Structure

Abstract

To provide a structure capable of efficiently operating a propulsion generation unit according to situation of wind.SOLUTION: A structure 100 has a position change unit 41 for changing physical relationship between a plurality of propulsion generation units according to detection result of a detection unit 40 for detecting at least one of wind velocity or wind direction. In this case, the position change unit 41 is capable of increasing the total of propulsion for the propulsion generation unit as the structure 100 as a whole by using synergic effect / mutual interference of the plurality of propulsion generation units according to the wind velocity and the wind direction. Due to above, the propulsion generation units are capable of being efficiently operated according to the situation of the wind.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a structure. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, ships and other structures that generate thrust using renewable energy such as wind power have become known in order to reduce GHGs such as CO2. For example, the ship described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a thrust generating unit such as a hard sail on the hull that propels the hull using wind power, in addition to a propeller-based thruster. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-45018 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As described above, the thrust generating unit is provided on a structure such as a ship and can generate thrust by wind force. Here, in the environment in which the thrust generating unit is used, the wind direction and wind speed change. It has been desired to efficiently operate the thrust generating unit according to the state of the wind blowing against the thrust generating unit.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and has an object to provide a structure that can efficiently operate a thrust generating unit according to wind conditions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The structure of the present invention comprises a plurality of thrust generating units that generate thrust using wind force, a detection unit that detects at least one of wind speed and wind direction, and a position changing unit that changes the positional relationship between the plurality of thrust generating units depending on the detection results of the detection unit.

[0007] The structure according to the present invention has a position change unit that changes the positional relationship between the multiple thrust generating units in response to the detection results of a detection unit that detects at least one of wind speed and wind direction. In this case, the position change unit can increase the total thrust of the thrust generating units for the entire structure by utilizing the synergistic effect / mutual interference between the multiple thrust generating units in accordance with the wind speed and wind direction. As a result, the thrust generating units can be efficiently operated in response to wind conditions.

[0008] The structure may be a ship, and the position changing unit may change the distance between the plurality of thrust generating units by changing the positions of the thrust generating units on the deck. In this case, the distance between the plurality of thrust generating units can be easily adjusted.

[0009] The structure may be a ship, and the position changing unit may change the orientations of the plurality of thrust generating units by changing the positions of the thrust generating units on the deck. In this case, the orientations of the plurality of thrust generating units can be easily adjusted.

[0010] The thrust generating units may be Magnus rotors, and the position changing unit may change the distances between the multiple thrust generating units by changing the diameter of the Magnus rotor. In this case, the distances between the multiple thrust generating units can be adjusted without changing the position of the Magnus rotor on the deck or by suppressing the amount of change.

[0011] The thrust generating unit may be a sail that generates thrust by catching wind. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, a structure is provided that can efficiently operate a thrust generating section according to wind conditions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a ship according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2]1(a) is a diagram explaining the principle of a rotor sail, and (b) is a plan view of a ship. [Diagram 3] 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a position change unit. FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the thrust of a Magnus rotor. FIG. [Diagram 5] 11 is a graph showing the relationship between wind direction and thrust force in an example and a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a structure 100 equipped with a Magnus rotor 10 (thrust generating unit) is a ship 1. In the following description, the terms "front" and "rear" correspond to the direction of travel of the ship, the term "side" corresponds to the left-right (width) direction of the ship, and the terms "up" and "down" correspond to the up-down direction of the ship.

[0015] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a ship, which is a structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ship 1 is a ship that transports petroleum-based liquid cargo such as crude oil and liquid gas, and is, for example, an oil tanker. Note that the ship is not limited to an oil tanker (a so-called tanker), and may be various types of ships, such as bulk carriers that transport ore and coal, LNG carriers, and car carriers.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, the ship 1 comprises a hull 11, a propeller 12, and a plurality of Magnus rotors 10. The hull 11 has a bow section 2, a stern section 3, an engine room 4, and a cargo room 6. An upper deck 19 is provided on the upper part of the hull 11 (or inside the ship). The bow section 2 is located on the front side of the hull 11. The stern section 3 is located on the rear side of the hull 11.

