WO2011048298A2

WO2011048298A2 - High-efficiency power production unit

Info

Publication number: WO2011048298A2
Application number: PCT/FR2010/052091
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Eleaume; Guy Le Marc
Original assignee: Thomas Eleaume; Guy Le Marc
Priority date: 2009-10-22
Filing date: 2010-10-04
Publication date: 2011-04-28
Also published as: FR2951773A1; WO2011048298A3; FR2951773B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a power production unit including at least one first convergent pipe (11) and an engine (2), the first pipe (11) including an inlet (110) operationally supplied with a fluid moving in an accelerated manner within the first pipe to an outlet (111) of said first pipe (11), and the engine (2) being set up on the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11) and being designed so as to recover at least a fraction of the kinetic energy of the fluid flow passing through the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11). According to the invention, the engine (2) is a positive displacement engine wherein the entire fluid flow, passing through the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11), passes through the positive displacement engine.

Description

HIGH YIELD ENERGY PRODUCTION UNIT.

The invention relates generally to the production of energy from renewable energy sources.

More specifically, the invention relates to an energy production unit comprising at least a first convergent duct and a motor, the first duct comprising an inlet fed in operation by a fluid in accelerated movement in the first duct to an outlet of this first pipe, and the engine being installed at the outlet of the first pipe and being designed to recover at least a fraction of the kinetic energy of the fluid flow passing through the outlet of the first pipe.

Production units of this type, equipped with paddlewheels as engines, have, at least in the distant past, been used to recover the kinetic energy of rivers.

The interest of exploiting renewable energy sources has been experiencing a new upsurge in recent years, linked to the recognition of ecological damage resulting from the exploitation of fossil energy sources.

In particular, alternative means to thermal power plants have been deployed in France for several years, without any real success.

At the same time, nuclear energy, which had developed strongly in France, is experiencing a sharp slowdown, no new construction being planned to date. Solar energy has shown its limits with regard to the production of electricity: the storage of electrical energy is very problematic and is currently done only by the use of batteries, the recycling of which is itself same problematic because of the use of toxic or polluting materials.

However, this storage is unavoidable, since energy can be produced on average only about 12 hours a day in Western Europe, while consumption needs are spread over the course of a day.

Wind energy has been developing for several years and many classical horizontal axis wind turbine fields have been deployed in France.

This mode of producing electricity is, however, subject to fairly strict constraints.

In particular, current wind turbines can only be used if the wind speed is between 20 and 80 km / h.

Below the lower limit of 20 km / h, the wind force is not sufficient to move the blades, and above the upper limit of 80 km / h, the blades must be feathered to avoid irreversible damage to wind turbines.

Thus, the current situation is struck by a strange paradox, namely that wind turbines must, for safety reasons, stop working when the wind is strongest, that is to say precisely when energy production could be the most important.

In addition, current wind turbines suffer from two other notable disadvantages: • Their exorbitant cost, both in terms of equipment and installation civil engineering, some of them being supported by 40-meter high pylons with blades also measuring some forty meters; and

• Their very negative impact on the poultry population and the landscape.

Finally, according to Betz's law, the efficiency of a wind turbine is limited to 59%, excluding the transformation of mechanical energy into electrical energy. Indeed, Albert Betz showed that the efficiency of a wind turbine was optimal when the wind speed after passing through the blades V _s was equal to one third of the speed V _E of the wind before reaching the blades: either V _s = 1/3 V _E. It is deduced that the power is limited to 16/27 (about 0.59) of the input power.

In this context, the present invention aims to provide a power generation unit that is free of at least one of the defects found on current wind turbines.

To this end, the energy production unit of the invention, which is moreover in conformity with the generic definition given in the preamble above, is essentially characterized in that the motor is a volumetric motor traversed by the entire flow of fluid passing through the outlet of the first pipe.

Preferably, the motor comprises a piston rotatably mounted about a rotating axis of rotation in a cylinder closed by two mutually parallel sealing faces perpendicular to the axis of rotation. In particular, it is possible to provide that the piston is inscribed, transversely to the axis of rotation, in a section of regular biconcave shape, that the cylinder has, transversely to the axis of rotation, an equilateral curvilinear triangle section. , that the piston sealingly defines three chambers in the cylinder, and that the rotation, in a first direction, of the piston in the cylinder is accompanied mainly by an increase in volume of a first of the three chambers and a volume reduction of a second of the three chambers, angularly disposed at 120 degrees from the first chamber, by rotation in the opposite direction of the first direction around the average position of the axis of rotation.

