DE20117211U1 - Water wave power plant - Google Patents

Description

Introduction

Power plants that generate mainly electrical energy used to be and still are today mainly fueled by coal or similar fuels. This resulted and results in huge amounts of exhaust gases and an equally great danger to the environment as the stratosphere is polluted (environmental pollution) with all the conceivable "consequences" that this entails.

Nuclear power plants were supposed to provide "clean" energy, but they also brought with them the danger of environmental "contamination".

Solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants offer an environmentally friendly, emission-free and natural alternative.

Solar and wind power systems are constantly on the rise!

Hydroelectric power plants are often connected to dams and reservoirs and derive their power from the normal gradient of a "river".

One of the greatest, constantly present, unused forces for all coastal countries is the sea water waves (surf waves) that run up onto the coast. These waves are present even when there is no wind, as they are formed from movements of various kinds thousands of kilometers away (e.g. seaquakes, hurricanes, etc.) and then continue to the nearest coast.

The wind can stop for days (calm), the sun can stop for days and even weeks due to cloud formation, and in the future this will happen more and more frequently due to general air pollution from coal-fired power plants and millions of other combustion systems (factories, cars, etc.).

However, according to statistics, the water waves from the sea approaching the coast will increase due to the increasing occurrence of tornadoes and seaquakes caused by general climate warming and general environmental conditions.

It is therefore urgently necessary - especially for poor countries - to exploit free and constantly available energy sources in a cost-effective and simple manner.

This includes, for example, the use of sea water power through the waves hitting the coast, the alternation of ebb and flow and the alternation of high tide and high tide, as mentioned and described at the beginning.

In order to exploit this enormous power, the sea wave power plant described below was conceived or invented.

In addition to generating electrical energy, it is also suitable for producing drinking water from the sea water available for operation and pumping it from the coast into a desert area to make it fertile.

The seawater wave power plant can be built from the "smallest" to the "largest" easily and last for decades, operated with very little maintenance and is universally applicable (see the following description).

- Description 1 -

The seawater wave power plant consists - described in the simplest construction and function and example - essentially of a rectangular steel frame firmly anchored in the seabed with at least four legs (similar to the construction of an oil rig), with the four corner pillars connected by longitudinal and transverse beams.

Within the field of these 4 pillars there is (at least) one hollow body (float, pontoon) floating on the water, which is guided by fitting rollers and fits into the construction in such a way that with each incoming wave, from the wave trough to the wave crest, there is a guided raising and lowering of the float, a rhythmic stroke depending on the number of waves.

The float moves at least one, possibly several double-acting hydraulic water pumps via a lever, in the sense that when the float is raised, sea water is sucked in and released and that when the float is lowered, this process is repeated in reverse.

This means that with each stroke (raising and lowering), with each wave, from the trough of the wave to the crest of the wave, a relatively large amount of water (adapted to the size of the float) is pumped out quite continuously.

This water is pumped into a large storage tank that is located above the steel structure (like a flat-roofed house) and has approximately the same side dimensions as the float, but has a volume that is several times larger, depending on the size, purpose and environmental conditions.

Via a downpipe and a control slide valve, the water (the falling pressure of the water) is led vertically from the tank directly to a turbine which is directly connected to a generator for generating electricity.

The turbine generator unit with the control elements for the entire plant is located on the "ground floor" of the flat-roofed building (the tank, water container). This is also where the living and utility rooms necessary for larger plants for any permanent staff that may be required - depending on the size, purpose, use and location of the power plant - are located.

The seawater wave power plant can also be constructed as a jack-up island in certain areas of the world where it is appropriate (e.g. in areas with very large tidal range) in order to create a "balance".

The electrical energy generated from the generator(s) can then be buffered or processed on site and transmitted to land via cable - or processed entirely on "land".

In case of excess capacity (e.g. hurricanes or similar), the excess water is discharged from the storage water tank via an overflow.

In order to ensure a uniform lift from raising to lowering - depending on the local and weather conditions - and ultimately a reasonably even water flow, the float can take on or release water ballast.

Since all the technical parts of the power plant are fairly simple, maintenance-free and wear-free, a seawater wave power plant has a very long service life. After construction, it no longer requires highly paid "specialists" - semi-skilled workers are sufficient as maintenance personnel - which is particularly important for poorer countries.

