US20090317191A1

US20090317191A1 - Fish way of turbine structure and gate structure for tidal power plant

Info

Publication number: US20090317191A1
Application number: US12/374,557
Authority: US
Inventors: Kyung Soo Jang; Jong Ah Lim; Young Mook Chyung; Jae Hoon Kim; Jae Hee Cho
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-22
Filing date: 2007-11-21
Publication date: 2009-12-24
Also published as: WO2008063009A1; JP2010501750A; JP4746132B2; CN101512073B; KR100797779B1; CN101512073A

Abstract

Fishways of turbine structures and gate structures for environmentally-friendly tidal power plant through which fish can pass through are provided. The fishway comprises of sea side fishways and lake side fishways to allow fish to move between the sea side and the lake side by forming inside stuffing space filled with seawater for shorter construction period and concrete reduced placing quantity in a certain section of the vertical middle walls installed on the base of which the bottom part is on the marine rock to form blocks of turbine structures and gate structures in a tidal power plant, and seawater on the sea side and the lake side is flown through the front and rear of such inside stuffing space.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a tidal power plant, in particular to the fishway of turbine structures and gate structures for environmentally-friendly tidal power plants through which fish can pass through.

BACKGROUND ART

A tidal power plant generates power using the difference of water level between the open sea and a lake by the flux and reflux of the tides.
The barrage, turbine structures, and gate structures that are comprised of such a tidal power generation block the movement of fish, thus destroying the ecosystem.
In general, every fish moves to lay eggs and capture food within a habitat, and this small-scale movement is called local migration; but some fish move a long distance to lay eggs. Such movement by the fish is blocked by structures that have recently been built.
Now there is a law requiring the installation of fishway when constructing dams. However, fishways with a wrong structure or fishways that are not repaired or maintained to play its role after installation turn into a killing field for fish, causing problems in the ecosystem.
Particularly for tidal power plants which obstruct land and sea, a simple type of fishway at one place is considered for the entire structure of the plant, but there has been no technology to install fishways that consider all of the swimming characteristics of the diverse species of fish.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention was invented in consideration of the conventional technology mentioned above. The primary object of the present invention is to provide an environmentally-friendly tidal power plant by forming inside stuffing space in a certain section of the vertical middle walls installed to create blocks of turbine structures and gate structures in a tidal power plant for shorter construction period and reduced construction costs, and fishways through these inside stuffing spaces between the sea side and the lake side so that fish can move between the sea side and the lake side.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tidal power plant by forming multiple fishways connected with the inside stuffing space in the middle wall according to the swimming characteristics of fish depending on the water depth so that many species of fish can move freely, thus increasing the probability of fish movement.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention features sea side fishways and lake side fishways to allow fish to move between the sea side and the lake side by forming inside stuffing space filled with seawater for shorter construction period and reduced concrete placing quantity in a certain section of the middle wall installed for forming turbine structure and gate structures as two units of one block, which are defined as one block of the turbine structure in which two turbine generators divided by a middle wall are installed and operated separately or defined as one block of the gate structure in which two water gates divided by a middle wall are installed and operated separately.
The fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle walls are formed in multiple units in fixed intervals along the perpendicular direction to the middle walls according to the swimming characteristics of fish depending on the depth of the sea.
Inside the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle walls are partitions in fixed intervals which offer temporary resting and shelter for the swimming fish.
Around the inner walls of the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle walls and the inside stuffing spaces are installed multiple red guiding lamps which generate long-wavelength infrared rays to guide the fish.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plane view roughly illustrating an arrangement status of tidal power plants for installing turbine structures and gate structures according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating one part of turbine structures for tidal power plants according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating inside stuffing spaces and fishways formed in the middle walls of turbine structures shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating one part of turbine structures for tidal power plants according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating one part of the gate structures for tidal power plants according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating inside stuffing spaces and fishways formed in the middle walls of gate structures shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating a gate structure for tidal power plants according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along a line B-B in FIG. 8.