It is therefore particularly advisable to provide that the piston comprises a hollow shaft and two cylinder portions secured to the shaft, that the shaft is coaxial with the axis of rotation and opens on the outside of the cylinder, that each of the two cylinder portions of the piston present, transversely to the axis of rotation, a section s' registering in a circle segment, that the two cylinder portions of the piston are deduced from each other by rotation of 180 degrees around the axis of rotation, and that each piston portion of the piston has a solid portion extending over a first peripheral length, and a recessed portion extending over a second peripheral length less than the first peripheral length.

In this case, it is also preferable to ensure that each chamber of the cylinder comprises an oriented fluid inlet, for a rotation of the piston in the first direction, so as to open opposite a recessed portion of the piston in the configuration. for this chamber has an increasing volume, that each solid part of the piston has a slot communicating with the hollow shaft forming an exhaust, and that each slot of the piston is arranged so as to open successively in each of the chambers of decreasing volume during rotation piston in the first direction.

In this case, the power generation unit 1 of the invention further advantageously comprises second and third convergent pipes respectively connected to the fluid inlets of the second and third chambers.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each pipe is a Bernoulli tube.

In the preferred case where the power generation unit is designed to produce electrical energy, it further comprises an electric generator juxtaposed with the motor and driven by it.

If the power generation unit of the invention comprises several convergent pipes, these pipes are preferably arranged inside a sleeve whose inlet opening is covered by a protective grid.

The energy production unit of the invention may notably take the form of a wind turbine, in which case it comprises, for example, a mast supporting the sleeve in at least a substantially horizontal orientation, the engine and the generator being carried by a wind turbine. end of the sleeve remote from the inlet opening of this sleeve.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which is made below, for information only and in no way limitative, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a diagram showing a power generation unit according to a possible embodiment of the invention and constituting a wind turbine;

- Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cylinder of a volumetric motor used in a unit according to one invention;

- Figure 3 is a top view of the piston of a volumetric motor used in a unit according to one invention;

- Figure 4 is a diagram of a volumetric motor used in a unit according to the invention, using the cylinder of Figure 2 and the piston of Figure 3;

- Figure 5 is an elevational view of the piston shown in Figure 3; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the piston illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5.

As previously announced, the invention relates to a power generation unit comprising at least a first convergent duct 11 and a motor 2.

Line 11 comprises an inlet 110 powered in operation by a moving fluid, such as air in the case of a wind turbine.

Given the convergent shape of the pipe 11, the fluid passing through the inlet 110 is accelerated in the pipe 11 to the outlet 111 of the latter.

Engine 2, which is installed at Exit 111 of Line 11, is designed to recover a fraction at less than the kinetic energy of the flow of fluid passing through the outlet 111 of this pipe 11.

According to the invention, the engine 2 is a volumetric motor traversed by the entire flow of fluid which passes through the outlet 111 of the pipe 11.

By "volumetric motor" is meant here any machine transforming the circulation of a fluid into a mechanical movement so that the blockage of the movement interrupts the flow of fluid, such a motor thus providing the reverse function of that provided by a volumetric pump.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the engine 2 comprises a piston 21 (Figures 3 to 6) rotatably mounted in a cylinder 22 (Figures 2 and 4).

The cylinder 22 is closed by two sealing faces

(not visible), mutually parallel and parallel to the plane of Figures 2 and 4.

The piston 21 is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation Z which constitutes a second order axis of symmetry for this piston, and which is therefore connected to this piston.

On the other hand, during the rotation of the piston 21 in the cylinder 22, the axis of rotation Z, which is perpendicular to the sealing faces of the cylinder 22, moves relative to the cylinder 22 around an average position.

As shown in Figures 2 to 6, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, the piston 21 is inscribed, transversely to the axis of rotation Z, in a section of regular biconcave shape, while the cylinder 22 has, transversely to this axis of rotation Z, an equilateral curvilinear triangle section. As shown in FIG. 4, three chambers 22a, 22b, and 22c are then delimited in a sealed manner by the piston 21 in the cylinder 22.

When the piston 21 undergoes a rotation of direction S in the cylinder 22 from the position illustrated in FIG. 4, the upper point of the piston 21 engages in the chamber 22b, disposed at 120 degrees from the chamber 22a by rotation in rotation. in the opposite direction of the direction of rotation S about the average position of the Z axis, while the lower point of this piston 21 leaves the chamber 22a.

During this movement, the volume of the chamber 22a, which is minimal in Figure 4, increases to tend to the volume that the chamber 22c in this figure, while the volume of the chamber 22b decreases to reach the volume that the chamber 22a presents in this figure, the volume of the chamber 22c remaining substantially constant.