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- Description 2 -

The power utilization (efficiency) is very good and depends largely on the technical equipment and the location of the wave power plant. The technical equipment refers to the effort required to regulate the float with ballast, inlet and outlet water and the pumps and flow rates - which is simple but also technically "complex" - works with better efficiency - but also the technical regulation, for example in conjunction with other natural power sources, such as a wind turbine mounted on top of the water tank (on the roof of the house) which, without its own generator system, can transfer this additional power mechanically to the generator already present in the wave power plant.

The installation of a wind turbine on the roof of the water tank is statically compatible with the overall construction, as the entire statics are supported by the stilts anchored in the lake bed and do not affect the stability of the entire construction of the seawater wave power plant.

The "roof surface" of the water tank is also ideal for fitting solar cells.

Equally ideal would be the entire combination of wave, wind and solar power utilization, and that the "one" does not hinder the "other" in structural terms.

The (at least) 4 corner pillars anchored in the lake bed would then, statically speaking, continue above the water tank and conically up to the wind turbine hub, which results in the highest possible stability.

The solar cells located on the roof surface of the tank would hardly be affected by the mounting frame of the wind turbine in terms of solar exposure.

Technically, the mounted wind turbine does not have to transfer the power mechanically directly to the generator - it can, for example, operate pumps that pump the sea water - like the power plant's float - into the water tank.

However, the solar power would have to be converted immediately and on site and fed into the onshore evaluation system - either via the power plant as a buffer or entirely onshore.

Such a combined power plant could be called a combined power plant and would be ideal in terms of its use because it can potentially receive a lot of solar power when the waves are low (weather-dependent) - just as wind and waves do not necessarily come together - because waves are "always" there - because they are formed from countless different types of "events" hundreds of kilometers away (e.g. seaquakes, hurricanes, etc.).

The construction and assembly on site of a seawater or combined power plant can also be combined with the installation of a weather station that transmits the data via the outgoing submarine cable, as well as other advantages (radar, etc.).

Another advantage of a seawater wave power plant off the coast is, for example, the pumping of water onto land. - continue on page 3 -

- Description 3 -

Instead of electrical energy, the wave-wind-solar combined power plant could serve as a pumping station - although of course all mixed forms are conceivable, such as the extraction of oil, water, and electricity, etc. - it could be built for multiple uses.

The seawater power plant could also serve - with or without additional wind or solar power - as a seawater desalination plant, where the "treatment" can take place on board to pump fresh water through pipes hundreds of kilometers into the desert coastal regions in order to make the soil fertile.

It is also conceivable that only sea water is pumped and treated and then transported to "land". The power plant could also provide additional electricity for this!

For example, entire coastal strips could be made fertile and repopulated with little effort.

A seawater wave power plant, or a combination as a composite power plant, is therefore very versatile, it can be built "large" or "small", e.g. from 5x3 meters up to 500 x 300 meters side length, up to infinite extension, it always fulfills its purpose and can never fail !

From a technical point of view, it should be added that the functionality of the wave power plant Mono, described with one float, can of course also consist of dozens of individual floats and pumps.

Just as a fresh sea water intake is not necessary and a closed water circuit can be present - whereby any water loss is supplemented/compensated by the intake of additional water.

With a closed system, it is possible to add antifreeze and operate the system in a cold region in order to pump out any oil reserves.

The drawings show on sheet 1 a principle view of a seawater wave power plant as a combined power plant with wave, wind and solar utilization, where the extraction, whether water, electricity or both is "open", in a front view.

The drawing on sheet 2 shows a technical variant of a seawater wave power plant as a combined power plant with wind and solar energy generation as a technical block diagram.

It should be noted that the various designs of the seawater power plant can differ considerably from one another, but the principle of using wave power and the additional equipment remains the same.

Different variants/designs and possibilities of a wave power plant with the various additional options are described in the attached claims.

Description End -

Key to drawings 1 and 2 .

Drawing Sheet 1 shows an example of a sea-water wave power plant with (a) mounted wind turbine and a solar system on the surface (roof) of the water storage tank.

This means:

(WI) - wind turbine with or without hub generator, (We) - transmission shaft, (So) solar system, (WT) - water container/tank, (Ro) - pipes for water supply and drainage, (P)- water pumps, (Ko) - pump pistons, (ST) - water control valves, (Ar) - work room/lounge, (Gl) - hydroelectric generators, (G2) - generator(s) of the wind turbine(s), (PG) - water pump rods, (S)- float for the "up or downforce" of single or double-acting water pumps, (F)- guide rollers of the float, (WL) - middle wave waterline.

