WO2022197472A1

WO2022197472A1 - A process for generating unlimited sustainable energy from the oceans at extremely low cost

Info

Publication number: WO2022197472A1
Application number: PCT/US2022/019055
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Reynolds TIPTON
Original assignee: Tipton Robert Reynolds
Priority date: 2021-03-14
Filing date: 2022-03-06
Publication date: 2022-09-22

Abstract

A Process for Generating Unlimited Sustainable Energy From the Oceans at Extremely Low Cost is disclosed. This process is able to extract useful energy in the form of electricity, compressed air and/or hydrogen gas at a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) 2% or less than the lowest cost technologies in use in 2021. It is a comprehensive, omnibus process consisting of several options which may used singly or in combination. The process is sustainable, scalable, allows staged incremental deployment, utilizes common off the shelf materials, poses little risk to sea life, is capable of being carbon dioxide negative and is able to provide active cooling of the earth by means of low cost electromagnetic pass band emitters.

Description

A Process for Generating Unlimited Sustainable Energy From the Oceans at Extremely Low Cost

The process described in this omnibus patent application (This Process) is is capable of generating unlimited energy from slow moving water sources, such as ocean currents, and delivering it into existing power networks at a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) 2% or less than the lowest cost technologies in use in 2021.

In order to achieve the extremely low LCC claimed in this application, the sum of the LCC of generation and LCC of transmission to shore must be at or below the claimed value. This Process describes an over all process and specific methods for implementing to achieve claimed LCC.

This Process relies on three fundamental concepts:

1. Collect energy from slow moving water cheaply

2. Availability of low cost, high energy density, long life batteries

3. The extremely steep, natural pressure gradient of deep water

For most of human history, slow moving water has been regarded as being of little useful value and the high pressure of water at great depth as an engineering challenge to be overcome. This Process harnesses these effects to define a fundamental new process for generation and transmission of totally sustainable energy.

The generation step achieves an extremely low LCC by using a Variable Geometry Reciprocating Drag Machine (VGRDM) described in US Patent Application #17200829. The VGRDM is capable of converting kinetic energy in moving water into a useful form such as electricity, mechanical work or compressed hydrogen, at LCCs of 0.08 US cents / KWH to 0.15 US cents / KWH. As of this application, this is the only known method of achieving such low Life Cycle Costs. If a new technology is discovered with a lower LCC, This Process incorporates it.

Since the energy is extracted from ocean currents which are a great distance from the on shore energy network, achieving low LCC for generation is insufficient to support this applications claims. Low LCC of is also required. Cost of transmission has been a major barrier to harnessing this energy due to the long distances across or under water. Since the cost of buried electrical transmission lines is 10 to 15 times greater than aerial transmission lines and undersea transmission lines have even higher cost, the cost of transmitting energy via undersea cables over long distances makes this solution noncompetitive. Therefore This Process only utilizes undersea electrical cables where they are cheaper than the other methods described in this application.

This Process uses these methods of transmission, in combination, over long distances across the oceans to achieve its claimed very low LCC.

1. Surface transport of electricity stored in batteries by ship.

2. Transmission of energy as compressed air at great depth.

3. Generation and transmission of hydrogen by means of high pressure electrolysis at great depth.

4. Transmission of energy in the form of passively liquefied gas(es).

5. Transmission of energy in the form of highly compressed gas(es) using submerged vessels. While each of these methods may justify a separate patent application, the success of the process described in this application requires one or more of them to in order to meet local cost and geographic conditions. By including each of them in this omnibus application, This Process may be tailored for variable local and/or current conditions. The ability to adjust the process is crucial to its adoption and therefore its economic value.

In a time where many scientists have overwhelming evidence of impending ecological disaster due to CO2 emissions, This Process’ multiple methods of transmission allow it to operate in conditions from the Earth’s poles to the tropics, across a wide range of transoceanic distances and at all ocean depths.

At this time electrical vehicles are poised to become the dominant form of transportation by mid century. This Process’ ability to provide unlimited amounts of electricity at extremely low costs will accelerate these vehicles’ adoption and relieve the impending overload of electrical generation infrastructure worldwide.

