RU2703863C1 - Aero-energystat - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: power engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of high-altitude wind energy. Aero-energystat comprises an aerostatic module in a soft gas-filled shell, a wind-power unit suspended under the shell, alternating-air-propeller electric aero-engines of the traction and opposite rotation, tether cables and rope-cable stretched from module to mooring assembly including ground curb. Wind-powered unit includes freely swinging bracket, in the center of horizontal flange of which there is a nacelle with electric generator and radial-blade turbine put on leeward side of nacelle on rotation axis, which coincides with direction of wind. Shell is cigar-shaped, it includes balloon with compressor and is attracted with banding bands to the horizontal composite platform having integral longitudinal keel, nasal and stater tail units, transmission mechanism for change of angle of attack of aircraft engines to incoming wind and suspension of wind-power unit. Air engines are installed on aft empennage symmetrically relative to lengthwise axis of symmetry of cigar-shaped shell, symmetrically arranged in nose fins built-in hinges, to sleeves of which are connected ends of tethered ropes. Wind-power unit suspension is a bridge truss fixed from below and across the platform perpendicular to the wind direction, ends of the lower horizontal beam of which are equidistant from the longitudinal axis of the cigar-shaped shell and have cylindrical hinges, to the sleeves of which the wind-powered unit bracket sidewalls are suspended, outside the cigar-shaped shell at the level of its longitudinal axis wind pressure sensors are fixed, one sensor is installed on the windward nose of the shell, and other sensors are uniformly arranged along its sidewalls. Ground pedestal has an upwardly projecting axis of rotation, coaxial winches and a cable-cable coil, whose drive mechanisms are programmed, on the vertical axis of rotation of the ground-based pedestal unit, first, a driven gear wheel in engagement with the driving gear-wheel is put on, relating to the reversible actuator, and then a horizontal beam is placed, in the center of which there is a rope-cable coil, and on equidistant ends of the beam there arranged are winches.

EFFECT: invention is aimed at stable hovering of the aerostatic module with the wind-power unit at a given point of the surface atmosphere at the height of high-speed winds, primarily directly above the mooring assembly of the aero-gas turbine, as well as unobstructed module rebuilding on the side wind.

1 cl, 4 dwg

Description

It is used to generate wind energy in electricity of industrial capacities, achieved at the height of high-speed layers of the atmosphere.

The present power device relates to wind turbines, the radial-blade turbine of which has an axis of rotation that coincides with the direction of the wind.

In a forecast published in 2018, the US Department of Energy’s information agency indicated signs of imminent stagnation in ground-based U.S. and global wind energy based on the exhaustion of favorable land-based atmospheric and climatic spaces for mid-altitude wind turbines of industrial capacity in industrialized countries. The structure of investments in renewable global energy for the first time changed in favor of solar energy (+ 18%) and decreased in the wind segment (-12%). The scarcity of land resources acceptable for the installation and operation of industrial wind turbines was the latest factor in curbing the growth rates of the global wind industry. At the same time, the industry continues to have chronic shortcomings in energy structures, primarily in terms of the high cost of building foundations, concrete and steel columns. There are known attempts to solve this problem by creating 150-meter towers of wind-driven wind turbines made of timber by the German company Timber Tower and the Swedish startup Mogvion, proposing the project of a 200-meter windmill on a foundation in the form of a reinforced concrete tank filled with water, which did not give positive results. In this regard, a number of countries have begun the active development of high-altitude wind generators belonging to a wide class of wind energy systems (AWE) without an air-based ground support. At the same time, the delivery and retention of wind generators in the area of high-speed winds according to working concepts is carried out by aeronautical or flying means. However, tests of such high-altitude energy systems carried out using tethered balloons by the American company Mogenn Power and the Canadian campaign Altaerosenergie revealed that the aeronautical modules of pilot samples with a capacity of 15 kW under the pressure of high-speed winds are significantly displaced from ground berth nodes by a distance of 300-600 or more meters. When changing the direction of the wind, the modules describe circles whose radius is equal to the aforementioned displacements and thus the installations occupy unacceptably large areas that are to be withdrawn from the useful turnover of land. Equally undesirable results were given by pilot projects of the energy "kite" from Joby Energy and the Wing 7 flying wing, the development company of which Makani Power recognized as a result that their device is not suitable for use on land, but only over sea surfaces, where the territorial factor doesn’t matter.