BEST MODE

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings illustrate example embodiments of the present invention. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be considered as limited to the embodiments set forth in the drawings. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Therefore, the example in this specification and the construction illustrated on the drawings is only one desirable example of this invention and does not represent all the technical ideas of this invention. There can be various equivalents and variations of this invention at the time of this application.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a tidal power plant (10) is installed between the lake (L) and the sea (W) on a construction site for tidal power plants in which the difference of the flux and reflux of the tides is appropriate.
The above-mentioned tidal power plant (10) is an environmentally-friendly tidal power plant that consists of multiple blocks of turbine structures (20) and gate structures (50) which can be installed as two units of one block, and a connection structure (80) between them, and has an ocean tour function, an access road function, and a power generation function at the same time. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 90 illustrates the wing wall of the turbine structure which is connected to the outermost turbine structure (20).
As illustrated in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5, the turbine structure (20) has a base (21) of which the bottom part is on the marine rock, and vertical middle walls (22) on the base (21), the top of which is closed by a concrete structure of which illustration is omitted wherein a draft tube (23) is formed, and turbine generators (24) are arranged in this draft tube. The turbine generators (24) in the turbine structures generate power by the principle of using the difference of water levels between sea and lake.
As mentioned above, the turbine structures (20) are operated in two units of one block separated by middle walls (22) installed on the base, and turbine generators (24) arranged between the middle walls (22) through the draft tube (23).
The present invention features fishways on the sea side (26) and fishways on the lake side (27) inside the middle walls (22) which are connected to the inside stuffing spaces (25) at the front and rear of the sea side and lake side (L) of the middle walls (22) through which fish can move between the sea side (W) and the lake side by flowing seawater to the sea side (W) and the lake side (L) through the inside stuffing spaces (25) in a certain section filled with seawater for shorter construction period and concrete placing quantity.
As described above, a multiple number of the fishways on the sea side (26) and fishways on the lake side (27) inside the middle walls (22) can be formed in fixed intervals in a perpendicular direction to the middle walls (22) to allow fish to swim through the fishways on the sea side (26) and the fishways on the lake side (27) according to the swimming characteristics of the fish depending on the water depth as shown by the virtual lines in FIG. 5. One fishway will be formed in each middle wall (22) in consideration of the structure strength of the middle wall (22), but the locations of the sea side (26) and fishways on the lake side (27) can be differentiated by top, middle and bottom to cope with the different swimming characteristics of the fish.
Furthermore, inside the fishways on the sea side (26) and the fishways on the lake side (27) in the middle walls (22), we may arrange multiple partitions (28) in fixed intervals which provide temporary resting and refuge for swimming fish as illustrated in FIG. 5.
As illustrated in FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, the gate structure (50) has a base (51) of which a bottom part is on the marine rock, and vertical middle walls (52) on the base (51), the top of which is closed by a concrete structure of which illustration is omitted wherein a waterway (53) is formed, and seawater may move through the water gates (54) formed at one side of the waterway (53), when necessary.
As mentioned above, the gate structures (50) are operated in two units of one block separated by middle walls (52) installed on the base, and water gates (54) arranged between the middle walls (52) through the waterway (53).
The present invention features fishways on the sea side (56) and fishways on the lake side (57) inside the middle walls (52) which are connected to the inside stuffing spaces (25) at the front and rear of the sea side and lake side of the middle walls (52) through which fish can move between the sea side (W) and the lake side (L) by flowing seawater to the sea side (W) and the lake side (L) through the inside stuffing spaces (55) in a certain section filled with seawater for shorter construction period and concrete placing quantity.
As described above, a multiple number of the fishways on the sea side (56) and fishways on the lake side (57) inside the middle walls (52) can be formed in fixed intervals in a perpendicular direction to the middle walls (52) to allow fish to swim through the fishways on the sea side (56) and fishways on the lake side (57) according to the swimming characteristics of the fish depending on the water depth as shown by the virtual lines in FIG. 9. One fishway will be formed in each middle wall (52) in consideration of the strength of the structure of the middle wall (52), but the locations of the sea side (56) and fishways on the lake side (57) can be differentiated by top, middle and bottom to cope with the different swimming characteristics of the fish.
Furthermore, inside the fishways on the sea side (56) and the fishways on the lake side (57) inside the middle walls (52), we may arrange multiple partitions (58) in fixed intervals which provide temporary resting and refuge for swimming fish as illustrated in FIG. 9.
The tidal power plant (10) of the present invention as described above generates power through periodic repetition of the process in which the turbine structures (20) and turbine structures (24) use the difference of water level between the open seawater (W) and the lake (L) by the difference of flux and reflux of the tides, and the seawater on the lake side (L) is returned to the sea side (W) through the water gates (54) of the gate structures (50).
During the tidal power generation described above, fish can move to the seawater side (W) or the lake side (L) through the inside stuffing spaces (25, 55) in the middle walls (22, 52) of the turbine structures (20) and the gate structures (50), the fishways on the sea side (26, 56) and the fishways on the lake side (27, 57).
The present invention can guarantee the free movement of various species of fish by allowing the fish to selectively use the fishways on the sea side (26, 56) and the fishways on the lake side (27, 57) which are formed at top, middle and bottom levels in the middle walls (22, 52) according to the swimming characteristics of the fish.
Furthermore, the fish can use the partitions formed in the fishways on the sea side (26, 56) and the fishways on the lake side (27, 57) as a resting place or refuge during movement, as well as in the large space of the inside stuffing spaces (25, 55).
As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 9, around the inner walls of the fishways on the sea side (26, 56) and the fishways on the lake side (27, 57) and the inner filling spaces (25, 55) are installed multiple guiding lamps (29, 59) in consideration of the visual characteristics of the fish. These guiding lamps (29, 59) can safely guide the fish to recognize and move through the fishways on the sea side (26, 56) and the fishways on the lake side (27, 57).
One interesting fact about the partial color blindness of fish is that the fish detects visual rays with longer wave lengths such as red or orange. Fishermen have long been aware of the fact that a fish sees and recognizes the color red well from their experience. Therefore, it is desirable to use red lamps that generate long wavelength infrared rays for the above-mentioned guiding lamps (29, 59).

