JPS6321742Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to an omnidirectional wave power conversion device that is installed in a relatively shallow sea area and obtains power from wave energy in multiple directions.

As is well known, the direction of ocean waves changes from time to time due to the influence of winds blowing over the ocean, and they are irregular waves that are a composite of countless elementary waves arriving from all directions at the same time. In order to effectively utilize such wave energy, it is desirable to provide an efficient wave power conversion device that is not affected by wave direction, conditions, etc. Furthermore, in the case of large buoys, the mooring facilities are enormously large-scale, which is a big technical problem.

Figure 1 shows a conventional device for extracting energy from waves hitting the coast. 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes, for example, an embankment body provided along a coastline, and a plurality of openings 12 are provided on the sea side of this embankment body 11. This opening 12 communicates with an air chamber 13 provided inside the embankment body 11, and airflow is generated by waves entering and exiting the opening 12 and the air chamber 13. This air flow is supplied to, for example, an air turbine generator 14 connected to the air chamber 13 to generate electric power. This method not only can only capture wave energy in a direction within 180 degrees on the sea side, but also
1 can be arranged perpendicular to the direction of the most frequently occurring waves, a further reduction due to wave directionality of about 25 to 50% is expected, making it difficult to extract wave energy efficiently. Furthermore, in the case of this device, the installation location is limited, and the back of the device is turned into an inner bay, which causes seawater to stagnate, which has a large impact on the environment such as sea conditions, water quality, and marine biota.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows another wave power conversion device that has been considered in the past. 21 is a boat-shaped floating body, and this floating body 21 is moored in a predetermined sea area. A plurality of air chambers 22 are provided inside this floating body 21.
This air chamber 22 is communicated with the sea through an opening 23 at the bottom of the floating body 21, and air currents are generated by waves entering and exiting through this opening 23. This airflow is supplied to, for example, an air turbine generator 24 that is in communication with the air chamber 22 to generate electric power. With this method, it is difficult to suppress the movement of the floating body 21, so a drop in wave energy absorption efficiency is unavoidable.In addition, due to the shape of the floating body 21 and wave direction characteristics, the center of the ship is not easily moved compared to the bow and stern. It has the disadvantage of low efficiency. For example, according to the results of actual sea experiments using Kaimei (a buoy-type open-bottom air chamber), the conversion efficiency to wave energy (energy capture for the captain) is low at less than 10%; Otherwise, it will not be possible to generate electricity. At this Kaimei experiment site, the annual occurrence rate of waves over 1 m is about 40%, and the annual appearance rate of waves over 2 m is about 20%, so most of the generated electricity can be put to practical use. It is something that cannot be done. Furthermore, since the floating body 21 is a floating structure, installation, mooring, and maintenance are complicated.

This idea was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose was to be easy to install and to
The aim is to provide a highly safe omnidirectional wave power conversion device that can effectively extract 360° wave energy and has extremely little impact on the surrounding marine environment even when installed in large numbers.

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 31 denotes a cylindrical fixing base whose upper surface is removable and whose inside is filled with a heavy material such as concrete 32. An exterior body 34 is provided on the fixed base 31 so as to cover the outer surface of the fixed base 31 at a predetermined distance. A partition wall 35 is provided between the inner circumferential surface of this exterior body 34 and the outer circumferential surface of the fixed base 31.
A plurality of partition walls 36 are provided at equal intervals, and a partition wall 36 is provided between the periphery of the upper surface of the fixed base 31 and the inner side of the upper surface of the exterior body 34. Between the exterior body 34 and the fixed base 31, there are a plurality of air chambers 37 and a storage chamber 3 each having a fan-shaped cross section.
8 is provided. Note that the partition wall 35 extends to the base surface of the fixed base 31. Further, a first opening 39 is provided in a portion of the exterior body 34 that is located under the sea, and communicates between each of the air chambers 37 and the sea.
A wave W is guided. Further, the partition wall 36 is provided with a second opening 40 that communicates between each air chamber 37 and the storage chamber 38, and a well-known converter is provided in the storage chamber 38 facing each of the openings 40. Reciprocating air turbine 41 (e.g.
A rotary transducer disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 92060, etc.) is provided. Further, on the upper surface of the exterior body 34, a third
An opening 42 is provided. In addition, the air chamber 37
Below the opening 39 is a sloped portion 4 which faces the opening 39 and whose slope direction is lowered from the fixed base 31 side to the opening 39 side.
3 is provided.

In the apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the fixed base 31 and the exterior body 34 are manufactured on land, for example, and the fixed base 31 is floated at an installation location with the interior of the fixed base 31 as a cavity and towed. Then, at the installation location, a heavy object such as concrete 32 is filled into the inside of the fixed base 31 from the upper part and set down. In this state, the air turbine 41 etc. are arranged in the storage chamber 38 and the state shown in FIG. 3 is established. Ru.

