RU2380479C2 - River hydro-electric power plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: power engineering. ^ SUBSTANCE: hydro-electric power plant consists of directing facility in form of confuser and diffuser, and also of water duct, turbine and generator. The directing facility is made out of several built one into another Venturi tube, each consisting of two shaped sections - converging (confusor) and diverging (diffuser) connected between them with lesser bases; also each smaller Venturi tube is installed with the wide base of diffuser into the narrow place of a bigger tube with a gap. The hydraulic turbine with electric generator are arranged on a pontoon or on a bank and are connected with the directing facility of water duct in form of a siphon pipe, one end of which is installed at inlet to the confusor of an external Venturi tube, while another end is installed in a narrow place of lesser of Venturi tubes and is equipped with a head in form of a jet pump. ^ EFFECT: increased efficiency of hydro-electric power plants and extended range of application. ^ 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to damless hydroelectric power plants, which are located on plains of high water rivers, in narrow, compressed valleys, on mountain rivers, as well as in fast currents of seas and oceans.

The most important feature of hydropower resources in comparison with fuel and energy resources is their continuous renewability. The lack of need for fuel for hydropower plants determines the low cost of electricity generated at hydropower plants. Therefore, the construction of hydropower plants, despite significant, specific investments per 1 kW of installed capacity and long construction periods, has been attached and is attached great importance, especially when it is associated with the location of electric-intensive industries.

Of course, hydroelectric power plants, unlike thermal power plants, do not poison the atmosphere, do not contribute to global warming and do not reduce fossil fuel reserves. And a kilowatt of energy is cheaper than a thermal power plant. True, construction is quite expensive: huge dams, canals, colossal volumes of earthwork and concrete work. And environmentally such hydropower plants are by no means safe. Dams disturb the natural life of the river, the fish die, the banks become swampy, large areas of fertile soil disappear under the reservoirs. Sometimes the local climate does not change for the better.

The level of hydropower development in different countries and on different continents is not the same. The United States of America generates the most hydroelectricity, followed by Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Japan, Brazil, China and Norway.

The potential of the world's hydropower resources is more than 2200 GW. The percentage of hydropower resources used is 21%. /http://www.allsoch.ru/.

The depreciation of hydraulic structures in Russia today is 70% and they "pose a serious technological danger in the light of the terrorist threat" (REGNUM).

So in industrialized countries, the construction of power plants on large rivers, obviously, has no prospects. Moreover, in the USA, for example, a program is being developed for the gradual elimination of hydroelectric power plants that harm the environment. The “first sign” was the decision to allocate funds for the dismantling of the dam at the Edwards Power Station on the Kennyebeck River in Maine.

In recent decades, attempts have been made in our country and abroad to create low-pressure turbines for damless hydroelectric power stations. Various designs have been developed (with the axis of rotation of the impeller perpendicular or parallel to the flow). For example, engineer B. Blinov constructed the so-called end axial turbine. Several hydraulic motors were mounted on a flexible shaft (cable), forming a "end garland". As a result, it became possible to use the energy of winding rivers and even streams. (Blinov proposed a number of designs for this purpose, one of which is described in TM, 7 for 1964 - Ed.) In the mid-70s. experiments were carried out on the use of a Darje turbine with straight blades, a free-flow funnel-shaped Tyson turbine, a multi-stage free-flow hydraulic motor with blades made of elastic material, etc. were proposed.

However, all these devices have not received distribution due to low efficiency, not exceeding 10-15%. It was possible to solve the difficult technical problem by creating a reactive cross-jet helical turbine with spiral blades. The author of this invention, patented in the USA in 1994, is Alexander Gorlov, our compatriot, now the director of the laboratory of water and wind energy at Northeastern University in Boston.

What are the advantages of the Gorlov turbine? Its efficiency is 2-3 times higher than that of any other operating in a free flow, without a dam. It rotates evenly, without ripples and vibrations. Unlike conventional multi-ton metal turbines of river and tidal power plants, a plastic helicoid has a very small size (diameter - 1 m, length - 84 cm) and weighs only 35 kg. To obtain the required power, you can use any number of such turbines mounted on the shaft of the generator. The surface of the impeller has a special elastic coating that reduces friction against water and prevents the adhesion of algae and mollusks.

