RU2256092C2 - Hydraulic unit for converting kinetic energy of water flow into electric energy - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: hydraulic engineering.

SUBSTANCE: device is designed for converting kinetic energy of small and medium rivers into elastic energy. Proposed hydraulic unit contains hydraulic turbine installed on frame with bearings on its shaft, generator mechanically coupled with hydraulic turbine, stream shaper and device in form of plates to protect hydraulic unit from floating debris. Hydraulic unit has intermediate vertically and horizontally installed shafts with bearings interconnected by conical gears. Vertical shaft is arranged in well built near bank and communicating with river by channel made under level of maximum possible thickness of ice cover. Part of horizontal shaft connected with hydraulic turbine is arranged in said channel. Upper end of vertical shaft is connected with generator through ground horizontal shaft and step-up reduction unit. Stream shaper is made in form of flaps installed on shaft for turning to direct water stream of river to its central part between which turnable gate is installed for contacting with one of flaps to direct water stream to right-hand or left-hand side of hydraulic turbine.

EFFECT: provision of reliable operation all year round.

3 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to hydropower and can be used to convert the kinetic energy of water of small and medium rivers into electricity without the construction of dams.

The well-known Zakiev hydrogenerator (AS USSR No. 1828941, F 03 B 17/06 published in B.I. No. 27, 1993), comprising a housing with inlet and outlet openings, a blade wheel and an electric generator installed in the housing with winding stator and rotor associated with the wheel. The rotor of the generator is made in the form of a circular horizontal bridge with electromagnets rigidly fixed under it on the rods for interaction with the stators. In this case, the water wheel with the blades of the hydrogenerator is made in the form of a conical console, the top of which is mounted on a thrust bearing, and the base is attached to the bridge.

The disadvantage of the described hydrogenerator is that its construction requires large capital investments, in addition, it is complex in design, and its operation is mainly designed in non-freezing rivers.

It is also known a device for using the energy of the river flow (RF Patent No. 2189492, F 03 7/00, 13/00, 17/06, publ. 09/20/2002), comprising a housing with a hydraulic unit, the turbine of which is made with a vertical shaft and blades oriented in a vertical plane with the possibility of protruding beyond the body of the body, and an electric generator. The housing is made in the form of a dam extended along the river with transverse openings in which hydraulic units are installed. The vertical shafts of the latter are offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the dam with the possibility of the contact of the surface of the working blades with the flow of water during their rotation in the direction of rotation, and the shaft is connected to the electric generator by means of a step-up gearbox.

Without diminishing the advantages of the known device, we note that it has low efficiency, since it uses only part of the energy of the water flow. This is explained by the fact that the constructed dam with the device is located in the middle of the river, where the water flow is split into two parts and as a result only one part of the flow goes to rotate the shaft with the blades and, therefore, to generate electricity. In addition, the construction of the dam itself requires large material costs and it does not provide for the protection of the blades from the ingress of random objects coming with a stream of water.

Also known channel hydraulic unit (RF Patent No. 2187691, F 03 7/00, 13/00, 13/10, publ. 08/20/2002), containing a transverse or rotary turbine with bearings on its shafts mounted on a fixed to the shore or bottom supports, a frame supported by runners, and a generator kinematically connected to a hydraulic turbine. This hydraulic unit is equipped with a system for launching into the water stream and adjusting the position of the hydraulic turbine relative to the core of the water stream, a flow former containing a bottom plate mounted at an acute angle to the incoming flow.

The specified device is in technical essence closer to the proposed one and can be adopted as a prototype.

The disadvantage of the described hydrogenerator is that it is complex in design and not technologically advanced to manufacture. It requires large material costs, labor and time to manufacture. In addition, it is not reliable in operation, since during year-round operation, the universal drives in the design of the hydrogenerator, as well as the sealing units, are subject to severe wear.

The objective of the present invention is to remedy these disadvantages of the prototype.

The problem is solved by the described hydraulic unit, including a hydraulic turbine mounted on a frame with bearings on its shaft, a generator kinematically connected with the hydraulic turbine, a flow former and a protective device from floating objects made in the form of rib plates.

New is that it is equipped with interconnected bevel gears with intermediate vertically and horizontally mounted shafts with bearings, the vertical of which is placed in a well constructed near the shore and connected to the river using a channel made under the level of the maximum possible thickness of the ice cover formed in the winter season, in which a part of the horizontal shaft connected to the turbine shaft is located, while the upper end of the vertical shaft is connected to the generator via a ground mount an umbrella shaft and a step-up reducer, while the flow former is made in the form of flaps mounted on shafts with the possibility of rotation to direct the river flow to its central part, between which a rotary damper is installed with the possibility of contacting with one of the flaps to direct the water flow to the right or left side of the turbine.

Also new is the fact that the turbine shaft is detachable and mounted vertically, and the shafts of the wings and flaps are mounted vertically below the level of the possible thickness of the ice cover with the possibility of rotation using a worm gear.

Preliminary patent studies conducted by the authors showed that technical solutions of a similar purpose with the receipt of such a positive effect as the one proposed were not found. Therefore, according to the authors, the inventive hydraulic unit meets the criteria of “novelty” and “inventive step”, and its practical applicability is given in its full description.