Drawing Sheet 2 - shows an example of a sea-water wave power plant as a technical block diagram.

This means:

(W)- wind power plant, (G)- generator, (S)- solar system, (A)- buffer battery of the solar system, (Wa) - hydroelectric plant and intermediate storage, (P)- pump unit for the hydroelectric power, (T)- hydroelectric turbine, (G)- generator of the turbine(s), (ST) - control and regulation unit of the entire power plant, (U)- transformer and processing part of the electrical energy of the entire power plant, (V)- distributor for the power output.

Claims (15)

1. Lake or freshwater wave power plant that gets its power from the water waves, - from wave trough to wave peak, - in the sense that it gets the power from individual, - hollow bodies (floats) lying on the water surface and their up and down movements (the lift) and with the characteristic, - that it consists of a stationary steel or concrete structure "firmly" anchored in the lake bed with at least 3 or 4 corner pillars that are connected to longitudinal and cross beams and in the middle of which at least one float glides up and down in guides and whose "upper part" consists of a huge, attached water storage container (tank).
Furthermore with the feature, - that the float or floats are connected by levers to double-acting lifting water pumps which, due to the constant float lift caused by the waves, constantly pump water into the tank from where it is controlled, - runs back through a turbine power unit which is located beneath the tank, in which it turns the turbine and thus generates electrical energy which is connected via a submarine cable to a land station which processes or buffers the energy supplied and transmits it further (transformer station).
The water wave power plant can be designed as "small" or "large" - from a few meters to a few hundred meters in length. 2. Water wave power plant like 1, - but with the requirement/feature, - that the entire power plant construction only serves as a "pumping station" and pumps sea water or oil to land via a pipeline or that pumps it and generates electrical energy, - either only for its own use or for "additional production". 3. Water wave power plant like 1 or 2, - but with the requirement - that it also has a wind turbine that is mounted on top of the tank to generate electrical energy or only has a wind turbine mounted on the tank that transfers the wind power mechanically, - e.g. via a rotating rod - to the entire system in order to drive pumps or generators. 4. Water wave power plant like 1, 2 or 3, - but with the requirement - that the wave power plant has a solar system on the "roof" of the water tank which supplies electricity for the control as a pumping station or provides additional electricity for the overall system. 5. Hydrowave power plant such as 1, 2, 3 or 4, - characterized in that - in addition to the float, it obtains energy from a top-mounted wind turbine and a solar system which is mounted on and around the upper part of the overall system. 6. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, - characterized in that - the power plant does not constantly pump up new water and release it again, - but the entire water cycle is "closed" and only missing water is replaced. 7. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, - characterized in that - the pumps use air as a medium instead of water and the entire plant is thus operated pneumatically, - wholly or partially. 8. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, - characterized in that - instead of one, - it has several floats arranged transversely to the waves, each of which operates individual pumps or several of which operate a larger pump. 9. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, - characterized in that - it has a closed system and is operated purely hydraulically. 10. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, - characterized in that - it has individual reversible generators mounted directly on the individual float guide rollers, - whereby this construction should only be considered for small plants. 11. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, - characterized in that - the entire power plant is not firmly anchored to the seabed (set in concrete), - but is floatable and transportable. 12. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11, - characterized in that - the entire plant is not rigidly constructed, - but can be moved up and down on the ground stilts in order to achieve tidal compensation. 13. Hydrowave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12, - characterized in that - the power plant as a whole is designed as a seawater desalination plant and supplies fresh water to land via a pipeline without being supplied with energy itself or supplies fresh water and electricity, - depending on the location and output of the power plant. 14. Water wave power plant such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13, - characterized in that - the power is generated by the floats not by water pumps or a turbine, - but is used mechanically, - in the sense that, for example, a rack and pinion transmits the up and down movement of the float (the stroke) to a shaft with locking freewheels and a power generator is driven via a corresponding gear, - or a drive occurs via steel cables and rollers or the individual floats come together like pistons of a conventional internal combustion engine on a type of crankshaft and set this in rotation. 15. Water wave power plant according to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14, - characterized in that - several wind power plants or wind turbines are mounted on a large plant (e.g. 300 × 500 m) and all surfaces are covered with solar cells.