RU2617607C1 - Navigation buoy with integrated power plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transportation.

SUBSTANCE: navigational buoy is proposed having streamlined sealed body divided into compartments, light-optical LED equipment located at the head of the body, solar power plant, consisting of a light-optical device, an autonomous power supply (battery) and rechargeable energy device with a mechanism to connect it to this source that converts thermal sun energy into electrical energy and placed inside the solar concentrator whose functions are performed by optical device based on a Fresnel lens, wave power plant, mounted inside the housing comprising a cylindrical container with a stator of a linear electric generator, on the axis of which the rod is moving in the guides; on the rod, the rotor with permanent magnets of the linear electric generator is mounted; at the end of the rod, a stabilizing ballast is installed, made hollow in the form of a float, the stator winding is connected to the charger input, the output of which is connected to the battery from which the light-optical equipment energised. One more solar power plant is introduced, made in the form of a sphere mounted on the perimeter of the LED emitter and connected to the battery.

EFFECT: increases capacity of the navigational buoy power plant, simplified structure.

1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to floating equipment for navigation equipment, in particular to a buoy designed to enclose fairways and individual navigational hazards in navigable waters.

Known marine buoys with autonomous power supply units for the light-optical equipment of navigation buoys, which include chemical direct current sources (electrochemical batteries) and the mechanism for connecting these batteries to the light-optical equipment of the buoy (US patents No. 3794907, 1974 [1], No. 3818312, 1974 [ 2], GB patents No. 1357427, 1974 [3], No. 1368202, 1974 [4], FR patents No. 2193284, 1974 [5], No. 2215743, 1974 [6], copyright certificate SU No. 586533, 1978 [7]) .

A disadvantage of the known autonomous power plants [1-7] with chemical current sources (CIT) is that when the buoy is supplied with electric current from the optical equipment, the CIT energy resource decreases over time. This leads to a decrease in the reliability and durability of the buoy's power system and the need for periodic replacement (at least 2-3 times a year) of spent electrochemical batteries with new ones. Work on replacing the batteries is time-consuming and expensive, since for such an operation it is necessary to deliver new batteries by the supplying vessel to the place of installation of the buoy, raise the buoy to the deck of the vessel, disassemble the containers with the used batteries, replace the elements with new ones, install the buoy and set it at a given point in the water area.

Systems are also known that use the energy of solar radiation to recharge ChIT (patents RU No. 2028558, 1992 [8], No. 2377472, 2008 [9], No. 2476783, 2013 [10]). These solar power plants (solar panels) are made of photovoltaic converters with Fresnel concentrating lenses, which significantly increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells (on the best samples, up to 35-37% compared to traditional 12-15%).

With regard to floating equipment of navigation equipment (SSS), the disadvantage of these solar modules with solar concentrators is that they are located on frame panels of a significant size and have a complex electron-kinematic device for tracking the visible movement of the Sun in height and horizon. The installation of such systems on buoys that randomly swing and rotate under the influence of waves is technically impossible.

The prototype closest to the proposed design of a navigation buoy with an integrated power plant as a solar module can be a solar power plant specially designed for visual aids (patent RU No. 2382935, 2010 [11]). This installation with a thermoelectric generator is intended for the visual aids of navigation equipment, it contains a light-optical device, an autonomous power source (battery) and a rechargeable energy device with a mechanism for connecting it to this source, while it is equipped with a thermoelectric converter (thermoelectric generator), which converts thermal energy of the Sun into electrical energy and placed inside the helioconcentrator, whose functions you complements an optical device based on a Fresnel lens, rigidly fixed in the neck of the caustic (focus) of the helioconcentrator. The invention should provide a simplification of the design, increase reliability, durability and the process of operation at facilities of aids to navigation.

This installation is compact, freed from the need to monitor the position of the Sun, includes an electrochemical battery and a charging device, which is a thermoelectric generator (TEG) placed under a lens concentrating the sun's rays. Electricity generated by the TEG is supplied to the energy storage system (battery) by the control system, which provides electricity to the buoy's LED emitter in the dark.