A well-known wind energy balloon (patent RU 2662101 C1, 12/11/2017), which contains an aeronautical module connected by ropes and a cable-cable to a land mooring unit. The radial-vane turbine of the module is part of a wind power unit of a multiplier and an electric generator in the gondola and frame with a horizontal crossbar.

The wind power unit is freely suspended under the aerostat shell and, with its industrial power, is so heavy that the atmospheric flow pressure up to a critical wind speed of 45 m / s is not able to change the position of the unit at which the axis of rotation of the turbine will no longer coincide with the direction of the wind. To align the direction of the axis of rotation of the turbine in the wind, a cable cable can be used, which, depending on the circumstances, is pulled or pushed from the drum of the cable cable bay. Due to the presence on the leeward side of the spherical balloon balloon of at least one air-screw electric aircraft engine with variable thrust directed against the wind, the module resists the pressure of the wind flow on it, which decreases its displacement from the ground berth site by 2-3 times compared with the known pilot counterparts. Accordingly, the area of the territory withdrawn from the useful land turnover for the safe operation of a high-altitude installation is significantly reduced. However, the capabilities of the prototype are limited by the slope of the cable ties of the aeronautical module with the mooring unit, which should not have an angle of more than 60-70 ° to the surface of the earth. Otherwise, it is likely that when the module is converted to a changed direction of the atmospheric flow, there will be crossing, overlapping and twisting of the cables, violation of the stable spatial orientation of the module, and with it the axis of rotation of the turbine in the wind. Thus, this device largely solves the land problem of air-based energy devices, but does not completely eliminate it.

The pressure of high-speed winds on devices of the AWE system is the main reason for the undesirably large displacements of their high-altitude modules from the berth units and directly depends on the windage of gas-filled shells, which can be reduced by giving the shells improved aerodynamic qualities when using longitudinally elongated horizontally elongated cigar-shaped balloons, in which however, the need to suppress the longitudinal instability of the shells of the above configuration, which tend to sway in an unstable atmosphere streams. In a wind power aerostat (patent US 20110101692 A, 05.05.2011), in order to ensure the longitudinal stability of the aeronautical device, there is an aerodynamic wing, at the ends of which there are mounted nacelles with electric generators and radial-blade turbines, mounted on the leeward sides of the power blocks on the rotation axes, which should coincide with the direction of the wind. The plumage and rudders installed in the tail of the shell serve the same purpose. A wing with massive wind-powered blocks, horizontal tail units, as well as vertical tail rudders are attached directly to a soft gas-filled shell, which creates internal breaking stresses and conditions for light gas leaks. Rigid skeleton rings inside the balloon (Fig. 4) maintain the shape of the shell in the center of mass of the aeronautical module, but do not contribute to the strength and tightness of the attachment points. The tension and smoothness of the surface of the gas-filled shell is supported by the balloon, into which outboard air is pumped. Atmospheric flows can run with different pressure on the turbines widely spaced from the shell, thereby disrupting the orientation of the aeronautic apparatus in the wind. The removal of wind power on both sides of the shell has its own strength limit, which excludes the use of long-bladed turbines, without which wind generation of industrial capacities is not possible.

An information search showed that as a prototype of the claimed invention can also be selected high-altitude wind power plant with a turbine of a vertical axis system (WO 2013189503 A2, publ. 27.12.2013). The device has a number of significant drawbacks due to the choice of a spherical shape of a gas-filled shell, which does not have optimal aerodynamic quality, the use of an orthogonal-blade turbine on the vertical axis of rotation (VAWT) with a low efficiency of converting kinetic wind energy into mechanical energy, and the locations of mounting and fastening of air-screw engines directly on the sides of the shell. As a result, the shell is aggravated by the need to have a rigid outer frame with sheet skin. To tear such a casing together with the wind power unit from the ground and raise the aeronautical module to the level of high-speed high-altitude winds, a large volume of light gas is required. At the same time, the dimensions of the shell increase and its windage increases. As a result, propeller-driven engines consume more energy to overcome the wind pressure of the aeronautical module and hold it above the berth unit, to create and maintain a stable vertical orientation of the axis of rotation of the orthogonal-blade turbine, as a necessary condition for the effective operation of VAWT systems.