The synergy of This Processes’ extremely low LCC (and potential profitability) compared to all other generation methods, the impending surge in demand for electricity and its ability to be tailored to fit virtually any ocean conditions will make it the dominant form of energy generation worldwide within a few decades. Its extremely low relative cost will make very hard for other technologies to displace due to their high cost of research and development. This may make it the dominant for energy production for centuries to come - as petroleum has been. If This Process were subdivided into its components, this synergistic advantage would be degraded or completely lost.

Method 1 - Surface transport of electricity stored in batteries by ship.

This transmission method was first described in US Provisional Patent Application #62994857 filed on 26 March 2020. This patent application incorporates that filing and inherits its filing date.

This transmission method converts energy contained in water (kinetic, thermal or other form) to electricity, uses that electricity to charge batteries, ships those batteries to where the electricity is needed and returns the batteries to the starting point for recharging. The same batteries may be used for storage or load balancing.

While this transmission method may be used in many applications, its primary application is ocean energy generation and distribution as part of This Process. Scientists have known for decades that the oceans are our most plentiful source of energy, however the difficulty and expense of transmitting the generated electricity to land has been prohibitive.

With recent and expected advances in battery technology, this method is now able to deliver energy at net an LCC below that of the best currently available technology. There are similar processes in use or under development, such as that developed by Orbital Marine Power of Scotland, but they have not yet been able to deliver energy at LCCs as low as This Process.

See attached drawings part. Figure 1 - Diagram of Method 1

The only prior art found using a similar process, that by Orbital Marine Power of Scotland, put all of the components in a single large unit. That approach requires that its turbine have a stowable configuration and energy can not be collected while the batteries are being transported and discharged. Since the discharge rates of current batteries are relatively slow, this means the collector/generator set is only used a fraction of the time increasing that process’ LCC.

This transmission method allows construction of an extremely low cost collector/generator set which does not travel with the batteries. The batteries are then transported by vehicle, such as a surface going vessel, and delivered to the point of use. This method, may use a single or multiple battery sets. If multiple sets are used, one set can be charging at the point of generation, one may be in transit to the point of use, one discharging at the point of use while another is in transit from the point of use to the point of generation. While this is one obvious arrangement, it is not the only one supported by the method.

When used with an expensive, permanent, under water turbine, the LCC is prohibitively high. Use of a VGRDM, or other very low cost generator, allows This Process to achieve it claims.

At the time this application was written, only deep cycle lead acid battery technology had a sufficiently low LCC to make this method cost competitive. Future solid state battery technology, such as Sodium- Glass, shows promise of reducing the installation and life cycle costs substantially. Predictions show figures of 5.0 US cents / KWH for deep cycle lead-acid and 0.15 US cents / KWH for Sodium-Glass. In order to achieve such low rates at predicted cycle times and life cycles, the battery sets may need to be used for decades to amortize their initial cost.

The life cycle cost may be lowered further by using external liquid cooling (from the surrounding water) to allow much faster charge and discharge rates. This increases each battery set's availability due to shorter cycle times.

The method does not depend upon how the battery sets are transported so long as its LCC achieves the claimed values or less.

Method 2 - Transmission of compressed air at great depth.

This method was first described in US Provisional Patent Application #62990407 “A Process for Collecting Kinetic or Thermal Energy Contained in Water and Distributing it as Compressed Air” filed on 16 March 2020. This patent application incorporates that filing and inherits its filing date.

The only prior art found on this topic is an underwater energy storage system from a company called Hydrostor who is operating a compressed air energy storage system for Toronto Electric in Canada. Their relevant patent is patent number 9416796, date Jan 292014, “Energy accumulation apparatus.” Hydrostor’s patent is for a device and not specifically challenges this application. Hydrostor’s process only provides storage, does not address transmission and is not part of a comprehensive energy generation system.

