Power generation system

Abstract

This invention provides a power generation system that can efficiently generate electricity using compressed air. [Solution] A power generation system 10 that efficiently generates electricity using compressed air, comprising a plurality of compartments 11 filled with liquid, and a turbine 12 installed in each compartment 11 that rotates with compressed air introduced into the compartments 11, wherein each compartment 11 has an inlet path 13 into which compressed air is introduced and an outlet path 14 into which compressed air is discharged, and the outlet path 14 of the preceding compartment 11 is connected to the inlet path 13 of the subsequent compartment 11, and compressed air is introduced from the inlet path 13 of the foremost compartment 11 to rotate the turbine 12 in the compartment 11, and then compressed air is sent from the outlet path 14 of the foremost compartment 11 to the inlet path 13 of the next compartment 11 to rotate the turbine 12 of the next compartment 11, and so on, characterized in that compressed air is sequentially sent to a plurality of connected compartments 11 to rotate each turbine 12.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power generation system that efficiently generates electricity using compressed air.

Background Art

[0002] Due to recent global environmental problems and the like, there is a widespread demand for energy conservation and high efficiency in the energy that powers devices and machines. At the same time, great expectations are placed on power generation using renewable energy that can be stably supplied without using fossil fuels or nuclear power.

[0003] The applicant has previously proposed a power generation device described in Patent Document 1. This invention includes facing columns that support the power generation device, and a movable inclined member that has an inclination from one column side to the other column side in order to rotate a rotating member, and is provided with one or more roller members at both ends and roller receiving members provided on the column so as to be able to move up and down along the column, and a fixed inclined member that has an inclination from the other column side to one column side in order to rotate the rotating member and is provided on the column or a support member that supports the column. It is a power generation device characterized by including these.

[0004] According to the invention described in Patent Document 1, by moving the movable inclined member up and down to rotate the rotating member, power can be generated, and a power generation device with energy conservation can be provided. In particular, the generated power can be utilized even in areas and locations where power is not supplied without using a power source.

[0005] In the invention described in Patent Document 1, as an example, the vertical movement caused by waves or the like can be converted into compressed air by a cylinder provided in the power generation device. If this compressed air is used for power generation, for example, electricity can be generated.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

[0007] This invention was discovered in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a power generation system that can efficiently generate electricity using compressed air. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a power generation system that efficiently generates electricity using compressed air, comprising a plurality of compartments filled with liquid, and a turbine installed in each compartment that rotates with compressed air introduced into the compartment, wherein each compartment has an inlet path into which compressed air is introduced and an outlet path into which compressed air is discharged, and the outlet path of the preceding compartment is connected to the inlet path of the subsequent compartments, and compressed air is introduced from the inlet path of the foremost compartment to rotate the turbine in the compartment, and then compressed air is sent from the outlet path of the foremost compartment to the inlet path of the next compartment to rotate the turbine in the next compartment, and so on, in which case compressed air is sequentially sent to a plurality of connected compartments to rotate each turbine.

[0009] In one aspect of the present invention, the inlet route may be connected to the lower outside of the partition, and the outlet route may be connected to the upper outside of the partition.

[0010] Alternatively, in one aspect of the present invention, the inlet-side path may be introduced from the upper side of the partition to near the bottom surface inside the partition, and the outlet-side path may be connected to the upper outside side of the partition.

[0011] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the multiple partitions may be arranged adjacent to each other.

[0012] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, a guide member may be provided along the outer circumference of the turbine, extending from near the inlet to the compartment of the inlet-side path to near the outlet of the outlet-side path, and guiding the compressed air in the direction that rotates the turbine. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] Thus, according to the present invention, a power generation system can be made that can efficiently generate electricity using compressed air. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system relating to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] The power generation system according to the present invention will be described in detail below. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. One aspect of the present invention is a power generation system 10 that efficiently generates electricity using compressed air, comprising a plurality of compartments 11 filled with liquid, and a turbine 12 installed in each compartment 11 that rotates with compressed air introduced into the compartments 11, wherein each compartment 11 has an inlet path 13 into which compressed air is introduced and an outlet path 14 into which compressed air is discharged, and the outlet path 14 of the preceding compartment 11 is connected to the inlet path 13 of the subsequent compartment 11, and compressed air is introduced from the inlet path 13 of the foremost compartment 11 to rotate the turbine 12 in the compartment 11, and then compressed air is sent from the outlet path 14 of the foremost compartment 11 to the inlet path 13 of the next compartment 11 to rotate the turbine 12 of the next compartment 11, and so on, characterized in that compressed air is sequentially sent to a plurality of connected compartments 11 to rotate each turbine 12. The configurations will be described below.

