JPH01268450A - Seawater pump - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To omit a movable part and to facilitate maintenance by arranging a pair of electrode plates and a superconductive magnet within an underwater cylindrical conduit to form a pump. CONSTITUTION:A pair of flat electrode plates 1 are arranged so as to face in parallel and connected with DC power 3 via lead wires 2. Also, a magnetic field generating means 4 generating said magnetic field in the direction perpendicular to both electrode plates 1 is arranged between said electrode plates 1. Said generating means 4 is composed of a superconducting coil 5 and an apparatus for passing the electric current of said coil 5. Further, respective parts arranged in said given positional relation are inserted into a cylindrical conduit 8. In this case, both end openings of the conduit 8 are positioned in the direction perpendicular to both of the line connecting the both electrode plates 1 (direction of electric field) and the longitudinal direction of the winding shaft (direction of the magnetic field) of superconducting coil. Thus, when electric current flows through said pair of electrode plates 1, it is possible to send the seawater into the conduit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a seawater pump used for pumping up or moving seawater.

(Conventional technology) For example, when creating a new fishing area by lifting nutrients accumulated on the seabed to the surface layer and promoting the proliferation of phytoplankton through photosynthesis, the low-temperature seawater on the seabed is brought to the high-temperature region on the surface layer and convection is created by the temperature difference. Conventionally, in cases such as generating electricity by generating electricity from fish farms, or replacing seawater in a fish farm with seawater from the open ocean, it was necessary to use natural upwelling currents or to suck up and move seawater with mechanical pumps. There wasn't.

Incidentally, in recent years, as there has been a growing trend to review fishery resources and ocean development has become more active, research into artificially generating upwelling currents has been occurring frequently.

For example, by lining up concrete blocks on the ocean floor to create an artificial submarine mountain range, or by lining up screen-type structures to create upwelling reefs, the flow of ocean currents that rise from the ocean floor to the sea surface, that is, upwelling currents, can be artificially created. It is generated in

At this time, it is also possible to create an upwelling flow accompanied by a large vortex by devising the shape of the blocks and screens.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, as described above, the method of generating an upwelling flow or pumping up and moving seawater with a mechanical pump has problems in terms of efficiency.

That is, since mechanical pumps use the rotational force of the prime mover as thrust, they can utilize only about 60% of the energy supplied to the prime mover at most.

Moreover, the rotation of this prime mover generates large noise and vibrations.

Therefore, in the case of mechanical pumps, it is difficult to pump up or move large amounts of seawater.

On the other hand, the method of generating upwelling flow by lining up concrete blocks or screen-type structures has problems in selecting and securing raw materials for these blocks and structures.

In other words, it is necessary to select a material that can be used stably for a long period of time on the seabed and that does not have a negative impact on living things in the surrounding sea area, and to secure a large quantity.

Coal ash discharged from coal-fired power plants is currently being considered as a candidate for this material. However, no practical technology has yet been established to harden this coal ash to meet the above requirements (stable use on the seabed for a long time, no adverse effects on marine life).

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to pump up large amounts of seawater using electrical energy instead of mechanical pumps and structures such as blocks and screens. An object of the present invention is to provide a seawater pump that can move or generate an upwelling flow.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the seawater pump according to the present invention has a cylindrical conduit placed at a predetermined position in the sea, and a position substantially opposite in the radial direction of the conduit. A pair of electrode plates is disposed in the magnetic field, and a magnetic field generating means consisting of a superconducting magnet is disposed.
The direction of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating means is in the radial direction of the conduit and in a direction substantially orthogonal to the electrode plate.

(Function) First, when a current is passed through a pair of electrodes, an electric field is generated in the diameter direction of the conduit. At this time, when the magnetic field generating means generates a magnetic field in a predetermined direction, the seawater in the conduit is pushed out.

That is, ions in seawater move under the force of the above-mentioned electric field, and these moving ions receive a force due to the above-mentioned magnetic field. The resultant force of these forces (Lorentz force) pushes the seawater in the conduit in the direction of the Lorentz force (a direction perpendicular to both the electric field and the magnetic field).

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the basic configuration of the present invention and its operating principle will be explained based on FIG. As shown in the figure, a pair of flat electrode plates 1, 1 are arranged substantially parallel to each other. and,
These picture electrode plates 1, 1 are connected to a DC power source 3 via a lead wire 2.
It is connected to the.

Further, a magnetic field generating means 4 for generating a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to the picture electrode is disposed in the middle of the picture electrode plate 1.1.

The magnetic field generating means 4 is composed of a superconducting coil 5 and a device (not shown) for passing a current in a predetermined direction through the superconducting coil 5.

The superconducting coil 5 has its winding axis centered on an imaginary line on the perpendicular bisector of a line connecting substantially central positions of the opposing surfaces of the picture electrode plates 1, 1.

