Submerged power generating apparatus

Underwater power generation equipment

Technical field

The present invention relates to a device for generating electric energy from water flow, and specifically relates to but not only a device for generating electricity by tidal current.

Background technique

In order to make renewable energy economically viable, the cost of generating electricity from renewable energy must be reduced. Specifically, in the case of tidal power generation, the production and maintenance costs of tidal power generation equipment are high due to the usual dangerous and corrosive nature of seawater.

Prior art tidal power generation equipment relies on a turbine to align itself with the tide by rotating around a vertical axis passing through a mooring point, or by rotating a pillar or other such fixing device. This device has the following disadvantages: Since the turbine extremely tends to align itself with the direction of the water flow, relative to the turbine body, the turbine blades rotate about a substantially horizontal axis (in order to maximize the efficiency of the turbine). Movement from a forward orientation to a backward orientation about a substantially vertical axis. Therefore, the repeated rotation of the turbine due to the change in the direction of the water flow causes the mooring cable or any cable connected to the turbine to twist, which in turn means that it is necessary to use a complicated and expensive slip ring device to avoid the twisting of the cable, or The power generation equipment must be stopped so that the twisted cable can be reversed.

Summary of the invention

The preferred embodiment of the present invention seeks to overcome the above shortcomings in the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for generating electricity from water flow, the device comprising: at least one positively buoyant turbine, including a corresponding first part and a corresponding second part, relative to the first part, The second part is adapted to rotate around a corresponding axis by means of water flow, wherein the center of mass and the center of buoyancy of the or each turbine are spaced apart from each other, so that the axis of the or each turbine is suitable for non-flowing The water is in a substantially vertical orientation; and at least one mooring cable for mooring the or each turbine in a submerged state to the bottom of the body of water.

By providing a positively buoyant turbine that is moored to the seabed or river bottom in a submerged state, the mooring cable is always in a tensioned state due to the buoyancy and the reaction force of the mooring force provided by the cable. By arranging the center of mass and the center of buoyancy of the turbine or each turbine to be spaced apart from each other, the axis of the turbine or each turbine is adapted to be in a substantially vertical orientation in non-flowing water, which provides the following advantages: the turbine can be used in the past Move to the backward direction (representing the flow of ebb tide), while its axis remains in a substantially vertical plane. This in turn provides the advantage that the twisting tendency of the cable connected to the turbine is reduced to a minimum, and therefore no rotating parts or other driving forms for aligning the turbine with the water flow are required. In addition, this provides the advantage that the reverse force is always present, so that the water flow drives the turbine blades. Moreover, since the turbine is moored below the water surface, this provides the advantage of eliminating the dangers caused by surface waves and weather.

In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the turbines may be connected to the bottom of the water body by means of a plurality of the mooring cables.

This provides the advantage of further reducing the torsion of the cable connected to the turbine to a minimum.

The equipment may further include at least one spacer for separating a pair of the mooring cables.

This provides the advantage of minimizing the degree of twisting of multiple cables around each other.

In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of said turbines are rigidly connected to each other.

At least a pair of the second parts of the interconnected turbines are adapted to rotate in opposite directions to each other.

This provides the advantage of minimizing the resultant torque generated by the rotation of each turbine blade.

At least one of the turbines may further include a generator.

The device may further include at least one cable connected to the turbine and adapted to transmit the generated current to a location remote from the turbine.

At least one of the mooring cables is rigid.

This provides the advantage of increasing the strength of the device.

Description of the drawings

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example and not limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a device for generating electrical energy according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which , With respect to a mooring device, the equipment is shown in three orientations; Figure 2 is a front view of the equipment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the equipment of the second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a diagram 3 is a front view of the equipment; Figures 5a to 5c show the retrieval process of the equipment in Figure 3; specific embodiments refer to Figures 1 and 2, an undersea power generation equipment 1 includes a wing-shaped cross-section of the pillar 4 Two turbines 3 installed side by side on both sides. Each turbine 3 has a set of turbine blades 5, which in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 rotate in opposite directions so as to cancel the corresponding torque generated by each turbine. The device 1 is pivotally connected to a pair of mooring cables 7 moored to the seabed 6 at a position point 9.

