WO2010038169A2

WO2010038169A2 - Energetically self-sufficient marine building-city and system for using tidal and stream power for generation of electricity

Info

Publication number: WO2010038169A2
Application number: PCT/IB2009/054126
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ridas Matonis
Original assignee: Ridas Matonis
Priority date: 2008-10-03
Filing date: 2009-09-21
Publication date: 2010-04-08
Also published as: LT2008078A; WO2010038169A3

Abstract

The goal of the invention is to create a large building or a collection of buildings with an autonomous power system that is built off-shore or off the coast. Equipment for extraction of energy from water movement such as waves, underwater current and tides, constitutes a part of the energy for infrastructure of the building (1). The energy generated by this equipment and by other means is consumed for internal needs of the building or of the collection of buildings that constructed off-shore or in the open sea, or is sent to other power utility networks.

Description

Title of Invention: ENERGETICALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT

MARINE BUILDING-CITY AND SYSTEM FOR USING TIDAL

AND STREAM POWER FOR GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY

Technical Field Technical Field

[1] This invention is related to buildings constructed off-shore or in open seas and to equipment for energy extraction from water movement, e.g., sea and ocean currents, waves, tides, etc.; it is specifically related to buildings constructed on open seas that produce a part of internally consumed energy by extracting it from the said currents, waves and tides. Background Art Background Art

[2] Renewable energy sources become more important than ever. Energy of sun, wind, geothermal and river water is widely used for generation of electric energy. However, energy extraction from water movements in seas and oceans is rather poorly explored. The natural phenomena, such as underwater currents, waves and tides, that in some instances rise water level by several meters, is one more useful source of renewable energy.

[3] Many inventions describe different underwater turbines that convert the energy of moving water into electricity or other kinds of energy.

[4] International patent application No. WO2008074810 , published on June 26, 2008, describes a device that converts the energy of sea waves into mechanical energy for producing of fresh water or electric energy. The device essentially is made of a floating platform, an anchor sitting on the sea bottom and buoy that moves vertically under influence of sea waves and drives a pump, which produces water pressure at the output. The excessive water pressure releases its energy to electric generator and thus the electric energy is produced.

[5] International patent application No WO2004048774 , published on August 24, 2005, describes a device consisting of several marine turbines mounted on a rack.

[6] American patent No US2005236843 , published on October 27, 2005, describes an underwater ocean power plant with special barriers to channel water and increase its speed in the proximity of the turbine.

[7] British patent No GB 2445183 , published on July 4, 2008, describes an invention of floating weights that descend after being elevated during a high tide and their gravitational energy is converted into electricity. [8] International patent application WO2007142647 describes a power plant that utilizes tidal ascent and descent of a floating hull and converts it into electricity by means of linear-rotary converter. The converter converts essentially vertical movement of the hull into torque and applies it to drive generators.

[9] There is a number of invention patent and application that describe energetically self- sufficient buildings or collections of them and technologies enabling them to supply their energy needs and reduce energy consumption in the principal engineering systems.

[10] International patent application No WO2007036587 , published in April 5, 2007, describes energy system of a building that produces, distributes and stores energy eliminating the need for supplemental energy from local utility networks. The building extracts sufficient amounts of energy from its environment (fresh air, ambient humidity). Initially the system collects energy that is necessary for heating and cooling from ambient air, passing through windows and opening in the ground and stores it by means of phase conversion. Later the system releases the energy for required processes by means of reverse conversion.

[11] Also, several inventions describe buildings floating on the water surface. One such building is described in Japanese patent No JP4090986 , published on March 24, 1992. The invention describes a collection of interconnected floating buildings that is arranged in the manner of accession, so that the highest building is located in the center and the lesser buildings around it. This arrangement of buildings allows to neutralize wind impact.

[12] The international patent application No PCT/IB2008/052999, submitted on July 25,

2008, describes energy-independent city -building, the infrastructure thereof allows generating all required energy from renewable sources and reduce the energy consumed by the principal systems of ventilation/conditioning, water-supply, lighting and internal transportation. In case of high-rise buildings or collections of them the difference of air pressure and temperature at the base and top of the building is used for energy generation and conservation. Energy consumption is reduced by effective ventilation/conditioning system that takes all the air for ventilation of premises at the top of the building, where it is cooler; descending vehicles in 3D transportation system generate electric energy and send it into the power grid of the building; water is lifted up to the top of the building in the form of vapor; the internal lighting system uses concentrated day light channeled through optical fibers; electricity is generated in sealed air ducts, spanning the whole height of the building, in which turbines are driven by the air flow formed due to difference of air pressure inside the ducts.

[13] The former engineering level inventions propose buildings constructed on open seas, off-shore or on land that efficiently tap renewable sources of energy, such as sun, wind, geo-thermal energy. However, no solutions have been proposed for construction of floating buildings that extract energy from underwater currents, waves, and tides and send it into the general energy system of the building or collections of them, thus achieving energy self-sufficiency thereof and making it feasible to construct the buildings off-shore or on open seas.