This transmission method converts energy contained in water (kinetic, thermal or other) to useful energy, uses that energy to isothermally compress air at great depth under water, the compressed air is then allowed to expand to the ambient pressure at its point of use. The expanding air is used to run the expansion phase of a heat engine, turbine or other device capable of extracting energy from moving air. If the expansion occurs isothermally, then the compression/expansion cycle is lossless. See attached drawings part. Figure 2 - Diagram of Method 2

The value of the process is that the compressed gas can be transferred to a remote location with minimal losses where the gas is expanded to do useful work. When incorporated into This Process the complete system would have an LCC of 0.6 US cents / KWH. This is roughly 10% or less of the least expensive methods presently in use, US natural gas and wind. It is roughly 5% of the average generating cost in 2020.

See attached drawings part. Figure 3 - Diagram of Method 2 with External Heat The steps in the process are:

1. Potential energy in water drives a collector. The collector can be a turbine, wave machine, drag machine, differential heat engine or other device which converts the energy in the water into useful mechanical work.

2. This useful energy is transferred from the collector to a compressor which forces air from above the water to a container at great depth. A single or multistage compressor may be used.

3. Multistage compression with each stage at increasing depth may provide a significant cost advantage.

4. The collector and compressor may be combined into a single unit if desired.

5. During the compression, storage and transfer stages, the heat generated by compression is dissipated to the water.

6. The compressed air is transferred to the location where it will be used. The method of transfer is not significant to the process, except in terms of the cost of containment and transfer.

7. At the point of use, the gas is allowed to expand to the ambient pressure at that location. The expanding gas drives a heat engine or generator. If the expansion occurs isothermally, and assuming lossless transfer, the total system is lossless. This excludes losses in the compression/decompression equipment.

8. If the expansion occurs adiabatically the air cools dramatically and with sufficient depth will liquefy. In addition carbon-dioxide gas in the air will precipitate as a solid due to deposition. This CO2 may be collected and removed from the atmosphere.

It may be helpful to compare this process to a real Otto engine - 4 stroke car engine. Atypical Otto engine's cylinder pressure at top dead center, after combustion, is about 50 atmospheres. The structure of the engine block is required to withstand this pressure. If this method is applied at 400 meters depth, then a standard shop air vessel will withstand the pressure. If it takes place at 500 meters, a plastic garbage bag will withstand the pressure. When released and to sea level conditions, the air would have similar pressure to the gas in an internal combination engine’s cylinder on the power stroke.

Based on the isothermal energy equation

Eq 1 E = P2 V ln(P2/Pi) derived from the ideal gas law

Eq 2 P V = n R T it can be calculated that the energy stored in the container is

Eq 3 E = V P2 ln(P2/Pi) where Pi is the pressure at the point of use and P2 is the pressure at depth. The following graph shows the specific energy of the compressed gas as a function of depth.

See attached drawings part. Figure 4 - Graph of Specific Energy of Method 2 Vs Depth of Water

The primary value of this process is to collect energy from moving water at a distant location and to transport that energy to shore at low cost. For short distances it will probably be more cost effective to move the gas by submerged pipes. For longer distances it is probably more cost effective to move it in a submerged vessel. In either case, if the gas is kept at great depth in the water, minimizing the strength and cost of the container.

A cost analysis of a steel tank sized to contain 175 megawatt hours of energy at 300 meters depth, with a 2/3 utilization and a 5,000 cycle useful life yields an LCC of 1.1 US cents / KWH.

The cost of the tank is based on a published formula for the cost of an elevated steel tank on ground. The computed cost was divided by two since the tank is neutrally buoyant and there is no need for supporting structure.

The useful cycles for the tank was computed on a fill/drain period of 3.5 days which equals roughly 100 cycles / year. Assuming a 50 year life for the tank, that equals 5,000 cycles.

If the depth at which the air is compressed is sufficiently deep and the air expands to atmospheric pressure adiabatically, the constituent gases in the air will liquefy. To achieve adiabatic expansion an insulated system is required to prevent heat exchange. This effect may be used as another method of energy transmission under This Process and is described in section 5.