[0017] The bow 2 has a shape designed to reduce wave-making resistance, for example, when the ship is fully loaded. The propeller 12 mechanically generates thrust for the hull 11, and for example a screw propeller is used. The propeller 12 is installed below the waterline (the water surface of the sea W) at the stern 3 during propulsion. In addition, a rudder 15 for adjusting the propulsion direction is installed below the waterline at the stern 3. The ship 1 may have an azimuth-type propeller that has the functions of the propeller 12 and the rudder 15.

[0018] The engine room 4 is provided adjacent to the bow side of the stern section 3. The engine room 4 is a section for arranging the main engine 16 for providing driving force to the propeller 12. An accommodation area 22 and an exhaust chimney 23 are provided above the engine room 4 on the upper deck 19. The cargo room 6 is provided between the bow section 2 and the engine room 4. The cargo room 6 is a section for storing cargo. The cargo room 6 is partitioned into a plurality of tanks 26 and a plurality of ballast tanks 27 by adopting a double hull structure of an outer plate 20 and an inner bottom plate 21. The tanks 26 are used to carry cargo to be transported by the ship 1. The ballast tanks 27 store ballast water in an amount according to the size of the ship, etc.

[0019] The Magnus rotor 10 is a mechanism that generates thrust by receiving wind force. As a result, the Magnus rotor 10 propels the hull 11 by the wind force. A single or multiple (four in this example) Magnus rotors 10 are provided on the upper deck 19 of the hull 11 in the front-rear and left-right directions. As shown in FIG. 2(a), the Magnus rotor 10 includes a cylindrical rotor sail 31 (main body) that extends in the vertical direction, and an electric motor that rotates the rotor sail 31. When wind WD blows into the rotor sail 31 from the side, the rotation direction of the rotor sail 31 and the direction of the wind WD are opposite to each other at the rear side, and the rotation direction of the rotor sail 31 and the direction of the wind WD are the same at the front side. This generates a pressure difference between the front and rear of the rotor sail 31, generating a thrust force PF toward the front side (Magnus effect). As shown in FIG. 2(b), when wind WD blows from the side of the hull 11, the thrust force PF of each Magnus rotor 10 causes the hull 11 to move forward.

[0020] Next, the characteristics of the vessel 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. For ease of understanding, Fig. 3 will describe a case in which the vessel 1 has two Magnus rotors 10. Here, the Magnus rotor 10 on the bow side is referred to as "Magnus rotor 10A", and the Magnus rotor 10 on the stern side is referred to as "Magnus rotor 10B". The vessel 1 is equipped with a detection unit 40 and a position change unit 41.

[0021] The detection unit 40 detects at least one of wind speed and wind direction. In this embodiment, the detection unit 40 is configured by a sensor that detects wind speed and wind direction. In FIG. 3, the detection unit 40 is provided on the bow side, but the position of the detection unit 40 on the ship 1 is not particularly limited. The positional relationship of the Magnus rotor 10 shown in FIG. 3(a) is taken as the reference position. The longitudinal distance between the center of the Magnus rotor 10A and the center of the Magnus rotor 10B is taken as "distance L1". The longitudinal distance between the outer periphery of the Magnus rotor 10A and the outer periphery of the Magnus rotor 10B is taken as "distance L2".

[0022] The position change unit 41 changes the positional relationship between the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B in accordance with the detection result of the detection unit 40. The positional relationship between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B includes the distances L1, L2 between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B in the front-to-rear direction and the deviation between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B in the left-to-right direction.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3(b), the position change unit 41 changes the position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B on the upper deck 19 to change the distance L2 between the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. The position change unit 41 has a position change mechanism 42 that changes the position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B in the front-rear direction on the upper deck 19. The position change mechanism 42 includes, for example, a rail portion provided on the upper deck 19 so as to extend in the front-rear direction, and a slider portion provided on the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. In addition, the position change mechanism 42 may automatically move the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B according to the detection result of the detection unit 40 by having a drive unit such as a motor. Alternatively, the position change mechanism 42 may indicate the position according to the detection result of the detection unit 40 to an operator, and the operator may manually change the position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B.