The disadvantage of the prototype [11] is the extremely low efficiency of all currently known thermoelectric converters (no more than 7-8%), and most importantly, the impossibility of solving the problem of year-round uninterrupted power supply of the lighting system of the buoy through this solar power plant without duplicating it with another current source. The conditions for the arrival of total solar radiation in all the seas of Russia are such that they make this installation guaranteed to be operational only from April to September.

Systems are also known that use the energy of sea waves to recharge CHIT. The most widespread are wave power plants using forced vertical oscillations of the buoy caused by exposure to sea waves. Such wave installations as the “float with a hydraulic turbine”, which uses the rotation of the impeller of hydraulic turbines during vertical movements in the aquatic environment and the “Masuda pneumatic buoy”, uses the movement of air that occurs under the influence of an oscillating water column inside the cavity of the buoy, are best known with its vertical vibrations (patents RU No. 2577942 C1, 03/20/2016 [12], RU No. 2078249 C1, 04/27/1997 [13], RU No. 2399546 C2, 12.20.2009 [14], RU No. 2386051 C2, 04/10/2004 [15], CN No. 102606375 A, July 25, 2012 [16], CN No. 102678429 A, 09/19/2012 [17]).

For example, the well-known technical solution [12] relates to the field of renewable energy sources and can be used for wave measuring and navigation buoys. The installation for replenishing the energy of sea buoys contains a floating body, in which there is a support in the form of a frame with guides along which an inertial body with an elastic suspension moves. The suspension is equipped with two blocks mounted in the upper part of the frame. In the lower part of the frame, an air damping system is installed, having a body, a piston and an outlet with a variable diameter. One of the blocks is connected to the generator. The battery is connected to the generator through a transformer with a variable transformation ratio and a diode rectifier. The calculator is connected to the output of the generator and the battery. The stepper motor is connected to the calculator and the device for changing the diameter of the holes of the air damping system. The invention is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the installation, increasing reliability and increasing the service life of the installation by reducing the wear of mechanical parts and eliminating battery overcharging.

The disadvantage of these options is the low sensitivity of even the most modern of both air and hydraulic turbines, capable of guaranteed to generate electric current only at air or water flow rates of more than 1 m / s. This condition is not always fulfilled by a buoy making random vertical oscillations on waves of various kinds. Energy losses are also inevitable when converting the mechanical energy of rotation of the turbine rotor into electrical energy.

In addition, wave power plants specially developed for floating navigational aids are used that use an inertial body as a working element (patents RU No. 2388933, 2010 [18], No. 2467911, 2012 [19]).

The disadvantage of wave power plants with an inertial working fluid [12, 13, 18, 19] is their overload with kinematic elements, the complexity of the design, and most importantly, the ability to work effectively only in conditions of resonant oscillations of the buoy. For example, the most common marine buoy of the BMBL type today has resonant vibrations at a wave height of 59 cm. In all other cases of waves, the power take-off is much lower than the nominal one.

Also known is a navigation buoy (patent RU No. 2489301, 08/10/2013 [20]), which contains a streamlined sealed enclosure separated by watertight bulkheads into compartments, LED optical equipment located in the head of the buoy enclosure, and a stabilizing ballast. A cylindrical container is installed in the inner cavity of the housing, the axis of which in the guides attached to the cylindrical container, the rod moves, a stabilizing ballast is installed at the end of the rod, a stop pad is fixedly fixed on the rod, which rests on a spring located between one of the rod guides and the stop pad . In the middle part of the rod, a rotor with permanent magnets of a linear electric generator is installed, the stator of the linear electric generator is fixed on the inner surface of the cylindrical container, the winding of the stator of the generator is connected to the input of the charger, and the output of the charger is connected to the battery from which the optical equipment is powered. According to the second variant, a stabilizing ballast is fixedly attached to the cylindrical container, the rod is attached at one end to the sealed housing of the buoy, the thrust pad is fixedly fixed on the rod, a spring is installed in the upper part of the rod between the upper guide and the thrust pad. The technical result consists in increasing the power of the power plant buoy, simplifying its design.

