4720results about "Propulsive elements" patented technology

A modular apparatus for and method of alternating current photovoltaic power generation comprising via a photovoltaic module, generating power in the form of direct current; and converting direct current to alternating current and exporting power via one or more power conversion and transfer units attached to the module, each unit comprising a unitary housing extending a length or width of the module, which housing comprises: contact means for receiving direct current from the module; one or more direct current-to-alternating current inverters; an alternating current bus; and contact means for receiving alternating current from the one or more inverters.

A quadrotor UAV including ruggedized, integral-battery, load-bearing body, two arms on the load-bearing body, each arm having two rotors, a control module mounted on the load-bearing body, a payload module mounted on the control module, and skids configured as landing gear. The two arms are replaceable with arms having wheels for ground vehicle use, with arms having floats and props for water-surface use, and with arms having pitch-controlled props for underwater use. The control module is configured to operate as an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned ground vehicle, an unmanned (water) surface vehicle, and an unmanned underwater vehicle, depending on the type of arms that are attached.

A stable portable air moving device capable of generating an air stream elevated above a support surface allowing the air stream to be directed as desired by the user is provided. The device includes an air blower assembly located within an elongate housing generating an exhaust air stream that exits the elongate housing at an elevation above the air blower assembly.

The disclosure relates to fluid working devices including reciprocating internal combustion engines, compressors and pumps. A number of arrangements for pistons and cylinders of unconventional configuration are described, mostly intended for use in reciprocating internal combustion IC engines operating without cooling. Included are toroidal combustion or working chambers, some with fluid flow through the core of the toroid, pistons reciprocating between pairs of working chambers, tensile valve actuation, tensile links between piston and crankshaft, energy absorbing piston-crank links, crankshafts supported on gas bearings, cylinders rotating in housings, injectors having components reciprocate or rotate during fuel delivery. In some embodiments pistons mare rotate while reciprocating. High temperature exhaust emissions systems are described, including those containing filamentary material, as are procedures for reducing emissions during cold start by means of valves at reaction volume exit. Compound engines having the new engines as a reciprocating stage are described. Improved vehicles, aircraft, marine craft and transmissions adapted to receive or be linked to the improved IV engines are also disclosed.

A turbofan engine assembly includes a core gas turbine engine including a high-pressure compressor, a combustor, and a high-pressure turbine, a first fan assembly disposed upstream from the core gas turbine engine, a first gearbox coupled to the first fan assembly, and a second gearbox coupled to a booster compressor such that the booster compressor rotates in a rotational direction that is opposite to the rotational direction of the first fan assembly. A method of assembling the above turbofan engine assembly is also described herein.

A turbine includes a turbine blade, a plurality of sensors, a wireless sensor module, a data aggregator, and a blade pitch control unit. The plurality of sensors are distributed in a plurality of locations on the turbine blade suitable for determining a moment of the turbine blade. The sensor module is configured to transmit data to the data aggregator to determine the moment. The data aggregator is configured to provide an output to the blade pitch control unit. The blade pitch control unit is configured to adjust pitch of the turbine blade based on the moment.

A fan assembly includes a motor-driven impeller for creating an air flow, at least one heater for heating a first portion of the air flow, and a casing comprising at least one air outlet for emitting the first portion of the air flow, and first channel means for conveying the first portion of the air flow to said at least one air outlet. To cool part of the casing, the casing includes means for diverting a second portion of the air flow away from said at least one heater, and second channel means for conveying the second portion of the air flow along an internal surface of the casing. This second portion of the air flow may merge with the first portion within the casing, or it may be emitted through at least one second air outlet of the casing.

Marine LNG carrier and method of operating the marine LNG carrier. The LNG carrier carries LNG in at least one tank. Gas composed of evaporated LNG within the at least one tank is removed. The gas is fed to at least one gas consuming prime mover of the LNG carrier. Power is provided with the at least one gas consuming prime mover. This Abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

The present invention provides a plasma arc torch that can be used for lean combustion. The plasma arc torch includes a cylindrical vessel, an electrode housing connected to the first end of the cylindrical vessel such that a first electrode is (a) aligned with a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical vessel, (b) extends into the cylindrical vessel, and (c) can be moved along the longitudinal axis, a linear actuator connected to the first electrode to adjust a position of the first electrode, a hollow electrode nozzle connected to the second end of the cylindrical vessel such that the center line of the hollow electrode nozzle is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical vessel, and wherein the tangential inlet and the tangential outlet create a vortex within the cylindrical vessel, and the first electrode and the hollow electrode nozzle crate a plasma the discharges through the hollow electrode nozzle.