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the present invention related to the fishways of turbine structures and gate structures for tidal power plants is to provide environmentally-friendly tidal power plants by forming inside stuffing space in a certain section of the vertical middle walls installed to create blocks of turbine structures and gate structures in a tidal power plant for shorter construction period and reduced construction costs by concrete reduced placing quantity, and fishways through these inside stuffing space between the sea side and the lake side so that fish can move between the sea side and the lake side.
Further, the present invention is to provide a tidal power plant by forming multiple fishways connected with the inside stuffing space in the middle wall according to the swimming characteristics of fish depending on the water depth so that many species of fish can move freely, thus increasing the probability of fish movement.

Claims

1. A fishway of a turbine structure for tidal power plant, comprising:

a turbine structure for tidal power plants, which comprises a base of which the bottom part is on the marine rock, and vertical middle walls are installed on the base by a predetermined distance, the top of which is closed by a concrete structure wherein a draft tube is formed, and turbine generators arranged between the middle walls through the draft tube, thereby being operated in two units of one block;

inside stuffing spaces in a predetermined section filled with seawater for shorter construction period and a reduction in concrete placing quantity; and

fishways on the sea side and fishways on the lake side inside the middle walls which are connected to the inside stuffing spaces at the front and rear of the middle walls so that fish can move between the sea side and the lake side by flowing seawater to the sea side and the lake side.

2. The fishway of claim 1, wherein the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle wall may be formed in a predetermined interval in perpendicular direction to the middle walls according to the swimming characteristics of the fish.

3. The fishway of claim 1, wherein multiple partitions in a predetermined distance which provide temporary resting and refuge for swimming fish may be arranged in an inner part of the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle walls.

4. The fishway of claim 1, wherein plural guiding lamps in red color, which generate long wavelength infrared rays, to reduce the fish are installed around the inner walls of the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side and in the inside stuffing spaces.

5. A fishway of a gate structure for tidal power plant, comprising:

a gate structure for tidal power plants, which comprises a base of which the bottom part is on the marine rock, and vertical middle walls are installed on the base in a predetermined distance, the top of which is closed by a concrete structure wherein a waterway is formed, and water gates arranged between the middle walls through the waterway, thereby being operated in two units of one block;

6. The fishway of claim 5, wherein the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle wall may be formed in a predetermined interval in perpendicular direction to the middle walls according to the swimming characteristics of the fish.

7. The fishway of claim 5, wherein multiple partitions in a predetermined distance which provide temporary resting and refuge for swimming fish may be arranged in an inner part of the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side formed in the middle walls.

8. The fishway of claim 5, wherein plural guiding lamps in red color, which generate long wavelength infrared rays, to reduce the fish are installed around the inner walls of the fishways on the sea side and the fishways on the lake side and in the inside stuffing spaces.