[0017] The compartment 11 is a space in which a turbine 12 is installed and which is filled with liquid. The liquid is, for example, water, but it may also contain special chemicals or oils that promote the rotation of the turbine 12. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the compartment 11 is configured such that multiple compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are connected. In Figure 1, three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are connected, but there may be two or more compartments 11. Also, in Figure 1, the three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are connected spaced apart, but they may also be connected adjacent to each other. The size of the compartment 11 will depend on the size of the turbine 12 inside, but as an example, a container-like container can be used.

[0018] The turbine 12 operates (rotates) using the compressed air introduced into the compartment 11 as the working gas. The turbine 12 is equipped with, for example, a generator or the like, and is used to generate electricity with the generator by the rotational operation of the turbine 12. The shape of the turbine 12 is not particularly limited as long as it can be rotated by compressed air. As an example, a waterwheel-shaped one with a plurality of blades arranged on the circumference can be used. The compressed air rotates the turbine 12 by, for example, contacting the blades and pushing them up by buoyancy or the like.

[0019] Each of the turbines 12A, 12B, and 12C may be rotated individually, or may be designed to rotate in conjunction. For example, in FIG. 1, the rotation axes of the respective turbines 12A, 12B, and 12C are shown to be orthogonal to the direction in which the respective compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are arranged in series. However, if the rotation axes of the respective turbines 12A, 12B, and 12C and the direction in which the respective compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are arranged in series are installed in the same direction, it is also possible to rotate the respective turbines 12A, 12B, and 12C coaxially and in conjunction.

[0020] Each compartment 11 has an inlet-side path 13 through which compressed air is introduced and an outlet-side path 14 through which compressed air is discharged. As an example, the inlet-side path 13 is provided on the lower side of the compartment 11, and the outlet-side path 14 is provided on the upper side of the compartment 11. By doing so, since the compressed air floats from the lower side to the upper side of the compartment 11 by buoyancy, by installing the turbine 12 in the movement path therebetween, the compressed air can be efficiently used for the rotation of the turbine 12.

[0021] In one aspect of the present invention, the outlet-side path 14 of the front-stage compartment 11 is connected to the inlet-side path 13 of the rear-stage compartment 11. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, in the three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C, the outlet-side path 14A of the compartment 11A is connected to the inlet-side path 13B of the compartment 11B, and the outlet-side path 14B of the compartment 11B is connected to the inlet-side path 13C of the compartment 11C. In this case, the three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are arranged in series. However, in other aspects of the present invention, for example, some of the plurality of compartments 11 may be connected in parallel.

[0022] In one aspect of the present invention, compressed air is introduced from the inlet-side path 13A of the foremost compartment 11A, rotates the turbine 12A in the compartment 11A, and then the compressed air is sent from the outlet-side path 14A of the foremost compartment 11A to the inlet-side path 13B of the next-stage compartment 11B to rotate the turbine 12B of the next-stage compartment 11B. Compressed air is sequentially sent to the plurality of connected compartments 11A, 11B, 11C to rotate the respective turbines 12A, 12B, 12C. By doing so, compressed air can be sequentially sent to the plurality of compartments 11A, 11B, 11C in a so-called cascade system, and by using the power generated by rotating the turbines 12A, 12B, 12C, several times the efficiency can be obtained from a single unit of compressed air.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the inlet-side path 13 is introduced from above the compartment 11 to near the bottom surface inside the compartment 11, and the outlet-side path 14 is connected to the upper side outside the compartment. In this way, by introducing the inlet-side path 13 from above the compartment 11 to near the bottom surface inside the compartment 11, for example, it is not necessary to connect the inlet-side path 13 (such as a pipe) to the lower side (bottom surface portion) of the compartment 11 as shown in FIG. 1, and the bottom surface portion of the compartment 11 can be directly placed on the ground (grounding surface).

