Mechanical self-adaptive porous valve capable of passively controlling automatic accumulation and release of bubbles

Abstract

The invention discloses a mechanical self-adaptive porous valve for passively controlling automatic accumulation and release of bubbles, and belongs to a fluid control technology in the field of bubble energy collection. In order to solve the problem that bubble potential energy is difficult to collect due to the fact that the flux of bubbles released from the seabed is too low, the invention discloses a mechanical self-adaptive porous valve which structurally comprises an upper gas-liquid mixing cavity, a middle porous plate and a lower gas storage chamber. When gas is accumulated in the gas storage chamber below the perforated plate, the bent gas-liquid interfaces protruding upwards in the tiny through holes of the perforated plate can automatically deform along with accumulation of the gas by means of the surface tension effect of liquid, self-adaptive changing Laplace pressure is provided to resist bubble buoyancy, and therefore automatic accumulation of bubbles below the perforated valve is achieved. And after gas accumulation reaches a threshold value, the gas is instantaneously released through the high-permeability porous plate. The instantaneous air inlet rate of the energy collection device can be remarkably increased, and therefore the efficiency of bubble energy collection power generation is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the fluid control technology in the field of bubble energy harvesting, and particularly relates to a mechanically adaptive porous valve for passively controlling the automatic accumulation and release of bubbles. Background Art

[0002] The power supply problem of subsea environmental perception devices is a key bottleneck restricting the development of subsea in-situ observation technology. Bubbles widely distributed on the seabed, such as the photosynthetic bubbles of benthic plants and subsea methane seepage, contain potential energy, which is a promising in-situ energy source on the seabed. However, the ultra-low flux of subsea bubbles poses great challenges to the harvesting and utilization of bubble potential energy. In order to collect the energy of ultra-low flux bubbles, effective technical means must be adopted to increase the instantaneous intake rate of the energy harvesting device. Introducing a control device such as a fluid control valve to accumulate and then release the bubbles at high speed is a feasible solution. Existing fluid control valves usually use external forces such as electrostatic force, magnetic force, gas pressure, and thermal force to drive the flow channel control valve. For example, using an external program and an electromagnetic valve to control the accumulation and quantitative release of bubbles can adjust the flow pattern of the gas-liquid two-phase flow, increase the instantaneous flow rate of the fluid, and the output voltage of the device. However, these fluid control valves require complex external controllers and consume a large amount of energy, and are difficult to be applied to the energy harvesting device of weak gas sources with ultra-low flux on the seabed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention discloses a mechanically adaptive porous valve for passively controlling the automatic accumulation and release of bubbles, which includes a gas-liquid mixing chamber, a porous plate, and a gas storage chamber;

[0004] The gas-liquid mixing chamber is installed at the upper end of the gas storage chamber, and the lower port of the gas-liquid mixing chamber is cooperatively connected with the upper port of the gas storage chamber; the porous plate is embedded between the gas-liquid mixing chamber and the gas storage chamber for separating the gas-liquid mixing chamber and the gas storage chamber;

[0005] The side of the gas-liquid mixing chamber is provided with a water inlet, and water in the external environment enters the gas-liquid mixing chamber through the water inlet. The water in the gas-liquid mixing chamber is mixed with the bubbles released by the porous plate. The upper end of the gas-liquid mixing chamber is provided with an opening for releasing the gas-liquid two-phase fluid into the bubble rising pipeline of the bubble energy harvesting device;

[0006] The surface of the porous plate is provided with conical through holes with the same shape and size. The diameter of the upper port of the conical through hole is smaller than that of the lower port, so as to control that during the upward movement of the curved gas-liquid interface inside the conical through hole, the interface curvature radius gradually decreases. Multiple conical through holes release bubbles simultaneously, improving the ventilation rate and gas release rate of the porous valve;

[0007] The gas storage chamber is located below the porous plate and is used to accumulate and store low-flux bubbles in water. When the amount of gas accumulated in the gas storage chamber reaches the opening threshold of the mechanical adaptive porous valve, the accumulated gas will be released through the porous plate and then enter the gas-liquid mixing chamber to form a gas-liquid two-phase flow. The gas-liquid two-phase flow enters the bubble rising pipeline of the bubble energy collection device, and the gas-liquid two-phase flow flows in the bubble rising pipeline, driving the pipeline turbine generator to rotate and output electric energy.

[0008] The gas-liquid mixing chamber, the porous plate and the gas storage chamber are all made of resin or corrosion-resistant polymer materials.

[0009] The surface of the porous plate is treated to be hydrophilic and gas-phobic, so as to form an upwardly convex curved gas-liquid interface in the conical through-hole, thereby generating a downward Laplace pressure to resist the buoyancy of the bubbles and realizing the automatic accumulation of low-flux bubbles.

[0010] The upper port diameter range of the conical through-holes on the surface of the porous plate is 0.3 - 2.0 mm, and it is actually set according to the size of the opening threshold.