Studies to determine the optimal parameters and improve the design of the turbine were carried out in the laboratory of water and wind energy at Northeastern University, and then in the laboratory of the University of Michigan. In 1996, tests of prototypes were transferred to production conditions: they worked for three months during the ebb and flow in the Cape Cod canal near Boston, showing high reliability and operational efficiency.

To generate 136 MW of electricity at a hydropower plant off the Marathon Island, 50,000 Gorlov turbines will be required, from sections of 16 turbines on a 13-meter shaft and about 3.5 thousand generators of 38 kilowatts in a waterproof shell. All these systems are suspended from metal sections measuring 40 by 40 meters, 16 turbines per section, at a depth that provides free passage for ships (TECHNOLOGY-YOUTH 11/1998).

It must be assumed that the placement and maintenance of a huge number of low-power turbines and generators in the free flow of ocean currents is ineffective.

The closest technical solution - an analogue - is a hydroelectric power station, which was invented by employees of the St. Petersburg Military Engineering University, led by A. Savchuk. The power plant is installed in the riverbed, below the possible level of ice formation. A gearbox and an electric generator are installed directly on the ceiling of the housing in the room, to which rotation from the turbine is transmitted through the shaft. A stream of water moving along the river flows around the ice-cutting support and boom nets protecting the structure during the ice drift, as well as fish from getting into the turbine rotors. The flow enters the confuser channel, formed by the walls of the hydroelectric power station, and then, having accelerated, is directed to the wheel blades, rotates the turbines and, accordingly, the generator shaft, generating electricity. Having passed the last hydro-wheel, the flow enters the diffuser channel, where its velocity decreases to the course of the river with which it mixes (RF patent 2171910).

This technical solution does not exclude interaction with the ice drift, because it has a surface part in which the gearbox and generator are located. In addition, the turbine is made with vertical blades, on a vertical shaft and placed in the flow by one half, the second half of the blades are placed in a recess and forced to spend energy on useless mixing of water. The efficiency of such a solution is quite low. In addition, the confuser, in this technical solution, can increase the flow rate of the turbine only 5-7 times.

The objective of the invention is the expansion of the possibilities of using a channel damless hydroelectric power station in narrow, compressed valleys of low-lying plains rivers, on mountain rivers, as well as in fast currents of seas and oceans.

The solution to which the invention is directed is achieved by the fact that the guiding apparatus is made of several Venturi tubes built into each other, each of which consists of two shaped sections - converging (confuser) and diverging (diffuser), interconnected by smaller bases, each a smaller venturi with a wide base of the diffuser is placed with a gap in the narrow base of the larger pipe, and a hydraulic turbine with an electric generator is placed on the pontoon or on the shore and connected to the guide apparatus by a water conduit in the form of a siphon pipe, one end of which is placed at the entrance to the confuser of the largest of the venturi pipes, and the other end is in a narrow place of the smaller of the venturi pipes and is equipped with a nozzle in the form of a jet pump.

The riverbed hydroelectric power station can be equipped with an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen and oxygen, containers for storing hydrogen and refueling fuel cells in containers on ships.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a hydroelectric power station for sea and ocean currents, figure 2 - for river currents.

Designated: 1 - external venturi; 2 - inner (smaller) venturi pipe; 3 - confuser of the outer pipe; 4 - confuser of the smaller pipe; 5 - diffuser of the outer pipe; 6 - diffuser of a smaller pipe; 7 - bottleneck of the external venturi 1; 8 - bottleneck of the inner venturi 2; 9 - the gap between the wide base of the diffuser 6 of the inner venturi 2 and the bottleneck 7 of the outer venturi 1; 10 - a hydraulic turbine with an electric generator; 11 - pontoon (1 option) or shore (2 option, figure 2); 12 - siphon pipe; 13 - jet pump installed in a narrow place 8 of the smaller of the venturi 2; 14 - electrolyzer; 15 - a container for storing hydrogen; 16 - a protective lattice.