[0024] Furthermore, in the configuration shown in Figure 2, the multiple partitions 11A, 11B, and 11C can be arranged adjacent to each other. This reduces the volume occupied by each component of the power generation system 10, thereby achieving space savings.

[0025] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a power generation system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 3, guide members 15 (15A, 15B, 15C) may be provided along the outer circumference of the turbine 12, extending from near the inlet of the inlet-side path 13 into the partition chamber 11 (the boundary between the inlet-side path 13 and the partition chamber 11) to near the outlet of the outlet-side path 14 (the boundary between the outlet-side path 14 and the partition chamber 11), to guide compressed air in a direction that rotates the turbine 12.

[0026] By providing such a guide member 15, the compressed air introduced into the partition chamber 11 from the inlet-side passage 13 is guided by the guide member 15 in a direction that rotates the turbine 12. This prevents compressed air from leaking out of the turbine 12 in another direction in the partition chamber 11, and allows the energy of the compressed air to be efficiently used to rotate the turbine 12.

[0027] Furthermore, there are no particular limitations on the method of generating compressed air. For example, the power generation device described in Patent Document 1, previously proposed by the applicant, can be used. According to the invention described in Patent Document 1, the movement of a rotating member and a movable inclined member that utilize natural energy from vertical motion such as waves can be used as a power source to push up the piston of an actuator such as a cylinder, and this can be converted into an action to compress and send out the air inside the cylinder. The compressed air may be sent directly from the source to the power generation system according to the present invention, or it may be stored in a compression tank or the like before being sent to the power generation system according to the present invention.

[0028] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to realize a power generation system that can efficiently generate electricity using compressed air.

[0029] Although one embodiment of the present invention and each example have been described in detail above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications are possible without substantially departing from the novel aspects and effects of the present invention. Therefore, all such modifications are included within the scope of the present invention.

[0030] For example, any term that appears at least once in the specification or drawings alongside a broader or synonymous term may be replaced with that different term anywhere in the specification or drawings. Furthermore, the configuration of the power generation system is not limited to that described in the embodiment of the present invention and each embodiment, and various modifications are possible. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0031] 10 Power generation system, 11 (11A, 11B, 11C) Separation chamber, 12 (12A, 12B, 12C) Turbine, 13 (13A, 13B, 13C) Inlet side path, 14 (14A, 14B, 14C) Outlet side path, 15 (15A, 15B, 15C) Guide member

Claims

1. A power generation system that efficiently generates electricity using compressed air, Multiple compartments filled with liquid, A turbine is installed in each of the aforementioned compartments and rotates using compressed air introduced into the compartment. Equipped with, Each of the aforementioned compartments has an inlet path through which compressed air is introduced and an outlet path through which compressed air is discharged, and the outlet path of the preceding compartment is connected to the inlet path of the subsequent compartment. A power generation system characterized by sequentially supplying compressed air to multiple interconnected compartments to rotate their respective turbines, starting with the introduction of compressed air from the inlet side of the first compartment to rotate the turbine inside that compartment, and then sending compressed air from the outlet side of the first compartment to the inlet side of the next compartment to rotate the turbine inside that compartment.

2. The power generation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the inlet route is connected to the lower outside of the partition chamber, and the outlet route is connected to the upper outside of the partition chamber.

3. The power generation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the inlet-side path is introduced from the upper side of the partition chamber to near the bottom surface inside the partition chamber, and the outlet-side path is connected to the upper outside side of the partition chamber.

4. The power generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the plurality of partitions are arranged adjacent to each other.

5. The power generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is provided along the outer circumference of the turbine from near the inlet to the compartment of the inlet-side path to near the outlet of the outlet-side path, and includes a guide member that guides the compressed air in a direction that rotates the turbine.

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