. The intake port (not shown) serves as a release portion, and is configured to make intake water and drainage according to a change in atmospheric pressure in the air chamber 32. That is, when the air pressure in the air chamber 32 is lowered, seawater flows into the air chamber 32, and when the air pressure is improved, the seawater is discharged.

  In the normal state, the wave power generation device 10 having such a configuration raises and lowers the float 28 by receiving the wave force, and the generator 34 operates to generate electric power. On the other hand, during stormy weather, seawater flows into the air chamber 32 in the float 28 to cause the float 28 to sink to the seabed. By such an operation, it is possible to prevent an unexpected force from being applied to the float 28 and causing damage to the device. When the weather is stable, the air chamber 32 can be filled with air and the float 28 can be lifted to function again as a power generator. For this reason, it can be said that the wave power generator 10 according to the embodiment has higher weather resistance than the conventional wave power generator.

  Moreover, in the wave power generation device 10 according to the present embodiment, the float 28 is larger than the conventional one, and a plurality of generators 34 are arranged on the float 28. For this reason, compared with the conventional wave power generator, power generation efficiency can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the number of generators 34 included in the float 28 is two, but the number may be further increased as long as it is within a space allowable range. For example, when the number of generators 34 is three, they may be equally arranged as shown in FIG. When the number of generators 34 is increased and evenly arranged, it is desirable to change the planar shape of the float 28 to a form that can easily balance the weight.

  In the above embodiment, the float 28 has a two-layer structure in which the air chamber 32 and the machine chamber 30 are provided on a one-to-one basis. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the number of stacked rooms in the float 28 may be increased, and the number of machine rooms 30 may be increased. This is because the power generation efficiency can be improved by increasing the number of machine rooms 30 and the number of generators 34 provided in the machine room 30.

  In the above embodiment, the relationship between the rack and pinion is described as being both gears in consideration of power transmission loss. However, as long as the pinion can be rotated by frictional resistance or the like, not only the gear but also a simple relationship between the roller and the guide may be used.

10 ......... Wave power generator, 12 ......... Pile, 14 ......... Base, 16 ......... Through hole, 18 ......... Guide rail, 20 ......... Rack gear, 22 ...... Base plate, 24 ... ... Float upper stopper, 26 ......... Float sedimentation stopper, 28 ......... Float, 30 ......... Machine room, 32 ......... Air chamber, 34 ......... Generator, 36 ......... Reducer, 38 ... ... pinion gear, 40 ... air compressor, 40a ... pressure regulating box, 42 ... intake duct, 44 ... through hole, 46 ... guide roller, 46a ... end roller, 46b ... Side roller, 48 ......... Inclined surface, 50 ......... Intake piping, 52 ......... Machine chamber passage piping, 54 ...... Air chamber passage piping, 54a ......... Electromagnetic switching valve, 54b ......... Air chamber side Route, 54c ... Discharge route, 54d ... Branch route 54e ......... manual release valve.

Claims (3)

A wave power generator float that generates electric power by raising and lowering along a pile erected from the sea floor to the sea,
The float having a through hole for allowing the pile to pass therethrough includes a machine room and an air chamber for adjusting buoyancy by water injection, and an intake duct,
Inside the machine room, a generator having a rotating shaft, a pinion gear that transmits a rotational force to the rotating shaft , and an air compressor are provided,
The pinion gear protrudes inward from the side wall constituting the through hole ,
The float for a wave power generation device , wherein an intake pipe connected to the air compressor and a cable for power transmission are drawn into the intake duct . A plurality of the generators are provided inside the float,
The float for a wave power generator according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of generators are uniformly arranged radially about the through hole. The float for a wave power generation device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein an inclined surface having a gradient toward the bottom surface is provided outside the float at a lower end side of a side surface that is an offshore side in an installed state. .

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