The channel hydroelectric power station is installed in a narrow compressed river valley or in fast sea or ocean currents and is a guiding apparatus, which is made of several Venturi tubes 1, 2 built into each other, each of which consists of two shaped sections - converging (confuser) 3, 4 and diverging (diffuser) 5, 6, interconnected by smaller bases 7, 8, each smaller venturi 2, with a wide base of the diffuser 6 placed with a gap 9 in the bottleneck 7 of the larger pipe 1, and the hydraulic turbine with electric an electric generator 10 is placed on the pontoon 11 or on the shore 11 (Fig. 2) and connected to the guide apparatus by a siphon pipe 12, one end of which is placed at the inlet of the confuser 3 of the largest of the Venturi pipes 1, and the other end is placed in a narrow connection 8 the smallest of the venturi tubes 2 and is equipped with a nozzle in the form of a jet pump 13. The channel hydroelectric power station can be equipped with an electrolyzer 14 for producing hydrogen and oxygen, hydrogen tanks 15 for storing and refueling fuel cells in containers on ships.

The operation of the hydroelectric power station is carried out due to the kinetic energy of the water flow passing through the siphon pipe at a turbine speed of at least 15-20 times greater than during a river or in a free stream of an ocean current.

The high efficiency of converting the energy of currents into electrical energy is achieved due to the pressure difference in wide and narrow bases in the Venturi pipes built into each other and the acceleration of the water flow at the generator turbine by 15-20 times compared with the free flow by placing a hydraulic turbine in a siphon pipe , one end of which is placed at the entrance to the confuser of the external venturi, and the other end is in a narrow place of the smaller of the venturi and is equipped with a nozzle in the form of a jet pump.

And as the water flow rate at the turbine depends on the swept area (the turbine diameter) is directly proportional to, and on the flow rate - in the cube, the effectiveness of this solution in comparison with the analogue (15 ^{3/6 3),} at least 15- 35 times higher.

For example, one hydroelectric power station the size of a railway tank, at a speed of 10 km / h can produce more than 2 mW, which will provide electricity to a city with a population of 10,000 people, and with a nuclear submarine larger than 250 MW, a city with a population of more than 1 million person.

And since the power of ocean currents is colossal (the Gulf Stream - the average water flow in the Strait of Florida is 25 million m ³ / s (20 times the total water flow of all rivers of the globe), Kuroshio - the width is 170 km, the depth is up to 700 meters, the average water consumption 38 million cubic meters per second), the construction of such hydropower plants will significantly reduce the need for non-renewable energy sources - oil, gas, coal, etc. for thermal power plants and switch to environmentally friendly energy sources.

The undeveloped hydropower resources of Africa, Asia and South America offer great opportunities for the construction of new hydropower plants. North America, which owns approximately 13% of the world's hydropower resources, accounts for about 35% of the total capacity of existing hydropower plants. At the same time, Africa (21% of the world's hydropower resources) and Asia (39%) contribute only 5 and 18%, respectively, to global hydropower production. Of the other continents, Europe (21% of the resources) produces 31% of the production, while South America and Australia, combined with approximately 15% of the resources, produce only 11% of the world's hydroelectric power.

The Gulf Stream hydropower project aroused great interest among Japanese experts. According to them, the construction of such power plants in the Pacific Kuroshio will strengthen the energy base of the economy and improve the environmental situation in the country by reducing the number of thermal power plants. Looking at more distant prospects, Japanese scientists believe that ocean hydroelectric power plants will best provide electricity to the “sea” cities on artificial islands in the Pacific Ocean. This refers to the grandiose program of the gradual relocation of a significant part of the Japanese to islands built in the ocean. This will stop the further growth of cities, which inevitably leads to a deterioration of the environmental situation, and solve the problem of overpopulation of the country. The indigenous territory, according to the project, should be used for agricultural land, national parks and recreation parks for residents of "sea" cities.

GES on the Gulf Stream, GES on Kuroshio ... It seems that the XXI century. may be the beginning of a new stage in the development of marine energy associated with the use of ocean currents.

Claims (1)

A channel hydroelectric power station, including a guiding apparatus in the form of a confuser and a diffuser, as well as a water conduit, a turbine and a generator, characterized in that the guiding apparatus is made of several Venturi pipes built into each other, each of which consists of two shaped sections - converging (confuser) and diverging (diffuser), interconnected by smaller bases, each smaller venturi with a wide diffuser base placed with a gap in the bottleneck of the larger pipe, and a hydraulic turbine with an electric generator rum placed on a pontoon or on shore and connected with the guiding device the water conduit in the form of a siphon tube having one end placed at the inlet of the converging tube outer Venturi tube and the other end - in a narrow place less of Venturi tubes and is equipped with a nozzle in a jet pump.

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