Further, each component arranged in a predetermined positional relationship as described above is inserted into the cylindrical conduit 8.

At this time, the openings at both ends of the conduit 8 are positioned in a direction perpendicular to both the line connecting the picture electrode plates 1 and 1 (direction of the electric field) and the direction of the center of the winding axis of the superconducting coil 5 (direction of the magnetic field). It has become.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, a DC voltage is applied between the electrode plates 1, 1 to generate an electric field therebetween, and a current is passed in a predetermined direction to the superconducting coil 5 to generate a magnetic field in the direction of the center line of the winding axis. Then, a force (Lorentz force) is generated in a direction perpendicular to both the direction of the electric field and the direction of the magnetic field, that is, in substantially the same direction as the conduit 8.

Then, the seawater in the conduit 8 is urged by the force and moves in the direction of the force. The direction of this movement is determined by the directions of the electric and magnetic fields.If seawater is moving in one direction, in order to move it in the opposite direction, one of the directions of the electric field or the magnetic field must be changed. Just change it.

Next, a specific example of application of the present invention will be described.

First, FIG. 2 shows a seawater pump suitably used to generate an upwelling flow. As shown in the figure, a conduit 8 into which the above-mentioned predetermined parts are inserted is placed on a seabed 10 via a support 12.

At this time, both openings ga and 8b of the conduit 8 are located above and below. That is, the conduit 8 is positioned so as to be substantially perpendicular to the seabed 10.

When the seawater pump is operated from this state, the seawater in the conduit 8 is pushed upwards by the Lorentz force described above and is ejected from the upper end opening of the conduit 8. Accompanying this ejection, seawater is sucked into the conduit 8 from the lower end opening of the conduit 8, so that an upward flow (that is, an upwelling flow) α of seawater heading from the seabed 10 to the sea surface 14 is formed.

Furthermore, if the direction of the electric field or magnetic field is changed so that the Lorentz force acts from the sea surface 14 toward the seabed 10 side, the seawater will eject from the lower end opening of the conduit 8, collide once with the seafloor 10, and then reverse and flow upward. (i.e. upwelling flow) becomes β. This upwelling flow β brings the nutrient salts submerged on the seabed 10 to the surface and disperses them uniformly over the entire fishing grounds.

Figure 3 shows a seawater pump used for temperature difference power generation, etc. In this example, the conduit 8 is extended in the example shown in FIG. 2 so that its upper end is guided to a temperature difference power generation device 15 near the sea surface 14.

In the figure, low-temperature seawater on the seabed 10 passes through conduit 8, enters temperature difference power generation device 15, and interacts with high-temperature seawater near sea surface 14.
Power generation is performed using energy from temperature differences.

FIG. 4 shows yet another example, in which a seawater pump is installed on the seabed 10 via a support 12 so that the axis of the conduit 8 is parallel to the seabed 10, and the conduit 8 is It is an extension of .

In the figure, seawater in the conduit 8 is pushed out from one end of the extended conduit 8 and simultaneously sucked into the conduit 8 from the other end, forming a seawater flow δ substantially parallel to the seabed 10.

Therefore, for example, if this seawater pump is placed in the open ocean and the conduit 8 is extended to the fishing grounds, nutrients in the open ocean can be moved to the fishing grounds.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment has been described using one superconducting coil as the magnetic field generating means, two superconducting coils may be placed oppositely above and below the electrode plate, for example.

Furthermore, the number of sets of electrode plates and superconducting coils to be inserted into the conduit is not limited to one, but may be provided in a plurality.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the voltage applied to the pair of electrode plates is not limited to a DC voltage as in the above embodiments.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the seawater pump according to the present invention described in detail above, the following effects can be achieved.

(1) Since there are no moving parts, the electric power supplied to the electrode pair and superconducting coil can be used effectively, and a jet flow can be generated at a higher speed than that of a mechanical pump.

(2) Maintenance is easy because there are no moving parts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the seawater pump according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are diagrams showing examples of how the seawater pump shown in FIG. 1 is used. 1... Electrode plate 3... DC power supply 4...
Magnetic field generating means 5... superconducting coil 8... conductor
Pipe 10...Sea floor 12...Support stand
14...Sea level α, β...Sea water upwelling flow δ...Sea water current Patent applicant Obayashi Co., Ltd.
Person Patent Attorney - Ken Sukedo Iro
Patent Attorney Masatoshi Matsumoto Figure 1 Figure 2 ν Figure 3 1 and 4 Figures 111112111

Claims (1)

[Claims] Inside a cylindrical conduit placed at a predetermined position in the sea, a pair of electrode plates are disposed at substantially opposite positions in the radial direction of the conduit, and a magnetic field generating means made of a superconducting magnet is disposed to generate the magnetic field. 1. A seawater pump characterized in that the direction of the magnetic field generated by the means is in the radial direction of the conduit and in a direction substantially orthogonal to the electrode plate.