An important role in the composition of wind energy balloons is played by mooring units, since they are called, among other things, to minimize the conditions for crossing and overlapping of tethered cables. From the development of aeronautical engineering, a balloon-swimming wind generator is known (patent RU 2576103 C1, 01/27/2015), whose mooring unit contains a ground base-curbstone with a central freely rotating vertical axis, a platform with winches and a cable is mounted on the upper end protruding from the curbstone cable bay. The rotation of the platform with the equipment on it is carried out on the mentioned axis, when the wind at the working height of the aeronautical module changes its direction and the module makes a circular spatial rebuilding, through the tethered cables, dragging along the platform of the mooring unit. The rotary platform of the mooring base of the aerostat with a wind rotor (patent US 4470563 A, 09/11/1984) is characterized in that it has a cantilever part (Fig 7, 12), extended beyond the ground support pedestal in the leeward direction.

The essence of technical solutions lies in the fact that the cigar-shaped shell of improved streamlining and low windage is used as part of the aeronautical module of the aeroelectric power station. However, a longitudinal instability in turbulent flows of high-speed winds is characteristic of this form of a gas-filled shell. This problem in the proposed device is solved by optimizing the placement of aerodynamic stabilizers and air-screw electric aircraft engines of variable thrust with oncoming rotation and a variable angle of attack on the incident wind. A special system for the joint orientation of the high-altitude module and the equipment of the land-based mooring unit eliminates the possibility of crossing, overlapping and twisting of tethered cables when the module, which is stably hanging directly above the mooring unit, is reconstructed to the side wind. The use of a horizontal composite platform eliminated the conditions for the occurrence of local stresses in the soft shell material and its depressurization, otherwise arising when using a gas-filled shell as a mounting base.

The aim of the invention is the stable hovering of the aeronautical module with a wind power unit at a given point in the near-surface atmosphere at the height of high-speed winds, primarily directly above the berth unit of the aeroelectric power station, as well as the unhindered rearrangement of the module to crosswind.

This goal is achieved by the fact that the soft, gas-filled cigar-shaped shell used in the aeronautical aeronautostat module is pulled by bandage bands to a horizontal platform, the composite structure of which enhances the strength and rigidity of the structure, while reducing its weight by 20-30%. The platform serves as a mounting base for the plumage with built-in cylindrical hinges, aft plumage with air-screw electric aircraft engines of variable thrust and counter rotation with their common transmission mechanism for changing the angle of attack on the incoming wind, longitudinal keel and transverse, hanging in the plane perpendicular to the direction of the wind, bridge trusses for hanging a wind-power block, including a freely swinging bracket, in the center of the horizontal shelf of which a gondola is installed with inside rpusnym electric generator and radial-bladed turbine clad on the leeward side of the nacelle on the rotation axis coincident with the wind direction. Tie ropes are attached and pulled down to the bushings of the hinges of the nasal plumage. The cable-cable hangs from the wind-power unit, and the sidewalls of the bracket are suspended from the bushings of the cylindrical joints, which are provided at the ends of the lower horizontal beam of the bridge truss. Outside the cigar-shaped shell, wind pressure sensors are fixed at the level of its longitudinal axis, of which one sensor is mounted on the windward nose of the shell, and the remaining sensors are evenly spaced along its sides. The composition of the mooring unit is supplemented by a gear transmission of rotation from the reversing actuator to the vertical axis with a horizontal beam mounted on it, in the center of which there is a cable-cable bay, and winches are installed at the edges. The mechanical drives of the equipment on the rotary beam are controlled by software.

In FIG. 1 shows a general view of an aeroenergostat; in FIG. 2 - view from the side of the wind on the aeronautical module of the device; in FIG. 3 - bottom view of the same module (without wind power unit); in FIG. 4 is a top view of the mooring unit of the aeroelectric power station.