When the compressed air expands to ambient surface conditions, it becomes extremely cold and may liquefy. This cold sink provides commercial value of its own. It can be used for cooling, to drive chemical processes or other uses. One potential use is to precipitate CO2 out of air as dry ice by means of deposition. This dry ice can be used for various purposes, sequestered or disassociated into its constituent elements. When this process is implemented at large scale splitting of the CO2 into its constituent elements would actively lower atmospheric CO2 levels. While the process of splitting CO2 into carbon and oxygen is well known, it consumes a great deal of energy. Since This Process generates a great deal of very cheap energy it may be possible to power this reaction and and maintain This Process’ cost advantage.

Method 3 - Generation and transmission of hydrogen by means of High Ambient Pressure Electrolysis at great depth.

This method was first described in US Provisional Patent Application #62990430 “A Process for Collecting Kinetic or Thermal Energy from Water and Distributing it as the Compressed Gas Products of the Electrolysis of Water” filed on 16 March 2020. This patent application incorporates that filing and inherits its filing date.

This method of transmission and storage converts energy contained in water (kinetic, thermal or other) into electricity, uses that electricity to electrolyze water into it's component gases at depth under water where the ambient pressure is naturally high, the compressed gases are then kept at depth under water until the gases reach thermal equilibrium, the gases may be transported to another location, the compressed gases are then allowed to expand to ambient pressure at the point of use. These expanding gases can be used to run the expansion phase of a heat engine. If the expansion occurs isothermally, then the expansion cycle generates work as a byproduct of the electrolysis. There is no compression phase required in the heat engine cycle.

If this method is applied at sufficient depth, the cooling resulting from the expansion of the gases is sufficient to precipitate CO2 from the atmosphere permanently removing it.

Using the expanding gases to store and transmit energy is similar to Method 2.

After decompression, the hydrogen is then used as fuel to power a heat engine, fuel cell or other device to produce useful energy. The oxygen may be used as the oxidizer during combustion if desired. See attached drawings part. Figure 5 - Diagram of Method 3

See attached drawings part. Figure 6 - Diagram of Method 3 with External Heat

The value of this method in This Process is that the compressed gases can be transferred to a remote location with minimal losses where the gases are expanded to do useful work and then used as fuel to provide more useful energy. By using fuel as the compressed gases, the specific energy of the process is increased dramatically.

The steps in the process are:

1. Potential energy in water drives a collector. The collector can be a Variable Geometry Reciprocating Drag Machine (VGRDM), turbine, wave machine, other drag machine, heat engine or other device which converts the energy in water into useful mechanical work.

2. This energy is used to drive an electric generator to produce electricity.

3. The electricity is transmitted by wires to a great depth in the water where there is high ambient pressure.

4. At this depth, the electricity is used to power High Pressure Electrolysis (HPE) of water into it's constituent gases (¾ and O2). The high pressure is provided, or boosted, by the ambient pressure of the water. This is High Ambient Pressure Electrolysis (FLAPE).

5. The collector and electrolysis unit may be combined into one unit if desired.

6. The oxygen produced may be discarded into the water, however releasing large amounts of oxygen may cause environmental damage. Retaining the oxygen allows it to be used as a working gas, maintains an exact mixture for later combustion, may be used as a coolant at the point of use, keeps it readily available in case the hydrogen gas needs to be chemically neutralized due to an accident and only occupies ½ the volume of the hydrogen gas at equal pressure.

7. The compressed gases are transferred to the location where they will be used. The method of transfer is not significant to the process, except in terms the cost.

8. At the point of use, the gases are allowed to expand to ambient pressure. The expanding gases drive a heat engine or generator.

9. After the gases have expanded at the point of use, they are used as fuel to power a heat engine, fuel cell of other device. Waste heat can be used to heat the compressed gases and increase the efficiency of the engine.

It may be helpful to compare this process to a real Otto engine - gasoline car engine. Atypical Otto engine's cylinder pressure at top dead center, after combustion, is about 50 atmospheres. The structure of the engine block is required to withstand this pressure.

If this process is applied at 400 meters depth, then a standard shop air vessel can be used to contain the gases. If it takes place at 500 meters, a plastic garbage bag can be used.

Based on the isothermal energy equation

Eq 4 E = P2 V ln(P2/Pi) derived from the ideal gas law

Eq 5 P V = n R T it can be calculated that the energy stored in the container is

Eq 6 E = V P2 ln(P2/Pi) where Pi is the pressure at the point of use and P2 is the pressure at depth.