The drawings attached to the application explain the essence of the invention, where Fig. 1 schematically shows a hydraulic unit in a general view, in partial section.

Figure 2 schematically depicts a river with a frame base mounted in it with a mounted hydraulic turbine, where its shaft with blades is visible, there are also flaps, a damper and a grill installed across the river to detain large objects accidentally caught in the river, a top view, partially cutaway.

The hydraulic unit for converting the kinetic energy of the water flow into electrical energy contains a welded frame 2 installed in the river 1 (see Fig. 1) with a hydraulic turbine, which is a vertically mounted shaft 3 with bearings 4, 5, 6 and 7, on which the blades are mounted for rotation 8, sorted in a vertical plane. The blades are made integral (see figure 2) and they are interconnected pivotally and equipped with limiters 9 for rotation of the blades with the possibility of bending in the direction of their rotation towards the flow of water and straightening with a passing direction of rotation. For ease of assembly, the shaft 3 of the hydraulic turbine in the upper part is detachable, connected by its parts with a splined connection 10. The upper end of the shaft ends with a bevel gear 11, for engagement with the bevel gear 12 of the horizontal shaft 13, mounted on bearings 14 and 15 and passed through the channel 16 and connecting the river G with a well 17, built near the shore. Channel 16 is made under the lower level of the maximum possible thickness of the ice cover 18 formed in the winter season.

The end of the horizontal shaft 13, located in the well, is also equipped with a bevel gear 19 for engagement with the bevel gear 20 of the vertical shaft 21, placed in the well 17 and mounted on bearings 22 and 23. The bevel gear 24 of the shaft 21 is in turn connected to the bevel gear 25 of the ground horizontal shaft 26, mounted on a bearing 27, which is connected at the other end to a multi-stage boost gear 28, the shaft of which, in turn, is connected to the rotor of a three-phase current generator 29 with a voltage of 400 volts. In front of the hydraulic unit, from the front of the river 1, the shafts 30 and 31 of the valves 32 and 33 are mounted on the frame 2 (see FIG. 2), respectively, and the shaft 34 of the shutter 35, mounted for rotation with a worm gear (worm gear on Fig. not shown) to direct the flow of the river to the turbine, and the valve 36, by turning its shaft, has the ability to direct the flow of water to the right or left side of the turbine. The blades, as well as the frame racks can be equipped with stiffeners. The lower ends of the shafts 30, 31 and 34 are provided with bushings, and the upper ends end in a square 36 for rotation (see Fig. 1).

The hydraulic unit operates as follows.

Before the manufacture of the hydraulic unit, the high-water banks of the river 1 are examined, its narrowest points are identified, its depth, water pressure, possible thickness of the formed ice 18 in the winter season are determined, etc. and taking into account the information received, they carry out design work.

Next, the manufactured hydraulic unit, taking into account the above information, is disassembled, delivered to the installation site and its hydraulic turbine mounted on the frame 2, immersed in the river with a crane and then the remaining nodes are assembled, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The end sections of the channel 16 after placement in it the horizontal shaft 13 is sealed with stuffing box packing 37, and the most critical units of the hydraulic unit are closed with casings 38 (in the drawing they are indicated by a dash-dot line). Next, the shutters 32 and 33 are pushed apart against the river bank by turning the shafts 30 and 31 and, if necessary, they are fixed. The damper 35 is turned to the right or left end position until it stops against one of the wings. In this case, the water flow is directed to the turbine blades 6 and, under the influence of the water pressure, the latter is rotated and through the transmission connected with it rotates the rotor of the three-phase current generator 29 through the gearbox 28, which provides it with high revolutions, allowing to increase the generation of electricity. A protective device made in the form of a grate 39 was installed across the river in front of the hydraulic unit to prevent large objects accidentally from entering the hydraulic turbine.

The technical and economic advantage of the proposal is as follows.

The industrial use of the hydraulic unit on medium and small rivers, and on their large lengths - many hydraulic turbines, combining them with a single electric system, will provide a large amount of cheap electricity and will make it possible to abandon the use of thermal power plants that burn a huge amount of fuel.

The hydraulic unit does not require the use of sophisticated equipment and high material costs, since there is no need to build dams. It is easy to maintain and can be operated year round.

Claims (3)

1. A hydraulic unit for converting the kinetic energy of the water flow into electrical energy, including a hydraulic turbine mounted on a frame with bearings on its shaft, a kinematically connected generator, a flow former and a protective device from floating objects, made in the form of rib plates, characterized in that it equipped with bevel gears interconnected, intermediate vertically and horizontally mounted shafts with bearings, the vertical of which is located in a well constructed near it and connected to the river by means of a channel made under the level of the maximum possible thickness of the ice cover formed in the winter season, in which a part of the horizontal shaft connected to the turbine shaft is located, while the upper end of the vertical shaft is connected to the generator via a horizontal ground shaft and raising gear, while the flow former is made in the form of flaps mounted on shafts with the possibility of rotation to direct the flow of the river to its central part, between which a rotary a damper with the ability to contact with one of the valves to direct the flow of water to the right or left side of the turbine. 2. The hydraulic unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the hydraulic turbine shaft is detachable and mounted vertically. 3. The hydraulic unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the shafts of the flaps and shutters are installed vertically below the level of the possible thickness of the ice cover with the possibility of rotation using a worm gear.

Images