[14] Also, there are no inventions describing utilization of structural elements of buildings for energy generation/conversion. Disclosure of Invention Technical Solution

[15] This invention seeks to provide a solution for construction of buildings with large horizontal and/or vertical dimensions or collections of them, that would be built on sea surface and would use variations in water level as a supplemental energy source. The building, constructed according to this invention, preferably is energetically self- sufficient city-building, containing complete energy infrastructure, as described in international patent application PCT/IB2008/052999, submitted on July 25, 2008, that generates sufficient amount of energy for internal needs from renewable energy sources, one of these sources being the ocean energy or energy of water movement. Another objective of this invention is to create a system of chambers for extraction of tidal energy, which, in the preferable implementation, is build at the bottom of an offshore or coastal building. Description of Drawings

[16] Fig. 1 - The fundamental scheme of an off-shore or coastal city -building.

[17] Fig. 2 - The segment of the sectional view of the off-shore or coastal city-building, representing the system for extraction of tidal energy. Best Mode

[18] The preferable implementation of this invention is a building (1) or a collection of buildings, constructed off-shore, on a coast or on open seas and having energy infrastructure that applies one or several of these energy generation, conservation and storage technologies:

[19] 1. a. cooler air at the top of the building is used for internal conditioning and ventilation;

[20] 1. b. Potable and domestic water is elevated to the top levels of the building (1) in the form of vapor though vapor elevation shafts (13) containing condensation means at the top section;

[21] 1. c. Excess of elevated water is channeled into sewage pipes, where it drives turbines converting kinetic energy of sewage into electricity, or is discharged around the building top to form artificial clouds as a natural shade and for ar- tificial rain for watering of plants; [22] 1. d. Vertical or oblique sealed air ducts with turbines inside are mounted on the building structure to convert energy of air flow into electric energy; [23] 1. e. Day light is concentrated outside the building (1) and channeled inside the building via optical fibers, where it is scattered for illumination of the premises; [24] 1. f. The internal transportation system is made of three-dimensional network of traffic corridors (15), the self-propelled vehicles wherein consuming energy only for ascension and acceleration and generating it while descending and breaking.

[25] Since this energetically self-sufficient building (1) is constructed off-shore or off the coast, it becomes possible to tap into energy sources of seas and oceans. The building (1) or the collection of buildings has a foundation that is constructed on the seabed, rising up to the water surface, preferably, higher than the high tide, or close to it. Equipment is arranged in the area of the said foundation for extraction of energy from waves, underwater currents, and tides and for conversion thereof into other forms of energy, such as electric power.

[26] Underwater currents are converted into other forms of energy by means of external turbines (3) that are mounted in the area of the mentioned foundation (2) of the building (1) and/or on the sides of the foundation, so that they protrude outside the perimeter of the building (1). Also, deflectors and concentrating devices are mounted for deflection and concentration of the currents into smaller cross-section in order to increase the current speed therein. [27] The tidal energy is converted into other forms of energy by means of the most efficient extraction system. This system not only extracts energy from the rising and falling water, but also from the air that is affected by the surface of rising and falling water. Fig. 2 illustrates the fundamental scheme of construction, designed for this purpose. It is equipped with two surfaces of large area that are impacted by large general pressure. One of the surfaces is the water surface, pressing the air, and the other surface is the remaining inner surface of the air chamber that has to be sturdy enough to withstand negative and positive pressure inside the chamber, which can reach 0.5 bar/m² and more. In the preferable implementation scenario the tidal energy extraction structure is installed in the basement area of a large building (1) or collection of buildings and the foundation plate of the building (1) or the collection of buildings constitutes the upper surface of the tidal structure, thus the weight of the building (1) or the collection of buildings compensates the air pressure from beneath. The structure should be sturdy enough to withstand the additional vacuum (air depression) load at the low tide. [28] As it is shown in Fig. 2, the mentioned tidal energy extraction structure in the preferable implementation essentially is made of two chamber types - the chambers (5) of the first type are installed in the upper part of the structure and are filled with air, which is alternately compressed and depressed, and the chambers (4) of the second type that are installed in the lower part of the structure and are filled with sea water flowing in and out during high and low tides, the outside level (16) thereof constantly changing.

[29] Each chamber (4, 5) is equipped with a system of valves (9, 10, 11, 12) and turbines

(6, 7, 8) that control pressure in these chambers (4, 5) and pass air or water in and out. The turbines (6, 7, 8) generate electricity when air or water is sucked in or pushed out from any of the chambers (4, 5). [30] In the preferable implementation the lower chamber (4) has two channels to the outside, one of which is installed at the bottom of the chamber (4) and is equipped with a turbine (8) and a valve (11), if needed, and the other channel is installed at the top of the chamber (4) and is equipped with an air turbine (7) and a vale (10). In the preferable implementation the upper chamber (5) has one channel to the outside with a valve (9) and an air turbine (6) in it. In the horizontal divider between the both chambers (4, 5) a valve (12) is installed that helps maintaining air pressure in the upper chamber (5). [31] The mentioned tidal energy extraction structure performs a working cycle, related to the change of water level (16) during low and high tides. [32] 1. 1) At the low tide the valves (9) and (10) are closed, and the valve (12) is opened.