In this installation, it is not the mechanical energy accumulated by the inertial body (pendulum) that is converted into electrical energy, but the mechanical energy of the vertical movement of the buoy body together with the stator of the linear electric generator relative to the stabilizing ballast (counterweight load) when the buoy is raised to the wave crest under the action of Archimedes force. When the buoy is lowered from the wave crest, the mechanical energy of the vertical movement of the stabilizing ballast (with the rotor rod attached to it) relative to the buoy body and stator of the linear electric generator under the influence of the stabilizing ballast gravity is converted into electrical energy.

The disadvantage of the prototype is the excessive weight of the stabilizing ballast (it is proposed to use a counterweight of 50 kg, which will extremely complicate the maintenance of the wave installation of the buoy directly at sea), the presence of a spring in the structure, the rigidity of which changes over time. The most “weak point” of this design is the stuffing box, which should ensure the tightness of the working compartment of the installation when placing the counterweight outside the airtight housing of the buoy. It should be noted that the draft of the BMBL type buoy reaches 5 m (water pressure 0.5 atm). The tight gland needed at such a deepening will not allow free movement of the rotor rod, and over time, the gland will begin to leak. In addition, as in the case of the solar installation, the problems of the year-round uninterrupted power supply of the buoy lighting system through only this wave power installation remain unresolved, without duplication by another current source, because in summer there are frequent periods of prolonged calm and there is no sea disturbance.

The analogs of the well-known navigation buoy [20] are similar devices (patents GB No. 1271490 A, 04.19.1972 [21], KR No. 20110132742 A, 12/09/2011 [22], JP No. 6280733 A, 04/10/1994 [23], RU No. 2007130120 A, 02/20/2009 [24], RU No. 88744 U1, 11/20/2009 [25], CN No. 2017747431 U, 04/13/2011 [26], RU No. 2399546 C2, 09/20/2010 [27], RU No. 113234 U1 02.10.2012 [28]), which have the same drawbacks as the well-known navigation buoy.

The objective of the proposed technical solution is the creation of an autonomous integrated power plant for floating aids to navigation equipment (SSS), capable of ensuring year-round uninterrupted power supply for lighting systems of marine and ocean buoys for general use through the use of renewable energy sources. Moreover, the technical result consists in increasing the power of the power plant of the buoy, simplifying its design. As a prototype of the selected technical solutions [11] and [20].

The problem is solved due to the fact that in the navigation buoy with an integrated power plant containing a streamlined sealed enclosure, separated by waterproof bulkheads into compartments, light-optical equipment with LEDs located in the head of the buoy body, a solar power plant consisting of a light-optical device, an autonomous power supply (battery) with a rechargeable energy device with a mechanism for connecting it to a given source that converts heat energy Sol it can be placed in an electric one and placed inside the helioconceptor, the functions of which are performed by an optical device based on a Fresnel lens, eliminating the need to use a tracking system for the visible movement of the Sun and allowing refracting and focusing directed solar radiation regardless of the position of the Sun in horizontal and height and rigidly fixed in the neck of the caustic ( focus) of the helioconcentrator, a wave power plant installed in the inner cavity of the buoy body, containing a cylindrical tank, about where the rod moves in guides attached to the cylindrical container, a stabilizing ballast is installed on the rod end, and a rotor with permanent magnets of the linear electric generator is installed on the rod end, the linear electric generator stator is fixed to the inner surface of the cylindrical container, the generator stator winding is connected with the input of the charger, and the output of the charger is connected to the battery from which the optical equipment is powered, according to the invention Another solar power plant was introduced in the form of a sphere, installed around the perimeter of the LED emitter and connected to the battery; the stabilizing ballast is hollow in the form of a float.

Such a navigational buoy device allows implementing a comprehensive power plant for navigational aids, which is based on the joint use of the energies of the Sun and sea waves in natural antiphase (maximum sun in summer, maximum excitement in winter). The proposed installation is maximally simplified in its design and freed from excessive kinematics. The complex power plant includes two modules - solar and wave.