In the device installed in this way, the opening 3
The volume of the air chamber 37 is changed as shown by the dotted arrow in the figure by the wave W flowing in and out through the air chamber 9, and an air flow is generated. This airflow flows through the openings 40 and 42 in the directions of arrows A and B, and the reciprocating air turbine 41 is rotated in a fixed direction by this airflow. The power obtained by the reciprocating air turbine 41 is then supplied to, for example, a generator to generate electricity.

According to the above configuration, a plurality of air chambers 37 are arranged in a circular shape, and waves are guided to the air chambers 37 through openings 39 provided on the outer surfaces of the air chambers 37, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to introduce and convert waves in all 360° directions into the air chamber. Moreover, the air chamber 37 is fixed to the seabed and does not move, and furthermore, the air chamber 37 has a sloped bottom, a wide opening 39 side, and a narrow fan-shaped cross section on the fixing base 31 side, so it is not affected by slight vertical movements of the water surface. Even in this case, the wave amplitude within the air chamber 31 can be increased and the wave energy convergence effect is good. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently convert wave energy into power in all directions.

According to water tank experiments, the conversion efficiency from wave energy to air energy is extremely high at 50% to 90%.
It has been proven to be highly efficient. Therefore, even small waves that exist for a long time can generate sufficient power, making it suitable for practical use. In addition, the results of a comparison with a breakwater-type wave power converter as shown in Figure 1 in a model water tank experiment show that even when compared with a case where the wave direction is 90° (perpendicular to the levee body), the device based on this design is superior. It has been demonstrated that the efficiency is twice as high as that of the breakwater type when the wave direction is 30°.

Furthermore, since a plurality of air chambers 37 are arranged in a circular shape, the combined power taken out is smoothed.
Therefore, if a plurality of such devices are installed, their combined power will be further smoothed, which is extremely advantageous in the use of wave energy.

In addition, since the fabricated device can be fixed by simply submerging it in the sea and installing it, construction such as mooring is almost unnecessary. The fixing table 31 can be filled with things, as shown by the dotted line in Figure 3.
The projecting part 33 is provided at the bottom of the projecting part 33, and the projecting part 33 can be easily fixed by burying it in the seabed, so construction is extremely simple.

Furthermore, because of the circular shape, a wave-dissipating effect can be obtained when a large number of these devices are installed at predetermined intervals, and since there is no stagnation of seawater, there is no impact on water pollution or marine life.

In addition, since the converter such as the reciprocating air turbine 41 is installed inside the storage chamber 38 provided on the fixed base 31, the converter can be firmly and reliably attached, making the structure robust. It is suitable for practical use.

Next, another embodiment of this invention will be described. In FIG. 5, the same parts as in FIGS. 3 and 4 are given the same reference numerals.

The difference in FIG. 5 from FIGS. 3 and 4 is that the fixing base 51 and the exterior body 52 have a substantially truncated conical shape. Even with such a shape, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained, and moreover, it is possible to fix it more stably against wave energy.
In addition, in the case of such a shape, there is no need to provide the fixed base 51 with a protrusion as shown in FIG. 3 even in sea areas where wave conditions are severe.

In addition, since the entire air chamber 53 is inclined, the third
As shown in the figure, there is no need for a sloped portion, and the wave moves in and out smoothly, which has the advantage of further improving the conversion efficiency.

Here, in each of the above embodiments, the storage chamber 38
The interior may be partitioned to correspond to the air chambers, and a reciprocating air turbine 41 and an opening 42 may be provided in each partition.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without changing the gist thereof.

As detailed above, this invention is easy to install, efficiently converts wave energy without being affected by wave direction, makes effective use of the fixed trapezoid shape, and can be installed in large numbers. Also, it is possible to provide an omnidirectional wave power conversion device that has a very low impact on the surrounding marine environment and is highly safe.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic configuration diagrams showing examples of different conventional wave power conversion devices, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the omnidirectional wave power conversion device according to this invention, and FIG. This figure is a top sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment. 31, 51... Fixed stand, 34, 52... Exterior body, 35, 36... Partition wall, 37, 53... Air chamber, 38... Accommodation chamber, 39, 40, 42... Opening, 41... converter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a fixed base formed in the shape of a column with a circular horizontal cross section and whose lower end is fixed to the seabed; an exterior body provided to cover the peripheral side of the fixed base so that the lower end is below the water surface;
a partition wall that partitions an annular space formed between the exterior body and the fixing base to form an air chamber having a fan-shaped cross section and extending to the surface of the base of the fixing base;
An opening that guides the wave force outside the side wall of the exterior body into the sector-shaped air chamber, and an opening that is provided on the fixing base and formed between the fixing base and the exterior body. a storage chamber that communicates with the air chamber of the exterior body and communicates with outside air through an opening formed in the upper part of the exterior body; and an air flow that is provided inside the storage chamber and that is generated inside the fan-shaped air chamber. An omnidirectional wave power conversion device comprising: a device for converting wave power into power;