The present aeronautostat consists of an aeronautical module and a mooring unit connected by tethered cables 1 and cable 2. In turn, the aeronautical module includes a soft cigar-shaped casing 3 filled with light gas, containing a balloon 4 in combination with compressor 5 and drawn by bandage bands 6 to the horizontal a composite platform 7, having a longitudinal keel 8 made in one piece with it, nasal plumage 9 with cylindrical joints 10, aft plumage 11 with air-screw electric aircraft engines 12 by changing thrust and counter-rotating with their common transmission mechanism 13 changing the angle of attack on the incident wind, the suspension of the wind-power block, consisting of a bracket 14, a nacelle 15 with an electric generator and a radial-blade turbine 16, dressed from the leeward side of the nacelle to the axis of rotation, coinciding with the direction of the wind. The suspension of the wind-power block is a bridge truss 17 hanging from the platform in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the wind, the ends of the lower horizontal beams of which have cylindrical hinges 18. Moreover, the hinges of the nose plumage, the hinges of the bridge truss, and also the aircraft engines of the aft plumage are pairwise spaced and symmetrically offset from the longitudinal axis of the cigar-shaped shell. From the bushings of the hinges of the suspension, the sides of the brace of the wind-power unit extend, and to the bushings of the hinges of the nasal plumage attached tethered cables stretched to the winches 19. The cable-cable hangs from the wind-power block to the cable-cable bay 20, which together with the winches is coaxially mounted on the horizontal beam 21 of the berth a node that can rotate on a vertical axis 22, whose support is the ground pedestal 23. The beam is rotated by a reversing actuator 24, which transmits rotation to the axis of the mooring unit using while its own driving gear 25 and driven gear 26 mounted on a part of the axis protruding from the pedestal between this ground base and the beam. Commands to the reversing actuator come through the processor from the wind pressure sensors to the gas-filled shell. The sensors are placed on the surface of the shell at the level of its longitudinal axis so that one sensor 27.1 is located on the windward nose of the shell, and the rest are evenly located on one side (sensors 27.2-27.6) and the second side of the shell (sensors 27.7-27.11).

Aeroenergostat works as follows. The installation is launched when the wind is stable and has a direction predominant for the area. The soft shell is filled with light gas until the aeronautical module acquires positive buoyancy, and outside air is pumped into the internal balloon by the compressor, which gives the shell a finished cigar shape with a taut streamlined surface. The cable and cable-cable are simultaneously pushed from the winch drums and cable-cable bay until the aeronautical module reaches strong winds with a speed of 25-30 m / s at operating heights in the range of 300-600 meters from the ground. During the lifting process, the module, due to its longitudinally elongated shape, is independently oriented to the wind, and the included aircraft engines operate in such a way that they do not allow a large displacement of the module from the berth unit. All this time, the sensor on the windward nose of the shell transfers constant information to the processor that the wind pressure on it exceeds the performance of the side sensors. In this mode, the mooring unit actuator receives a command from the processor to deploy the unit's rotation axis through the gear train so that the horizontal beam with the equipment on it becomes perpendicular to the direction of the wind and retains this position until a new command. At the working height, the module stabilizes in the hovering mode in the surface atmosphere directly above the mooring unit, in which the tensioned safety ropes are located vertically. The counter-rotation of the propellers of the aircraft engines eliminates the reactive moment, and the low-speed turbine with radially directed blades does not significantly affect the spatial stability of the module. The high-speed pressure of the wind rotates the turbine, mechanical energy is supplied to the electric generator, where it is converted into electrical energy sent via a cable to the controller, the battery, the inverter, and then to external consumers. Part of the generated energy is returned to the own needs of high-altitude wind turbines, feeds aircraft engines and its other electrical equipment. The energy costs for this are reduced by 5-6 times due to streamlining and low windage of the cigar-shaped shell in comparison with the spherical shape in the prototype.

Due to the work of adjustable thrust aircraft engines, proper control of the mooring unit's executive mechanism for the entire period of bringing the aeronautical module to the level of high-speed winds of constant direction and the operation of the wind power block there, there is no crossing, overlap and twisting of cable cables directly above the mooring unit, destabilizing the spatial stability of an airborne high-altitude installation. The lateral stability of the aeronautical module is controlled by mooring ropes, and the longitudinal instability of the cigar-shaped shell is suppressed by changes in the angle of attack of aircraft engines against the incoming wind, carried out by their common transmission mechanism.