[33] 1. 2) When water level starts rising, water is pushed into the lower chamber (4), passing through the water turbine (8) at the bottom of this chamber (4), said turbine (8) is able to generate electricity from water flow in either direction. As water level in the lower chamber (4) rises, the valves (9) and (10) remain closed and air pressure in the upper chamber (5) and the upper part of the lower chamber (4) increases.

[34] 1. 3) When water level is at the highest point and air pressure inside compensates the water pressure due to the difference of water levels, i.e. when water level (16) outside the structure is higher than the water level in the lower chamber (4) and air pressure is created in the upper chamber (5) and in the upper part of the lower chamber (4), the valve (12) is closed;

[35] 1. 4) The valve (10) is opened, letting the remaining pressured air to escape from the lower chamber while driving the turbine (7); at the same time water gushes into the lower chamber (4) through the lower channel and drives the turbine (8) until the water level inside the lower chamber equalizes with the external water level (16). [36] 1. 5) The valve (9) is opened, letting the remaining pressured air to escape from the upper chamber while driving the turbine (6);

[37] 1. 6) When external water level (16) starts falling, the valves (9) and (10) are closed, the water escapes from the lower chamber (4) while driving the turbine (8), and vacuum is created in the upper part of the lower chamber above the water surface; [38] 1. 7) The external water level (16) having reached the lowest point, a water remnant remains in the lower chamber (4) due to the vacuum in the upper (5) and lower (4) chambers;

[39] 1. 8) Then the valve (12) is closed, thereafter the valve (10) is opened, the air that is sucked into the lower chamber (4) drives the turbine (7), and the remnant water escaping the lower chamber (4) drives the turbine (8); [40] 1. 9) The valve (9) is opened and the upper chamber (5) having a negative air pressure, is filled with air from outside driving the turbine (6).

[41] At the lower outlet of the lower chamber (4), close to the turbine (8), another water valve can be installed to help maintain the optimal turbine operation. In this case the water flow is limited and continuous generation of electricity is ensured. Valves (9, 10, and 11) are also adapted for control of air flows for more even generation of electricity and/or for limiting the air/water flows during the periods of low energy consumption in the building (1) and for increasing the air/water flow during the periods of high energy consumption. The system can operate without the air turbine (7), in which case the workload on the water turbine would increase.

[42] The system can also operate without the upper air chamber (5), i.e. a single-chamber design can be used. In which case the speed of chamber (4) filling and drainage is controlled by the workloads of the turbines (7, 8) (the speed is reduced seeking to prolong the cycle stages) to reduce as much as possible the idle stage, so that the chamber (4) drainage could be started shortly after the chamber (4) is completely filled, and, vice versa, the filling could be started shortly after the chamber (4) is completely empty.

[43] All electric energy generated by the power generating construction described above is sent into the general power grid of the building (1) or the collection of buildings above, where it is consumed for internal needs, while the excessive energy can be sent to utility networks or accumulated in the energy repositories in the building itself. Such energy infrastructure, arranged in the building (1) constructed off-shore or off the coast ensures its energy-independence, therefore the building (1) can be build away from the power grid.

Claims

1. A system for conversion of tidal energy into other forms of energy, comprising water turbines and a construction, adapted to create a directional water flow during tidal transitions, characterized in that the system comprises at least one hermetic chamber (4), having at least one water intake/outlet channel at the bottom of the chamber (4) and at least one air intake/outlet channel, arranged so that the said end of the air channel projects through the top section of the said chamber (4) and in case of high tide stays above the water level.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the system consists of two hermetic chambers (4, 5), installed one above the other and having the air and/or water intake/outlet channels.

3. A system according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper chamber (5) is adapted to be filled with air, when the tide is coming in, and to be exhausted, thus creating a vacuum, whenever the tide is going out, and the bottom chamber (4) is adapted to be filled with water, when the tide is coming in, thus compressing the remaining air in this chamber (4), and to be drained, thus creating a vacuum in the remaining space of said bottom chamber (4), whenever the tide is going out.

4. A system according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the air and/or water intake and outlet openings are equipped with turbines (6, 7, 8) and/or valves (9, 10, 11, 12).

5. A system according to any of the claims 2-4, characterized in that the chambers are connected with each other at least by one channel, equipped with a valve (12).

6. A system according to any of the claims 2-5, characterized in that the system is adapted to perform these process stages that correspond to one tidal cycle:

- closing of valves (9) and (10) and opening of valve (12) when water level is low;

- closing of the valve (12) when the water level is at the highest point and the pressure of compressed air compensates the water pressure, caused by the difference in water levels inside and outside the chamber (4);

- opening of the valve (10);

- opening of the valve (9); - closing of valves (9) and (10);

- closing of the valve (12);

- opening of valve (10);

- opening of the valve (9).

7. An energetically self-sufficient building (1) or a collection of buildings, characterized in that this building (1) or the collection of buildings are constructed off-shore or off the coast and the system according to any of the claims 1-6 is arranged at its foundation.