A counter-rotatable low pressure turbine includes counter-rotatable outer and inner drum rotors. The outer drum rotor is connected to a sole shaft for transmitting torque and power out of the low pressure turbine. Low pressure outer drum turbine blade rows extend radially inwardly from an outer shell of the outer drum rotor. Low pressure inner drum turbine blade rows extend radially outwardly from the low pressure inner drum rotor. The outer drum turbine blade rows are interdigitated with the inner drum turbine blade rows. The drum rotors are geared together through an epicyclic gearbox for transmitting all the torque and power produced by the drum rotors to the shaft. The gearbox may be located aft of the drum rotors. A differential thrust bearing is disposed between the drum rotors. A single stage fan section of an engine is connected to the turbine by the shaft.

An exhaust mixer assembly having a twisted mixer and an open centerbody is provided. The open centerbody is centrally disposed within the twisted mixer and helps to provide efficient cooling of exhaust air from gas turbine engines. A method for cooling exhaust air from a gas turbine engine using the exhaust mixer assembly of the invention is also provided.

The invention relates to a water surface garbage cleaning ship. In the invention, a ship body is of an dual-body design, and the water surface garbage cleaning ship is composed of a detection and navigation system, a collection system, a garbage treatment system, a garbage unloading system and a propulsion system; and the water surface garbage cleaning ship can have three working modes, namely a free navigation mode, a landing operation mode and a non-landing operation mode. The water surface garbage cleaning ship can realize autonomous navigation and work, unmanned operation, full automation, good cleaning effect, strong flexibility, smoothness in working, safety and reliability by using the detection and navigation system to detect a region with garbage on the water surface. A scraper bucket chain network type collection and transmission device designed in the water surface garbage cleaning ship can realize the combination of continuous and intermittent work of recovery, thereby being energy-saving and high-efficient. Simultaneously, the device can change the amplitude up and down by hydraulic drive and fish floating objects in different water depths faster and more effectively.A satellite ship is designed for collaborative collection, thereby having better flexibility and high efficiency. The shoreside water surface floating objects and semi-floating objects are recovered and taken onto the ship by using a hydraulic rotary water spray gun to spray water.

A wind turbine with a sensor that measures the out-of-plane deflection of the blades and a controller that uses the signal from the sensor to determine the risk of a tower strike. The controller takes any necessary action to prevent a tower strike when it determines that the risk of a strike is high. The sensor can include strain gages or accelerometers mounted on the blades or it can include a fixed sensor mounted on the side of the tower to measure tower clearance as the blade passes by. The control action taken can include pitching blades, yawing the nacelle, or stopping the turbine. The controller is preferably a fuzzy logic controller.

An hybrid unmanned underwater vehicle comprises a body housing a controller; a vector thruster for propelling the body; deployable wings allowing the unmanned underwater vehicle to traverse by gliding as the unmanned underwater vehicle ascends and descends; a center-of-mass shifter for shifting a center-of-mass of the vehicle to allow the unmanned underwater vehicle to pitch up and pitch down; and one of a multi-stage buoyancy control system within the body and configured to adjust an apparent displacement of the unmanned underwater vehicle and an expandable outer shell configured to adjust an apparent displacement and therefore a buoyancy of the unmanned underwater vehicle.

A system for controlling a marine vessel that includes a sonar depth finder configured to display a chart for a body of water. The chart has depth information for the body of water, and is programmed to allow a user to select from a plurality of depths indicated on the sonar depth finder display. The sonar depth finder further is configured to generate a route for the marine vessel. The route includes a path through the body of water where each point along the path is at the desired depth. The system includes a vessel control device in communication with the sonar depth finder. The vessel control device is configured to receive transmissions from the sonar depth finder. The transmissions include the route generated by the sonar depth finder. The vessel control device is further configured to automatically direct the marine vessel along the route.