[0011] Among them, both the bubble accumulation and release processes are realized by the Laplace pressure generated by the surface tension naturally existing on the gas-liquid interface, without consuming any energy and without external power supply.

[0012] Due to the above technical solutions, a mechanical adaptive porous valve for passive control of automatic bubble accumulation and release provided by the present invention does not consume any energy during operation, does not require any external control device, and does not require power supply. It is very suitable for the bubble energy collection system of ultra-low flux weak gas sources on the seabed. This device relies on the movement of the gas-liquid interface in the conical micro-holes to change the curvature radius of the gas-liquid interface, realizing the adaptive dynamic regulation of the Laplace pressure. Before the amount of gas in the gas storage chamber reaches the opening threshold of the porous valve, it can continuously resist the action of gas buoyancy and realize the automatic accumulation of ultra-low flux bubbles. In addition, the highly breathable porous structure design further ensures that the accumulated gas can be instantaneously and highly released after reaching the threshold, thereby significantly increasing the instantaneous gas intake rate, fluid flow rate and power generation capacity of the bubble rising pipeline of the device.

[0013] The device of the present invention has a simple structure and strong practicability. It can help the seabed bubble energy collection device completely break through the threshold barrier of energy collection, get rid of the limitation of ultra-low gas flux in the actual seabed environment, and thus effectively work and generate electricity in any seabed environment with low flux, providing in-situ energy for seabed in-situ sensors and deep-sea exploration devices, and realizing the self-power supply of many distributed intelligent sensing devices in the seabed observation network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments recorded in the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0015] Figure 1 This is the overall appearance structure diagram of the device of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 This is the internal structure sectional view of the device of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 3 This is the shape change of the gas-liquid interface in the conical through-hole of the porous plate and the change process of the Laplace pressure first increasing and then decreasing during the process of bubbles accumulating and releasing in the device of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 4 This is the overall structure diagram of the present invention after being installed at the lower end of the bubble rising pipeline of the bubble energy collection device Specific implementation manners

[0019] To make the technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in combination with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention:

[0020] As Figure 1 And Figure 2 shown, a mechanical self-adaptive porous valve for passively controlling the automatic accumulation and high-speed release of ultra-low flux bubbles includes a gas-liquid mixing chamber 1, a porous plate 2, and a gas storage chamber 3; the porous plate 2 is embedded between the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 and the gas storage chamber 3 for separating the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 from the gas storage chamber 3; a water inlet 11 is provided on the side of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 to facilitate the entry of water in the external environment into the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 to mix with the bubbles released by the porous plate 2; an opening is provided at the upper end of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 for releasing the gas-liquid two-phase fluid.

[0021] As Figure 3As shown, the surface of the porous plate 2 is covered with conical through holes of the same shape and size, the upper end diameter of the conical through holes is smaller, the lower end diameter is larger, and the surface of the porous plate 2 is pre-treated to be hydrophilic and gas-repellent. The porous plate 2 is the core component for realizing the automatic accumulation and high-speed release of low-flux bubbles. The working principle is as follows: the ultra-low-flux bubbles released from the seabed first enter the gas storage chamber 3 by their own buoyancy, accumulate below the porous plate 2, and form an upward convex curved gas-liquid interface in the numerous hydrophilic and gas-repellent conical through holes of the porous plate 2, thereby generating a downward Laplace pressure; as the bubbles in the gas storage chamber 3 continue to accumulate, the liquid level difference between the upper and lower interfaces of the gas in the gas storage chamber 3 gradually increases, and the liquid pressure difference to which the gas is subjected also gradually increases, causing the curved gas-liquid interface in the conical through holes of the porous plate 2 to gradually move upward, and the curvature radius of the gas-liquid interface gradually decreases; since the Laplace pressure of the gas-liquid interface is inversely proportional to the curvature radius of the gas-liquid interface, the downward Laplace pressure F γ During the gas accumulation process, the pressure increases gradually, and grows synchronously with the liquid pressure difference (gas buoyancy), maintaining a mechanical dynamic balance, thereby achieving the continuous accumulation of low-flux bubbles; until the curved gas-liquid interface in the conical through hole reaches the minimum aperture position on the upper surface of the porous plate 2, the Laplace pressure F γ The maximum value is reached and the buoyancy cannot be resisted any further. At this point, the amount of gas accumulated in the gas storage chamber 3 reaches a maximum value and the mechanically adaptive porous valve reaches a threshold state. After that, the curved gas-liquid interface begins to expand, causing the radius of curvature of the gas-liquid interface to increase and the Laplace pressure F γ The upward liquid pressure difference on the gas quickly exceeds the downward Laplace pressure F γ The bubbles accumulated in the gas storage chamber 3 begin to be released at high speed through the numerous conical through holes of the porous plate 2, and a large number of bubbles instantly flow into the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1.