The nature of the work of the proposed device with changes in the direction of the wind at a time becomes different. The pressure of one of the sides of the balloon shell begins to act on the pressure of the wind, first equal to, and then exceeding the wind pressure on the forward wind gauge. Signals about this are received by the processor, which gives the command to the reversing actuator of the mooring unit to deploy the beam with winches and cable-cable bay through the gear transmission to the position, the longitudinal axis perpendicular to the new direction of the wind. The information that the beam is rotated as it should, is received by the processor from the forward wind gauge, the air pressure of which returns to an indicator that exceeds the pressure of the wind on the side sensors. At the same time, and with the same orientation, an independent spatial restructuring of the aeronautical module takes place, and aircraft engines continue to perform their functions, suppressing longitudinal swaying and vibrations of the cigar-shaped shell, supporting the module to hang in the air directly above the mooring unit while maintaining the vertical tension of the tethered cables without crossing them, overlap and twisting. After the above actions, the wind power installation unit resumes operation in the operating mode. With a gusty change in the direction of the wind, the rotation of the beam may be delayed from the spatial rearrangement of the aeronautical module. The control program then slows down the module’s turning speed due to the short-term switching of aircraft engines to a different thrust mode.

In exceptional cases, in which the lateral wind acts on the bow of the gas-filled shell with a force that is so much higher than its pressure on the stern of the shell, the longitudinal keel of the platform is ineffective and the aeronautical module unfolds stern in the wind. In this case, the aircraft engine leeward relative to the lateral wind gives out more power than the windward aircraft engine, which, in addition, can be converted into a reverse rotation mode.

Due to the stable hovering of a high-altitude module directly above the berth unit without tilting cable ties, an aeroelectrostat for the first time solves the problem of aeronautical devices, extremely reducing the production areas of the territories allocated for the placement of wind energy devices with the removal of land resources from useful turnover. The present system improves the performance of ground-based structures in this, which take vast territories under themselves. The newest wind farm Markbygden onshore wind project in northern Sweden, out of 1,100 wind turbines in three wind parks, will be spread over 450 square meters upon completion of construction. km, which is 40 hectares of land allocation for the construction of one tower with a radial-blade turbine of industrial capacity.

Claims (1)

Aeroenergostat, containing an aeronautical module in a soft gas-filled shell, a wind-powered block suspended under the shell, variable-thrust and counter-rotation air-propelled electric aircraft engines, tethered cables and a cable-cable stretched from the module to the mooring unit, including a ground curbstone, characterized in that the wind power unit includes a freely swinging bracket, in the center of the horizontal shelf of which there is a gondola with an electric generator and a radial-blade turbine worn with a on the rotational side of the nacelle on the axis of rotation, which coincides with the direction of the wind, the casing is made in a cigar shape, includes a balloon with a compressor and is drawn by bandage bands to a horizontal composite platform having longitudinal keel, bow and stern feathers, transmission mechanism for changing the angle of attack aircraft engines on the incoming wind and the suspension of the wind power unit, while aircraft engines are mounted on the feed tail symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the cigar hinged shells, the hinges built into them are also symmetrically located in the nose, to the bushings of which the ends of the tethered cables are attached, while the suspension of the wind-power block is a bridge truss attached from below and across the platform perpendicular to the direction of the wind, the ends of the lower horizontal beam of which are equidistant from the longitudinal axis cigar-shaped shell and have cylindrical hinges, to the sides of which are suspended the sides of the brace of the wind-power block, outside the cigar-shaped shell at a level Wind pressure sensors are fixed on its longitudinal axis, while one sensor is mounted on the windward nose of the shell, and the remaining sensors are evenly spaced along its sides, while the ground curbstone has an upward axis of rotation, coaxial winches and a cable-cable bay, whose drive mechanisms are controlled programmatically, on the vertical axis of rotation of the ground curbstone of the mooring unit, a driven gear is first put on, which is engaged with the drive gear related to the reversing actuator, and then a horizontal beam is planted, in the center of which there is a cable-cable bay, and winches are located at equidistant ends of the beam.

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