The energy equation for the electrolysis of water is:

Eq 7 E_e = 286 kJ/mol where Ee is the energy required to electrolyze the water. The energy generated by burning 1 mol of hydrogen with ½ mol of oxygen to yield 1 mol of water is

Eq 8 Ec = 257 kJ/mol where E_c is the energy produced by combustion. From this the number of mols of gases produced per KWH can be expressed as

Eq 9 n = k_e E where k_e = 1.5 * 14 mol / KWH. The 1.5 accounts for two gases being produced, 1 mol of H2 and ½ mol of O2.

This formula for n can now be substituted into P V = n R T and solved for E/V to yield

Eq 10 P V = k_e E R T and Eq 11 E_Sp = E/V = E_c/E_e P / (k_e R T) = 0.899 P / (k_e R T)

Where E_Sp is the specific energy due to combustion of the gases.

See attached drawings part. Figure 7 - Energy Density of Method 3 Vs Water Depth

Adding these two effects produces a total energy/cubic meter which is shown in the preceding graph.

The primary utility and value of this process is to collect energy from moving water at a distant location and transport that energy to shore at very low Life Cycle Cost. For short distances it will probably be more cost effective to move the gas by submerged pipes. For longer distances it is probably more cost effective to move it in a submerged vessel. In either case, if the gases are kept at great depth in the water, the strength and resulting cost of the containers are minimized.

A cost analysis of a steel tank system with a size able to contain 175 megawatt hours of energy at 300 meters depth, with a 2/3 utilization and a 5,000 cycle useful life; yields a life cycle operating cost of 0.11 cent/KWH. This number is based on a published formula for the cost of a surface tank. The computed cost was divided by two since there is no need for supporting structure and the tank is assumed to be neutrally buoyant.

There will be safety and handling costs which were not accounted for in this analysis. Actual costs will differ.

If the depth at which the air is compressed is sufficiently deep and the air expands to atmospheric pressure adiabatically, the constituent gases in the air will liquefy. This effect may be used as another method of energy transmission under This Process and is described in section 5.

Since electrolysis of salt water can produce undesirable byproducts, such as chlorine gas, it may be necessary to desalinate the water prior to electrolysis. Making use of the water’s naturally high pressure gradient this can be done by using a vertical pipe, or other structure, oriented vertically in the water column with revere osmosis membranes at the lower end. If the pipe is empty, the natural pressure differential will force water through the membranes. As the water in the pipe is electrolyzed and the gases are released, the water volume in the pipe will decrease forming a void or bubble. As this bubble’s size increases, the height of the water column decreases and the pressure differential at the bottom increases. For each 10 meters of height between the bottom of the bubble and the bottom of the tube there is 1 atmosphere of pressure differential. A 30 meter difference in height would produce 3 atmospheres of pressure (45 psi) which is the typical pressure differential that drives residential reverse osmosis systems. If greater pressure is required, this method uses a taller pipe.

Keeping the generated gases in the pipe, by closing the exit valve, the pressure in the pipe would increase forcing the purified water in the pipe back through the membranes. This would serve to clean the membranes.

All of this can be done with only a shutoff valve without the need for powered pumps. Powered pumps may be used it desired.

Method 4 - Transmission of energy in the form of passively liquefied gas(es)

This method is a derivative option for methods 3 and 4. Since the pressures at which the gas(es) is stored is so great, if the gas(es) is allowed to expand adiabatically in an insulated system, it will cool enough to liquefy, or nearly liquefy. Liquefied gas(es) have greater energy density than highly compressed gas(es).

Since heat engines operate on a temperature differential, it is possible to use an inverted differential where the environment is the heat source and an extremely cold gas is the heat sink. This has rarely been done because of the energy required to compress the gas(es.) Since This Process generates energy sustainably at such low costs, this is now a viable method for transporting the energy.