[0022] like Figure 4As shown in the figure, the working process of the device is that the porous valve is installed below the bubble rising pipeline 4 of the submarine bubble energy collection device. The upper port of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 in the porous valve is connected to the lower port of the bubble rising pipeline 4. The whole device is completely immersed underwater and placed in the submarine bubble leakage area. When the gas accumulated in the gas storage chamber 3 is released through the porous plate 2 and surges into the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1, the bubbles will rise under the action of buoyancy and enter the bubble rising pipeline 4. At the same time, the water in the external environment flows into the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 through the water inlets 11 on both sides of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 1 and enters the bubble rising pipeline 4 together with a large number of bubbles released by the porous plate 2, forming a rapidly rising gas-liquid two-phase flow with a slug flow pattern. Under the powerful driving force of the high-speed slug flow, the pipeline turbine generator 5 rotates and outputs electrical energy. After the gas-liquid two-phase fluid flows through the pipeline turbine generator 5, it flows out of the energy collection device through the upper port of the bubble rising pipeline 4 and returns to the external water environment. In the above water flow circulation process accompanied by the rising of bubbles, the buoyancy potential energy stored in the submarine bubbles is first converted into the kinetic energy of the gas-liquid two-phase fluid and finally converted into electrical energy output, thus completing the collection of bubble energy.

[0023] The present invention instantaneously releases the ultra-low flux submarine bubbles that are originally unable to directly drive the pipeline turbine generator after long-term accumulation, which can significantly increase the instantaneous air intake rate of the bubble rising pipeline and the flow velocity of the gas-liquid two-phase flow, thereby generating a high-speed fluid sufficient to drive the pipeline turbine generator, effectively collecting the originally difficult-to-collect ultra-low flux bubble energy and converting it into electrical energy output, providing in-situ energy for a variety of submarine in-situ sensors and deep-sea exploration equipment, and providing technology for the construction of a self-powered submarine observation network.

[0024] The above is only a preferred specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, according to the technical solution and inventive concept of the present invention, makes equivalent substitutions or changes, and should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mechanical self - adaptive porous valve for passive control of automatic cumulative release of bubbles, characterized in that Comprising: A gas-liquid mixing chamber, a porous plate, and a gas storage chamber; The gas-liquid mixing chamber is installed at the upper end of the gas storage chamber, and the lower port of the gas-liquid mixing chamber is cooperatively connected to the upper port of the gas storage chamber; the porous plate is embedded between the gas-liquid mixing chamber and the gas storage chamber for separating the gas-liquid mixing chamber from the gas storage chamber; A water inlet is provided on the side of the gas-liquid mixing chamber, and water in the external environment enters the gas-liquid mixing chamber through this water inlet. The water in the gas-liquid mixing chamber is mixed with the bubbles released by the porous plate. An opening is provided at the upper end of the gas-liquid mixing chamber, and this opening is used to release the gas-liquid two-phase fluid into the bubble rising pipeline of the bubble energy collection device; Conical through-holes with the same shape and size are provided on the surface of the porous plate. The diameter of the upper port of the conical through-hole is smaller than that of the lower port, so as to control that during the upward movement of the curved gas-liquid interface inside the conical through-hole, the interface curvature radius will gradually decrease. Among them, multiple conical through-holes release bubbles simultaneously, improving the gas ventilation rate and gas release rate of the porous valve; The gas storage chamber is located below the porous plate and is used to accumulate and store low-flux bubbles in water. When the amount of gas accumulated in the gas storage chamber reaches the opening threshold of the mechanical adaptive porous valve, the accumulated gas will be released through the porous plate and then enter the gas-liquid mixing chamber to form a gas-liquid two-phase flow.

2. The mechanical self-adaptive porous valve for automatically accumulating and releasing bubbles without power according to claim 1, wherein: The gas-liquid mixing chamber, the porous plate, and the gas storage chamber are all made of resin or corrosion-resistant polymer materials.

3. The mechanical self - adaptive porous valve for passive - controlled automatic cumulative release of bubbles according to claim 1, wherein: The surface of the porous plate is treated to be hydrophilic and hydrophobic to facilitate the formation of an upwardly convex curved gas-liquid interface inside the conical through-hole, thereby generating a downward Laplace pressure to resist the buoyancy of the bubbles and realizing the automatic accumulation of low-flux bubbles.

4. A mechanical adaptive porous valve for passive control of automatic cumulative release of bubbles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The diameter range of the upper port of the conical through-hole on the surface of the porous plate is 0.3 - 2.0 mm and is actually set according to the size of the opening threshold.

5. The mechanical self-adaptive porous valve for automatically accumulating and releasing passive-controlled bubbles according to claim 1, wherein: Among them, both the bubble accumulation and release processes are realized by the Laplace pressure generated by the surface tension naturally existing on the gas-liquid interface, without consuming any energy and without external power supply.

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