A wind turbine system is provided with a wind turbine rotor, a pitch control mechanism, and an emergency power supply mechanism. The wind turbine rotor includes a blade having a variable pitch angle. The pitch control mechanism drives the blade to control the pitch angle. The emergency power supply mechanism generates electric power from rotation of the wind turbine rotor and feeds the electric power to the pitch control mechanism, in response to occurrence of an accidental drop of a system voltage of a power grid.

A method of programming and setting parameters for a computer unit that regulates the interface between the operator of a marine vessel and the vessel's electric generation and propulsion systems. The invention describes the regulation of energy producing devices, energy storage devices and drive motors and propellers in both propulsion and regeneration modes. This invention simplifies and automates most of the operation of marine electric, hybrid electric, or diesel electric propulsion because the only controls requiring operator intervention are three generator modes: OFF, AUTO and ON, an alarm, an override switch and one or more throttle(s). This helm control can be duplicated in different areas of the vessel. All automatic modes required to regulate forward movement, reverse, emergency power, zero drag, propeller freeze and regeneration are all controlled by a logic using a combination of generator mode, the position of the throttles, the speed and the stored parameters of the vessel.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling the aerodynamic load of a wind turbine's blades individually in such a way that the dynamic aerodynamic loads on the turbine are reduced and power production is optimised. In general the present invention will improve the overall stability of the turbine leading to reduce fatigue loads, reduced extreme loads during operation and reduced risk of blade-tower interaction. In particular preferred embodiment of the invention, flow properties are measured locally on the different blades or in front of the blades and from these measurements the pitch angle settings are changed, in other ways changing the aerodynamic properties, for the blades through a control unit.

A method facilitates assembling a turbine engine to facilitate preventing ice accumulation on the turbine engine during engine operation. The method comprises coupling at least one heat pipe to the engine such that a first end of the at least one heat pipe is coupled in thermal communication with a heat source, and coupling a second end of the at least one heat pipe in thermal communication with an outer surface of an engine component that is upstream from the heat source.

A marine power distribution arrangement includes a turbine-driven AC generator which supplies AC power at a frequency of 240 Hz through a switchgear unit to a transformer and a first power converter by which the power is converted to a variable frequency, variable voltage AC output for ship propulsion and to a second power converter by which the AC power is converted to a fixed voltage, fixed AC frequency or DC power to supply the ship service loads. A battery backup power supply may be switched in an emergency. In another embodiment four turbine-driven AC generators and two emergency power supplies are provided to drive two propulsion shafts as well as to supply the ship service loads.

A turbofan engine assembly includes a core gas turbine engine including a high-pressure compressor, a combustor, and a high-pressure turbine, a booster compressor coupled upstream from the core gas turbine engine, an intermediate-pressure turbine coupled to the booster compressor, the intermediate-pressure turbine disposed downstream from the core gas turbine engine, a counter-rotating fan assembly disposed upstream from the booster compressor, the counter-rotating fan assembly comprising a first fan configured to rotate in a first direction and a second fan configured to rotate in an opposite second direction, and a low-pressure turbine disposed downstream from the intermediate-pressure turbine, the low-pressure turbine configured to drive the counter-rotating fan assembly. A method of assembling the above turbofan engine assembly is also described herein.

The technical disclosure herein describes an autonomous water-borne vehicle having a segmented non-planing hull with free flood fore and aft sections and a sealed center section. The disclosure also described such a vehicle having a fixed longitudinal thruster and a fixed lateral thruster for changing the heading of the vehicle. The disclosure also described such a vehicle having an autonomous mission system, an autonomous navigation system, and a web-based command and control system. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle having a submersible winch. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle wherein the sealed center section is of substantially rectangular cross section. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle having a wheeled battery tray.