In other words, the rotation of the piston 21 in the cylinder 22 by a sixth of a turn in the direction S from the position illustrated in FIG. 4 has the effect that the chamber 22b is in a final configuration identical to the initial configuration of the chamber 22a, that the chamber 22c is found in a final configuration identical to the initial configuration of the chamber 22b, and that the chamber 22a is found in a final configuration identical to the initial configuration of the chamber 22c.

As best shown in Figures 3, 5 and 6, the piston 21 comprises a hollow shaft 210 and two cylinder portions 211 and 212, integral with the shaft 210. In this case, the piston 21 further comprises a sole 215 extending perpendicularly to the Z axis and reinforcing the rigidity and cohesion of this piston.

The hollow shaft 210 is coaxial with the axis of rotation Z, passes through at least one of the sealing faces of the cylinder 22 (not visible), and forms an exhaust opening to the outside of the cylinder 22.

Each of the two cylinder portions 211 and 212 of the piston 21 has, transversely to the axis of rotation Z, a section s' registering in a segment of a circle having, to the functional clearance, the same radius as each side of the three lobes forming the cylinder 22.

Furthermore, the two cylinder portions 211 and 212 of the piston 21 are deduced from each other by rotation of 180 degrees about the axis of rotation Z.

As best shown in FIG. 6, each of the cylinder portions 211 and 212 of the piston 21 has a solid portion such as 211a and 212a, and a recessed portion such as 211b and 212b, each solid portion having a curvilinear length L1 greater than the curvilinear length L2 of each recessed portion.

Each of the chambers 22a, 22b, and 22c of the cylinder 22 includes a fluid inlet such as 221, 222, and 223, respectively.

For a rotation of the piston 21 in the first direction

S, the fluid inlet 221, 222, or 223 of each of the chambers 22a, 22b, or 22c is oriented so as to open facing a recessed portion 211b or 212b of the piston 21, in the configuration for which this chamber has an increasing volume, which is the case of the chamber 22a in FIG. Moreover, each solid portion 211a or 212a of the piston 21 has a slot 213 or 214 communicating with the hollow shaft 210, and each slot 213 or 214 is arranged to open successively in each of the chambers 22a, 22b, and 22c of decreasing volume during the rotation of the piston 21 in the direction S.

For example, as shown in Figure 4, the slot 214 opens in the chamber 22b whose volume will decrease.

As shown in FIG. 1, the power generation unit according to the preferred embodiment actually comprises three ducts 11, 12, and 13, provided with respective inlets 110, 120, and 130, and respective outlets 111. , 121, and 131, the outputs of these pipes being respectively connected to the inputs 221, 222, and 223 of the chambers 22a, 22b, and 22c of the cylinder 22.

Each of these pipes 11, 12, and 13 forms a Bernoulli tube, that is to say that the outlet of each of these pipes has an area smaller than the area of the inlet of this pipe.

These convergent conduits 11, 12 and 13 are advantageously arranged inside a sleeve 4 whose inlet opening 40 is covered by a protective grid 5.

In its preferred application, the power generation unit of the invention is designed to produce electrical energy and comprises for this purpose an electric generator 3 associated with a speed multiplier, juxtaposed with the engine 2, and driven by this last . As shown in Figure 6, this power generation unit takes for example the form of a wind turbine with a mast 6 supporting the sleeve 4 in an orientation at least substantially horizontal.

The mast 6 can rest on a frame 7 housing a voltage transformer, the motor 2 and the generator 3 can be carried by an end 41 of the sleeve 4 remote from the inlet opening 40.

With the reading of the present description, the person skilled in the art will nevertheless understand that a power generation unit according to the invention may be designed to be driven by any other fluid in motion than air, and especially by water or steam.

The interest of the specific volumetric motor described above lies in the fact that it corrects the three major defects of conventional wind turbines.

Even for high winds, even violent, no contraindication of operation is deplorable. On the contrary, when the wind speed increases, the described engine develops all its ability to transform the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity.

Even in the uncertain case where this engine would be subject to Betz's law, a production unit according to the invention could overcome this limitation by using two or three stages of motorization, respectively leading to the following theoretical yields:

59 + 41 * 0.59 = 83%, and 83 + 17 * 0.59 = 93%.

Moreover, the acceleration of the fluid in each Bernoulli tube makes it possible to increase the kinetic energy of the fluid. Taking into account the conservation of the flow rate between the inlet and the outlet of each of the pipes 11, 12, and 13, the speed of the fluid at the outlet is equal to the product of the velocity of the fluid at the inlet by the ratio of the areas of entry and exit.

As the kinetic energy of a fluid is proportional to the square of its velocity, each convergent channel increases the kinetic energy of the fluid passing through it by a multiplicative factor equal to the square of the ratio of the entry and exit areas of this pipe. .