The turbine 3 is positively buoyant, so that under the condition of zero water flow, it points vertically upwards, as shown by reference number 8. When the water flows in the direction shown by arrow A, the drag force on the turbine 3 and the pillar 4 causes the power generating device 1 to pivot about the pivot point 9 and incline to the dotted line shown by the reference number 10 status.

The force of the water flowing through the turbine 3 at this location causes the turbine blades 5 to rotate and thus generate electricity in a generator (not shown). This electrical energy is removed from the turbine 3 via a cable 11.

When the tide starts to change direction, the water flow through the turbine assembly 1 decreases. Therefore, the turbine assembly 1 will tend to float back to the vertical state indicated by the numeral 8. Due to the action of the tide, water starts to flow in the direction shown by arrow B, and the device 1 will be tilted to the position shown by the reference number 12 and shown by the dashed line.

In this way, it can be seen that the turbine assembly 1 rotates on a substantially vertical plane around the axis passing through point 13, which changes direction to align itself with the water flow, and the mooring cable is moored to the seabed at point 13 . Because there are two mooring cables 7 and these cables are always tensioned due to the buoyancy of the turbine assembly 1, it is possible to prevent the turbine assembly 1 from rotating about a vertical axis, and if so, to prevent the mooring cables 7 The track is a conical surface. This therefore minimizes any cables such as mooring cables 7 or cables 11 torsion.

3 and 4, a second embodiment of the power generation device 1 is shown. In this embodiment, the mooring cables 7 are separated by spacer rods 14, and in addition, four cables 15 (two cables of which are visible in FIG. 4) arranged in a two V-shaped structure connect the spacer rods to Points 16 and 17 are moored to the bottom of the sea. Therefore, the device 1 pivots around the spacer bar 14 to follow the flow of water. In this respect, the device 1 works in a similar way to the devices of FIGS. 1 and 2.

With reference to Figures 5a, 5b, 5c, the maintenance process for the power plant 1 will now be described.

The spacer 14 is moored to the seabed 6 at anchor points 16 and 17. One of the mooring cables, in this case a mooring cable anchored to the seabed at anchor point 17, is further connected to the extension of cable 18, and one end of cable 18 is fixed to mooring cable 15. , And the second end is connected with a buoy 19 floating on the sea.

In order for the turbine assembly 1 to rise to the surface, the surface vessel 20 must salvage the buoy 19 and connect the cable 18 to a winch (not shown). The anchor point 17 is equipped with a release device that allows the cable 18 to pass through the anchor point 17, so that the turbine assembly 1 can float to the sea. The vertical ascent speed of the power generation assembly 1 is controlled by a winch (not shown) on the surface vessel 20. The release of the anchoring device at 17 (which may be a spherical gripping device or an equivalent system) is achieved by a remotely operated vehicle, wire rope or other such system familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. When the turbine assembly 1 is on the water surface, any appropriate repair or maintenance can be performed.

In order to return the turbine assembly 1 to its underwater working position, the winch (not shown) on the surface vessel 20 is reversed and the turbine assembly 1 is pulled back to the proper position. The anchoring device (not shown) at the anchor point 17 is then reactivated to fix the mooring cable 15 to the sea floor.

Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that the above embodiments are only described in an exemplary rather than restrictive manner, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention defined by the appended claims. Specifically, the embodiment described above places two turbines side by side, so that the reversal of the turbine blades cancels out the effect or torque generated by the turbine. If the mooring assembly is formed of a rigid structure, the rigid mooring assembly can be designed to have sufficient strength to balance the effect of the torque generated by the turbine, so that only a single turbine is needed in the power generation equipment.