The heat source itself will be the atmosphere or a large body of water such as the oceans. Waste heat, such as that from a fuel burning engine, or standard environment conditions are used as the heat source. If standard atmosphere is used, the air can be cooled sufficiently to precipitate CO2. The solid CO2 may be sequestered or disassociated thus eliminating it from the atmosphere.

According the ideal gas law for the adiabatic expansion of a pressurized gas, the final temperature is expressed as

Eq 12 T2 = Ti (P2/Pi)^{(1 g)/g}

The earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen which are both diatomic gases with g = 1.4. Since they constitute 99% of the earth’s atmosphere, this analysis treats air as having g = 1.4. The following graph shows the final temperature of a diatomic gas when it is allowed to expand adiabatically from ambient pressure under water to the ambient pressure of the atmosphere at sea level.

See attached drawings part. Figure 8 - Graph of Temperature After Adiabatic Expansion Figure 7 also shows the critical temperatures for the gases of interest in This Process. If the gases used in methods 2 and 3 are allowed to expand adiabatically instead of isothermally, they will be cooled substantially. Adiabatic expansion can be achieved by using insulated containers to eliminate heat loss. The initial temperature used in the graph is 275K which is representative of the deep oceans.

At depths below 30m solid CO2 will form as a product of deposition.

At depths below 450m liquid oxygen will condense and at depths below 850m so will liquid nitrogen.

Liquid hydrogen is stable at temperatures below 20k and will not liquefy at naturally occurring depths without active cooling. By extracting energy from the hydrogen as it expands, the gas will be cooled further. With proper design the expansion system should be able to produce liquid hydrogen without additional energy input.

Since This Process provides abundant, low cost energy it is possible to further cool the hydrogen gas to liquefy it. This option is included as an option under This Process.

One benefit of this method is the formation of solid CO2 (dry ice) as a byproduct of the gases cooling during expansion. If this residue is collected it is possible to expend energy from This Process to split the CO2 into its constituent Oxygen and Carbon. This would make This Process carbon negative not simply carbon neutral.

The heats of vaporization for the gases used in This Process are shown in the following table.

Gas Heat Of Vaporization (KWH/m³)

Oxygen 68

Nitrogen 45

Hydrogen 9.1

After the gas(es) have vaporized, they will expand, approximately, from the ambient pressure they were stored at. The energy absorbed from the environment to boil them can be added to the energy taken from the environment during their expansion. This results in the energy of vaporization from the preceding table being added to that in methods 2 and 3.

Method 5 - Transmission of energy in the form of highly compressed gas(es) using submerged vessels.

This transmission method was first described in US Provisional Patent Application #62991572 “A Device for Transporting Compressed gas(es) Under Water” filed on 18 March 2020. This patent application incorporates that filing and inherits its filing date. This transmission method uses a device to transport energy as compressed gas(es) at great depth underwater as a component of the process described in this application. The device is a submersible vessel with containers of gas at the approximate ambient pressure of the device's operating depth. Since the compressed gas(es), which may include combustible gas(es) such as hydrogen, pose a significant safety hazard, it is recommended that one or more vessels will be controlled and monitored by human operators aboard a surface vessel or vessels.

The device can either be towed by the surface vessel(s), or operate under it's own power. Because the device is intended for low cost transport of energy containing gas(es), it is desirable for it to consume as little energy as possible.

See attached drawings part. Figure 9 - Artist's Concept of the device

The volumes and dimensions in the following discussion are provided as examples only, they are not critical to the device’s function.

It is expected that the device will transport large volumes of gas(es). A vessel operating at 250 meters depth, transporting a volume of 3,000 cubic meters would be roughly 70 meters in length. This is comparable to existing small container ships and oil tankers. If the device were operating on the surface, it's volume would be roughly 75,000 cubic meters with a length of roughly 205 meters. If the vessel were to operate at 2,500 meters depth, it would be able to transport 10 times as much energy in the same volume or the length would be 32.5 meters.

Compressing the gas(es) and storing it in interior pressure vessels will reduce the size of the device further. Storing the gas(es) in containment vessels rated for 20 atmospheres would reduce the volume by a factor of 44% resulting resulting in a vehicle length of 53 meters. The cost relationship between vessel size and pressure vessel rating would need to be determined for each instance of the device's application.