The solar module is located on the top of the navigation buoy and assembled on a spherical base from miniature photovoltaic cells (with a diameter of not more than 50 mm), each of which is equipped with its own Fresnel concentrating lens. With this arrangement, there is no need to monitor the Sun in height and horizon, because at any moment of time, regardless of the position of the Sun and the randomly swaying buoy, some of the photovoltaic cells are still oriented to the Sun and generate electricity. The electricity generated by the solar module by the control system is supplied to the energy storage device (battery pack), which provides electricity to the LED emitter of the buoy in the dark.

Another solar power plant introduced in the form of a sphere, installed around the perimeter of the LED emitter and connected to the battery, in the absence of sunlight, allows you to generate electricity when converting the light flux from the LED emitter. This solar battery can also be assembled on a spherical base from miniature photovoltaic cells (with a diameter of not more than 50 mm), each of which is equipped with its own Fresnel concentrating lens.

The wave module is located in two adjacent internal compartments of the buoy. In the lower (tail) compartment, a fence (cavity) is built in the form of an L-shaped pipe that does not violate the buoyancy and stability of the buoy and has free access to sea water from below and atmospheric air from above, above the maximum possible waterline of the buoy. Inside the pipe is not a massive counterweight, but the float is rigidly fastened to a vertical rod of non-magnetic material. The upper part of the rod through the guide sleeve is brought into a dry adjacent compartment of the buoy and is equipped with permanent magnets that act as the rotor of a linear electric generator (solenoid). The stator of the linear electric generator is rigidly bonded to the buoy body or the inter-compartment bulkhead and generates an electric current during any vertical movements of the rotor rod and the float caused by an oscillating water column inside the l-shaped pipe into which the float is placed in the presence of sea waves. The electricity generated by the wave module is supplied by the control system to the energy storage device (battery pack), which provides electricity to the LED emitter of the buoy in the dark.

The drawing schematically shows a view and a basic block diagram of an integrated solar-wave power plant floating equipment navigation equipment with the location within its body of the proposed technical elements and their structural connections.

This installation includes:

1 - a set of miniature photovoltaic cells equipped with Fresnel lenses and assembled on a spherical base (solar module);

2 - LED emitter (buoy light source);

3 - control system and battery pack of an integrated solar-wave power plant with a rechargeable power device and with a mechanism for connecting it to a given source;

4 - inner tube-cavity of the wave module, located in the lower (tail) compartment of the buoy;

5 - a float;

6 - rod-rotor of a linear electric generator;

7 - guide sleeve;

8 - a stator of a linear electric generator (solenoid) located in the dry compartment of the buoy and rigidly fastened to the body of the buoy or intersection bulkhead;

9 - ambient light sensor (photosensor);

10 - introduced solar battery.

The work of the integrated solar-wave power plant navigation buoy is as follows.

In daylight, regardless of the position of the Sun and the orientation of the buoy, a certain part of the miniature photovoltaic cells of the solar module 1 generates an electric current, which is sent by the control system to accumulate in the battery pack 3. In this case, the battery pack’s operating mode is cyclic (during the day - the battery charge, in the dark - discharge to the LED emitter 2).

In parallel, at any time of the day in the presence of unrest at sea, the wave module is included in the work. Vertical movements of the buoy in the wave cause up and down fluctuations of the water column inside the hollow pipe 4. In turn, the fluctuations of the water column cause vertical movements of the float 5 with the rotor-rod 6 rigidly fastened to it. The upper part of the rotor-rod through the guide sleeve 7 is brought into an adjacent dry buoy compartment, in which the stator of a linear electric generator (solenoid) is located and rigidly fastened to the buoy body or inter-compartment bulkhead 8. The working part of the rod-rotor 6, reciprocating utri stator-coil 8, is provided with permanent magnets, due to the motion of which an electric current to the stator windings 8. The electricity generated by the wave module by the control system is sent to accumulate in the battery unit 3. The battery mode of operation in this case is buffer, since at night the electricity generated by the wave module recharges the battery, which consumes electricity on the LED emitter 2.