[0024] The position change mechanism 42 changes the relative positions of the center of the Magnus rotor 10A and the center of the Magnus rotor 10B in the fore-aft direction. As a result, the distance L1 and the distance L2 shown in FIG. 3(b) become shorter than the distance L1 and the distance L2 related to the reference position shown in FIG. 3(a). The distance L1 and the distance L2 after the position change may be longer than the distance L1 and the distance L2 related to the reference position shown in FIG. 3(a). In the example shown in FIG. 3(b), the position change mechanism 42 fixes the position of the Magnus rotor 10A on the bow side as a reference, and changes the position of the Magnus rotor 10B on the stern side. When the ship 1 has four Magnus rotors 10 as shown in FIG. 1, one of the four Magnus rotors 10 is fixed and the other three Magnus rotors 10 are moved, taking into consideration the position of the accommodation area 22. For example, if the Magnus rotor 10A on the bow side is moved closer to the accommodation area 22, and the Magnus rotor 10 as a whole is moved closer to the accommodation area 22, the accommodation area may be affected by the wind in the event of a tailwind.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 3(c), the position change unit 41 changes the orientation between the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B by changing the position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B on the upper deck 19. The position change unit 41 changes the left-right position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B on the upper deck 19, and changes the orientation between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B by shifting the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B from each other in the left-right direction. The position change unit 41 has a position change mechanism 43 that changes the position of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B in the front-rear direction on the upper deck 19. The position change mechanism 43 includes, for example, a rail portion provided on the upper deck 19 so as to extend in the left-right direction, and a slider portion provided on the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. In addition, the position change mechanism 43 may automatically move the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B according to the detection result of the detection unit 40 by having a drive unit such as a motor. Alternatively, the position changing mechanism 43 may indicate to an operator a position according to the detection result of the detection unit 40, and the operator may manually change the positions of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B.

[0026] The position changing mechanism 43 changes the relative positions of the Magnus rotor 10A and the Magnus rotor 10B in the left-right direction. In the example shown in Fig. 3(c), the position changing mechanism 43 fixes the position of the Magnus rotor 10A on the bow side as a reference, and changes the position of the Magnus rotor 10B on the stern side. When the ship 1 has four Magnus rotors 10 as shown in Fig. 1, one of the four Magnus rotors 10 is fixed while taking into consideration the position of the accommodation space 22, and the other three Magnus rotors 10 are moved.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3(d), the position change unit 41 changes the diameter of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B to change the distance L2 between the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. The position change unit 41 changes only the diameter of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B without changing the center positions of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. As a result, the distance L2 shown in FIG. 3(d) is shorter than the distance L2 related to the reference position shown in FIG. 3(a). On the other hand, the distance L1 shown in FIG. 3(d) is the same as the distance L1 related to the reference position shown in FIG. 3(a).

[0028] The mechanism by which the position change unit 41 changes the diameter of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B is not particularly limited. For example, the peripheral walls of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B can be formed by rolling an elastically deformable plate-like member, and the diameter of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B can be changed by pushing the rolled member from the inner periphery side open with a pressing member. Alternatively, the peripheral wall members may be pushed open by supplying a fluid into the peripheral walls of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B. The diameter may also be changed by pulling the peripheral wall members from the inside with a rope or the like. The diameter of the peripheral wall members may also be changed by the centrifugal force of the weight accompanying the rotation.

[0029] The ship 1 can increase the thrust obtained from the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B by utilizing the synergistic effect / mutual interference between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B that occurs when multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B are arranged. Also, by changing the positional relationship between the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B using the position change unit 41 in accordance with the wind speed and wind direction, it is possible to make the synergistic effect / mutual interference more likely to occur.

[0030] Here, the relationship between wind speed, wind direction, and thrust generated by the multiple Magnus rotors 10A, 10B will be described with reference to FIG. 4. For wind WD having a certain direction and speed, the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B generate lift LF in a direction perpendicular to the wind direction, and drag RF in the same direction as the wind direction. By dividing these lift LF and drag RF into components in the longitudinal and lateral directions of the boat 1, thrust PFa, PFb and lateral forces SFa, SFb for the boat 1 can be obtained. The position change unit 41 changes the installation interval of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B according to the wind speed and wind direction, so that the lift LF and drag RF generated by each of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B change, and as a result, the total thrust PFa, PFb of the Magnus rotors 10A, 10B can be increased to a value greater than the total thrust PF generated by two Magnus rotors 10 alone.