As an alternative to using the expanding gas(es) contained in the device to drive heat engines, it is possible to use the device as buoyancy generator. At it's delivery location, the device can be attached to an anchor and electric generator where the device would serve as the float for the buoyancy generator. By using the compressed gas(es) to displace ballast water, the device becomes positively buoyant producing a force which can drive the generator. As the device rises, the gas will expand increasing the device's buoyancy force and associated power output. A large buoyancy generator, with a slow rate of ascent, has approximately the efficiency of the electric generator. Typical electric generators have over 95% efficiency. This is far superior to the efficiency of a typical heat engine driven generator. See attached drawings part. Figure 10 - Device Used as a Buoyancy Generator

In order to minimize the energy used for propulsion, the device may be designed to operate as an underwater glider. An underwater glider operates in the same manner as a glider in air where the buoyancy force is substituted for the vehicle's weight.

The device’s glide slope is equal to its lift divided by its drag. The device’s forward speed is determined by multiplying the device’s glide slope by its terminal vertical velocity. The terminal velocity is therefore determined from the buoyancy force and the drag.

With a large vessel, containing a large amount of compressed gas to use for buoyancy control, speeds similar to those of surface vessels are possible. Once the buoyancy is adjusted by means of releasing or compressing the gas, the glider ascends or sinks. Due to the need to maintain a relatively constant depth, the device will need to change buoyancy regularly. However, it's large mass will maintain its forward momentum.

Since the buoyancy force of gas at ambient pressure is statically unstable, due to it's changing displaced volume, care must be taken in the design of the control and ballast systems to avoid potentially catastrophic divergence.

See attached drawings part. Figure 11 - Research Ocean Glider Currently in Use

While an ocean glider configuration may offer optimal efficiency, several other configurations (such as using a conventional propeller) may be used.

Options

This Process produces extremely inexpensive electricity at its point of generation. By using that energy where it is generated, processes that were previously too expensive are now affordable. Such processes include:

Actively cooling the earth

By transmitting energy collected by This Process into space through the atmosphere’s electromagnetic pass bands the earth’s total energy (and temperature) is reduced. Atmospheric pass bands are well known in communications applications and are the reason excess CO2 in the atmosphere leads to global warming. The atmosphere allows some frequencies of EM radiation to pass through with little loss while others are absorbed. Global warming is caused because sunlight easily passes through these bands, heats the surface, is reradiated as infrared light which is absorbed by CO2 - thus warming the earth.

This option inverts this process by collecting kinetic energy from moving water and transmitting it back to space - where it came from

While it is too expensive to power blue light or microwave emitters with current methods, if such an emitter were included at each of This Process’ points of generation and a small amount of the energy collected were emitted into space it could have a significant effect.

Active remediation of environmental damage

It is also possible to use the low cost energy at the points of generation to power otherwise unaffordable processes, such as deacidification or removal and destruction of plastic waste.

Prior Art

Little prior art could be found for an application of this scope. The following is the list of existing patents which could be found.

• Patent number 9416796, Jan 292014, Hydrostor, “Energy accumulation apparatus.”

• Patent number 8,169,101, May 1, 2012, Canyon West Energy, LLC (Canyon, TX), “Renewable energy electric generating system”

• Patent number 9,909,491, March 6, 2018, Bromberg, et al., “Engine reformer systems for lower cost, smaller scale manufacturing of liquid fuels”

• Patent number 8,721,868, May 13, 2014, Kelly, et al. “Integrated solar-powered high-pressure hydrogen production and battery charging system”

• Patent number 5,733,422, March 31, 1998, Lin, “High-pressure gas producing electrolysis tank”

Inventor’s closing comments

If This Process were made available in the public domain, it would be up to each implementer to decide which options to use and how to exploit the vast revenue. Since This System will usually operate in the oceans, possibly outside territorial waters, it will often be subject international maritime law. This means that even government regulators may not be able to use the profits from This Process for environmental remediation.