The command to turn on the LED emitter 2 is given by the ambient light sensor (photosensor) 9 when the level of illumination of the horizontal surface reaches 350 mlk (general requirement for navigation lights).

The solar battery 10 is intended to be used as an additional means of generating electric current by converting sunlight, and in its absence, by converting the light flux from the LED emitter 2 into electric current.

The installation should ensure environmental cleanliness, reliability, durability, simplification of the operation of floating navigational aids and protect the components of an integrated power plant from external damage and manifestations of vandalism.

The proposed technical solution is new, since descriptions of not only a similar integrated energy system as a whole, but also its components were not found from publicly available information sources.

The proposed technical solution has an inventive step, since it does not explicitly follow from previously published scientific data and known technical solutions that the claimed distinctive technical features of solar and wave power plants when used in combination can significantly increase reliability, durability and greatly simplify and reduce the cost of the operation of floating SSS.

The proposed technical solution is industrially applicable, since standard floating navigation aids (buoys), traditional technologies for the manufacture of photovoltaic cells, Fresnel lenses for them and linear electric generators, as well as standard equipment and devices for upgrading these tools, can be used for its implementation.

Information sources

1. US patent No. 3794907.

2. US patent No. 3818312.1974.

3. GB patent No. 1357427, 1974.

4. Patent GV No. 1368202, 1974.

5. Patent FR No. 2193284, 1974.

6. Patent FR No. 2215743, 1974.

7. Copyright certificate SU No. 586533, 1978.

8. Patent RU No. 2028558, 1992.

9. Patent RU No. 2377472, 2008.

10. Patent RU No. 2476783, 2013.

11. Patent RU No. 2382935, 2010.

12. Patent RU No. 2577942 C1, 03.20.2016.

13. Patent RU No. 2078249 C1, 04/27/1997.

14. Patent RU No. 2399546 C2, 12.20.2009.

15. Patent RU No. 2386051 C2, 04/10/2004.

16. CN patent No. 102606375 A, July 25, 2012.

17. Patent CN No. 102678429 A, 09/19/2012.

18. Patent RU No. 2388933, 2010.

19. Patent RU No. 2467911, 2012.

20. Patent RU No. 2489301, 08/10/2013.

21. GB patent No. 1271490 A, 04/19/1972.

22. KR patent No. 20110132742 A, 12/9/2011.

23. JP patent No. 6280733 A, 04.10.1994.

24. Application RU No. 2007130120 A, 02.20.2009.

25. Patent RU No. 88744 U1, 11.20.2009.

26. CN patent No. 2017747431 U, 04/13/2011.

27. Patent RU No. 2399546 C2, 09.20.2010.

28. Patent RU No. 113234 U1, 02/10/2012.

Claims (1)

A navigational buoy with an integrated power installation, containing a streamlined sealed enclosure divided by waterproof bulkheads into compartments, light-emitting diode equipment located in the head of the buoy body, a solar power plant consisting of a light-optical device, an autonomous power source (battery) and a rechargeable power device with a mechanism connecting it to a given source, converting the thermal energy of the Sun into electrical energy and placed inside the heliocon an etrator, whose functions are performed by an optical device based on a Fresnel lens, eliminating the need to use a tracking system for the visible movement of the Sun and allowing to refract and focus directed solar radiation regardless of the position of the Sun across the horizon and height and rigidly fixed in the caustic neck (focus) of the solar concentrator, wave energy an installation installed in the inner cavity of the buoy body, containing a cylindrical container, the axis of which in the guides attached to the cylinder In this case, the rod moves, the stabilizing ballast is installed at the end of the rod, and a rotor with permanent magnets of the linear electric generator is installed on the rod end, the stator of the linear electric generator is fixed on the inner surface of the cylindrical capacity, the generator stator winding is connected to the input of the charger, and the output the charger is connected to the battery, from which the optical equipment is powered, characterized in that another solar energy device is introduced Novki, made in the form of spheres mounted on the LED emitter perimeter and connected to the battery, and a stabilizing ballast is hollow in the form of a float.

Images