[0031] For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the wind blows with a wind direction of -120° with respect to the ship 1, with the wind from the bow direction being taken as 0°. The thrust of the ship according to the comparative example not having the position change unit 41 is shown by a dashed line. On the other hand, the thrust of the ship according to the embodiment having the position change unit 41 is shown by a solid line. The comparative example is a ship having a sufficient value for the distance L1 and not having the position change unit 41 so that no synergistic effect / mutual interference occurs between the Magnus rotors 10A and 10B. In the ship according to the embodiment, the distance L1 between the Magnus rotor 10A and the Magnus rotor 10B is adjusted by the position change unit 41 to be 9 times the diameter of the Magnus rotor. As a result, the total thrust of the Magnus rotors 10A and 10B of the ship according to the embodiment is improved by 8% compared to the comparative example.

[0032] The action and effect of the structure 100 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0033] The structure 100 according to this embodiment has a position changer 41 that changes the positional relationship between the multiple thrust generating units in response to the detection results of a detector 40 that detects at least one of wind speed and wind direction. In this case, the position changer 41 can increase the total thrust of the thrust generating units in the entire structure 100 by utilizing the synergistic effect / mutual interference between the multiple thrust generating units in accordance with the wind speed and wind direction. As described above, the thrust generating units can be efficiently operated in response to wind conditions.

[0034] The structure 100 is a ship 1, and the position change unit 41 may change the distance between the multiple thrust generating units by changing the positions of the thrust generating units on the upper deck 19. In this case, the distance between the multiple thrust generating units can be easily adjusted.

[0035] The structure 100 is a ship, and the position change unit 41 may change the relative orientations of the multiple thrust generating units by changing the positions of the thrust generating units on the upper deck 19. In this case, the relative orientations of the multiple thrust generating units can be easily adjusted.

[0036] The thrust generating units are Magnus rotors 10, and the position changing unit 41 may change the distance between the multiple thrust generating units by changing the diameter of the Magnus rotor 10. In this case, the distance between the multiple thrust generating units can be adjusted without changing the position of the Magnus rotor 10 on the upper deck 19, or by limiting the amount of change.

[0037] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[0038] In the above-described embodiment, a Magnus rotor is used as the thrust generating unit. However, the thrust generating unit may be a sail that generates thrust by receiving wind. For example, it may be a soft sail, a hard sail, a suction sail, etc. Also, both the Magnus rotor and another sail may be used. In this case, it is preferable to align the height of the sail with that of the Magnus rotor in order to produce a synergistic effect / mutual interference.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the ship 1 is exemplified as the structure 100. However, as the structure 100, a floating structure other than a ship, or other floating object on water may be adopted. As the floating structure, a wind power plant on water, a mega float, a giant fish pond, etc. can be applied. In addition, the present invention can be applied to wind power generation using the Magnus effect installed on land, not limited to on water. In addition, the present invention can be applied to an amphibious wind power generator, that is, a wind power generator that may be installed in water or on land. Alternatively, the present invention may be adopted in a mechanism for compensating for the lift that tends to be insufficient at takeoff for the wings of an airplane (rotor airplane) with a Magnus rotor.

[0040] The structure of the hull 11 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1, and may be modified as appropriate depending on the application, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1...ship, 10...Magnus rotor, 40...detection unit, 41...position change unit, 100...structure.

Claims

1. A plurality of thrust generating units that generate thrust by wind force; A detection unit that detects at least one of wind speed and wind direction; a position changer that changes a positional relationship between the plurality of thrust generating units in accordance with a detection result of the detector.

2. The structure is a ship, The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the position changing unit changes the distance between the plurality of thrust generating units by changing the positions of the thrust generating units on the deck.

3. The structure is a ship, The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the position changing unit changes orientations of the plurality of thrust generating units relative to one another by changing positions of the thrust generating units on a deck.

4. The thrust generating unit is a Magnus rotor, The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the position changing unit changes a distance between the plurality of thrust generating units by changing a diameter of the Magnus rotor.

5. The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the thrust generating portion is a sail that generates thrust by receiving wind.

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