If awarded, the owner of the patent for This Process would have the legal right to require that profits from the process be used for remediation and the remediation options be included as part of license agreements. If the owner chooses not to do this, the remedies of government regulation would still be available. Thus awarding this patent increases the chances it will be used optimally to not only power our planet sustainably, but to implement various remediation efforts.

It is the inventor’s intention to transfer ownership of this patent to one or more NGOs which will manage This Process for the maximum benefit of all earth’s peoples. While this may not be relevant to most patent applications, because of the profound effect This Process can have on our planet, the inventor felt it was necessary to inform the reviewers of his intended use for This Process.

For these reasons, awarding this patent is in the public interest.

Claims

A Process for Generating Unlimited Sustainable Energy From the Oceans at Extremely Low Cost Claims I claim: 1 A process for generating unlimited sustainable energy from slow moving water, such as ocean currents,

1.1 which is able to transport energy at lower Life Cycle Cost (LCC) than the lowest cost of generation available at the time of submission (2021).

1.2 which has an LCC far enough below its competitors that sustainable, ocean energy could become the dominant form of energy generation including existing forms such as fossil fuels.

1.3 that by achieving such a low LLC, and displacing fossil fuels in the market place, would solve the challenge of conversion to a predominantly sustainable energy economy and meet or exceed the Paris Climate Accords.

1.4 which, if a patent is granted and the ownership is transferred to an environmental NGO(s), would provide a large source of revenue which could be used to fund environmental remediation efforts to restore the Earth’s environment to a sustainable state, without requiring philanthropic or government financing.

1.5 which includes a set of methods, which are adaptable to a wide range of local needs, geographic and environmental conditions. These methods are:

1.5.1 transmitting energy by ship using batteries,

1.5.2 transmitting energy at great ocean depths using compressed gas(es),

1.5.3 generating and storing hydrogen using deep-water, high-pressure electrolysis at great depth under water,

1.5.3.1 If method 1.5.3 is performed at sufficient depth and the gas(es) expanded adiabatically, the gas(es) will cool enough to liquefy without need of additional energy expenditure.

1.5.3.2 The liquefied gas(es) may then be shipped by surface vessels in a manner similar to Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

1.5.4 transmission of energy in the form of highly compressed gas(es) using submersible vessels.

1.5.4.1 If such a vessel uses existing ocean glider technologies, the transmission of the energy would have very low transmission losses due to the high efficiency of ocean gliders.

1.6 which, when using one of the transmission by vessel options, would require no structures or modification of the seafloor resulting in no environmental impact to the seafloor.

1.7 which, when using option 1.5.2, would dramatically reduce the cost of the required pressure vessels by using the naturally high ambient pressure of the oceans to decrease the strength of the required pressure vessels. For example: at 300 meters depth a gas at 40 atmospheres may be stored in a vessel rated for 10 atmospheres. which, when using methods 1.5.2, 1.5.3 or 1.5.4 (at sufficient pressure,) the temperature of cooling compressed gas(es) will be enough to recapture C0₂ and CH₄ from the atmosphere as a concomitant part of the process. This differs from other forms of carbon recapture in that it doesn’t require additional expenditure of energy and is an inherent byproduct of this process. which, using the cold or liquefied gas(es) of methods 1.5.2 or 1.5.4, can be used to power heat engines which a natural heat source and an artificial cold sink for cryogenic- cogeneration using well know heat engine cycles such as the steam cycle, Brayton cycle or Stirling cycle. 0 which, using the cold or liquefied gas(es) of methods 1.5.2 or 1.5.4, can be used for sustainable cooling at the location where the compressed gas(es) are expanded. 1 that method 1.5.2 uses no toxic or dangerous chemicals such as batteries or hydrogen and has no risk of combustion or explosive combustion. 2 that method 1.5.3 can deliver H₂ to existing electric generating plants where it can be used as an alternative fuel. This allows sustainable energy to directly replace existing fossil fuels in existing power plants allowing operators to retain much of their existing infrastructure and investment. 3 that the oxygen produced by method 1.5.3 may be used to oxygenate and possibly deacidify the surrounding water. 4 that method 1.5.1 allows shipping of sustainable electricity using ISO container ships at costs comparable to existing methods.