Thus, the kinetic power of an airflow having a density of 1.2 kg / m ³ and reaching at 6 m / s the circular entry, one meter radius, of a convergent pipe increasing by a factor 10 the speed of this flow reaches 147 kW at the exit of this pipe.

Assuming that this situation persists for 8500 hours in a year, the available energy reaches the figure, admittedly theoretical but considerable, of 1 250 MWh.

Compared to a conventional wind turbine, the invention has the following major advantages:

1 °) Better performance, thanks to the fact that the production unit of the invention operates over a range of wind speeds covering practically the range of observable speeds, at least outside the hurricane zones.

2 °) Great compactness and minimal impact on the landscape. Calculations show that the inlet diameter of the air sleeve could be limited to 2 meters, for a length of about 5 meters. 3 °) Possibility of using other fluids than air. The production unit of the invention can in particular produce electricity by being traversed by a flow of liquid, and in particular by being immersed in a mass of moving water (river, tide, etc.).

4) At a miniature scale, this production unit could also be integrated into all kinds of games or toys.

Claims

CLAIMS.

An energy generating unit comprising at least a first convergent duct (11) and a motor (2), the first duct (11) comprising an inlet (110) fed in operation by an accelerating fluid in the first duct to an outlet (111) of this first pipe (11), and the motor (2) being a volumetric motor traversed by the entire flow of fluid passing through the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11), being installed at the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11), and being designed to recover at least a fraction of the kinetic energy of the fluid flow passing through the outlet (111) of the first pipe (11), and this motor ( 2) comprising a piston (21) rotatably mounted in a cylinder (22), characterized in that the piston (21) is rotatably mounted about a movable axis of rotation (Z) and fits transversely to the axis of rotation (Z), in a biconcave section equal, in that the cylinder (22) is closed by two mutually parallel sealing faces perpendicular to the axis of rotation (Z), and has, transversely to the axis of rotation (Z), a triangular section equilateral curvilinear, in that the piston (21) sealingly defines three chambers (22a, 22b, 22c) in the cylinder (22), in that the rotation, in a first direction (S), of the piston (21) in the cylinder (22) is mainly accompanied by an increase in volume of a first (22a) of the three chambers (22a, 22b, 22c) and a decrease in volume of a second (22b) of the three chambers , angularly arranged at 120 degrees from the first chamber (22a), by rotation in the opposite direction of the first direction (S) around the average position of the axis of rotation (Z), and in that this energy production unit further comprises second and third converging conduits (12, 13) respectively connected to the fluid inlets (222, 223) of the second and third chambers (22b, 22c).

2. Power generation unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the piston (21) comprises a hollow shaft (210) and two cylinder portions (211, 212) integral with the shaft (210), in that that the shaft (210) is coaxial with the axis of rotation (Z) and opens outside the cylinder (22), in that each of the two cylinder portions (211, 212) of the piston (21) ) has, transversely to the axis of rotation (Z), a section s' inscribing in a circle segment, in that the two cylinder portions (211, 212) of the piston (21) are deduced one of the another by rotating 180 degrees about the axis of rotation (Z), and in that each cylinder portion (211, 212) of the piston (21) has a solid portion (211a, 212a) extending over a first peripheral length (L1), and a recessed portion (211b, 212b) extending over a second peripheral length (L2) less than the first peripheral length (L1).

3. Power generation unit according to claim 2, characterized in that each chamber (22a, 22b, 22c) of the cylinder (22) has a fluid inlet (221, 222, 223) oriented, for a rotation of the piston (21) in the first direction (S), so as to open facing a recessed portion (211b, 212b) of the piston (21) in the configuration for which this chamber (22a, 22b, 22c) has an increasing volume, in that each solid portion (211a, 212a) of the piston (21) has a slot (213, 214) communicating with the exhaust hollow shaft (210), and in that each slot (213, 214) of the piston (21) is arranged to open successively into each of the chambers (22a, 22b, 22c) of decreasing volume during the rotation of the piston (21) in the first direction ( S).

4. Power generation unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each pipe (11, 12, 13) is a Bernoulli tube.

5. Power generation unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises an electric generator (3) juxtaposed with the motor (2) and driven by him.

6. Power generation unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises several convergent pipes (11, 12, 13) disposed inside a sleeve (4), an opening of which inlet (40) is covered by a protective grid (5).

7. Power generation unit according to claims 5 and 6, characterized in that it takes the form of a wind turbine, in that it comprises a mast (6) supporting the sleeve (4) in an orientation at less substantially horizontal, and in that the motor (2) and the generator (3) are carried by one end (41) of the sleeve (4) remote from the inlet opening (40).