A power and cooling management system configured to flexibly couple various adaptive modules to an integrated power and cooling unit to suit any aircraft platform is provided. The integrated power and cooling unit has a compressor, a power turbine, a cooling turbine and an integral starter generator mounted to the shaft of the power and cooling turbine. The integrated power and cooling unit may be pneumatically and/or pneumatically coupled to an adaptive module that comprises an additional compressor and an additional turbine or electrically coupled to a fuel cell which provides the main power after entering the full operation mode. When the engine includes an integral starter generator mounted thereto, the integral starter generator of the integrated power and cooling unit is operative to receive electric power from the engine mounted generator. Alternatively, a motor/generator may be mounted to the shaft of the additional turbine of the adaptive module.

A running control device for a watercraft controls propulsion force and tilt angle of a propulsion device relative to the hull of the watercraft. The running control device also sets an optimum trim angle automatically. The running control device includes a propulsion force control section that controls the propulsion force of the propulsion device. The running control device also includes a tilt angle control section that controls the tilt angle of the propulsion device. A target propulsion force calculation module responds to first input information (e.g., watercraft velocity) to calculate a target propulsion force. An amount-of-operation calculation module responds to second input information to calculate an amount of operation of the propulsion device to produce the target propulsion force. The tilt angle control section includes a tilt angle calculation module that determines the tilt angle based on the propulsion force.

A method enables a gas turbine engine to be operated. The method comprises channeling exhaust gases from a core engine through an exhaust assembly and past at least one flow boundary surface, and selectively operating a noise suppression system extending from the at least one flow boundary surface to facilitate attenuating noise generated during engine operation.

A trolling motor control system that includes a main controller configured interface with a trolling motor. The main controller is configured to control the output power and directional heading of the trolling motor. In at least one embodiment, the main controller has an electronic interface configured to establish a two-way day data connection between the main controller and an electronic GPS-equipped mapping device. This two-way connection allows the main controller to use data stored on the GPS-equipped mapping device to execute functions of the trolling motor control system. It also allows functions of the trolling motor control system to be executed via controls on the GPS-equipped mapping device.

An external jet nozzle mixer (20) includes identically formed lobes (48), equal in number those of the internal mixer (42). External mixer (20) works with internal mixer (42), further to mix the engine internal bypass flow with the internal jet engine core flow, to level the disparate exhaust flow velocities, to reduce the peak velocities from the jet engine core and increase the lower bypass velocities of the engine internal bypass flow, and thereby to reduce noise. The internal lobe contours act as lifting flutes, causing mixing of the primary hot and cold flows before exiting the nozzle. The external lobe contours act as venturi chutes, accelerating the cooler ambient air secondary flow. The lobes thus act collectively as an injector to force the cooler ambient secondary flow into the previously mixed primary flow as it exits the nozzle. Also obtained is an increased thrust efficiency and a consequently decreased fuel consumption and engine emissions.

A turbofan engine assembly includes a core gas turbine engine including a high-pressure compressor, a combustor, and a high-pressure turbine, a booster compressor coupled upstream from the core gas turbine engine, an intermediate-pressure turbine coupled to the booster compressor, the intermediate-pressure turbine disposed downstream from the core gas turbine engine, a counter-rotating fan assembly disposed upstream from the booster compressor, the counter-rotating fan assembly comprising a first fan configured to rotate in a first direction and a second fan configured to rotate in an opposite second direction, and an intermediate-pressure turbine disposed downstream from the core gas turbine engine, wherein the intermediate-pressure turbine drives the booster compressor and the second fan assembly. A method of assembling the above turbofan engine assembly is also described herein.

An acceleration control system is provided which allows the operator of a marine vessel to select an acceleration profile to control the engine speed of a marine vessel from an initial starting speed to a final desired speed. When used in conjunction with tow sports, such as wake boarding and water skiing, the use of acceleration profile provides consistent performance during the period of time when a water skier is accelerated from a stationary position to a full speed condition.

This document discusses, among other things, a wind turbine blade pitch system for moving the blades to control their pitch in the event of a power failure. The system includes at least one backup that has a non-electrical component that can pitch the blades in the event that the power failure adversely affects the electrical blade pitch actuator system. Embodiments include pitch systems that have a plurality of pitch driving systems including, but not limited to electrical systems, hybrid electrical/mechanical systems and non-electrical systems. The non-electrical systems include mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic systems.