Power generation system

Abstract

To provide a power generation system capable of efficiently generating power by using compressed air.SOLUTION: The power generation system 10 efficiently generates power by using compressed air, and includes a plurality of compartments 11 filled with liquid, and turbines 12 installed in the respective compartments 11 and rotated by the compressed air introduced into the compartments 11. Each of the chambers 11 has an inlet side passage 13 into which compressed air is introduced and an outlet side passage 14 from which the compressed air is discharged, and the outlet side passage 14 of the preceding chamber 11 is connected to the inlet side passage 13 of the succeeding chamber 11 so as to be connected. Compressed air is introduced from an inlet-side passage 13 of a first-stage compartment 11 to rotate a turbine 12 in the compartment 11, and then the compressed air is sent from an outlet-side passage 14 of the first-stage compartment 11 to an inlet-side passage 13 of a second-stage compartment 11 to rotate a turbine 12 in the second-stage compartment 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, against the backdrop of global environmental issues and the like, energy saving and higher efficiency have been widely demanded for energy that serves as the power source for 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 the power generation device described in Patent Document 1. This invention is provided with opposing pillars that support the power generation device, one or more movable inclined members that are inclined from one pillar side to the other pillar side to rotate the rotating member, have one or more roller members at both ends, and can be raised and lowered along the pillars by roller receiving members provided on the pillars, and one or more fixed inclined members that are inclined from the other pillar side to the one pillar side to rotate the rotating member and are provided on the pillars or support members that support the pillars. This is a power generation device characterized by that configuration.

[0004] According to the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to provide an energy-saving power generation device that generates power by moving the movable inclined member up and down to rotate the rotating member. In particular, the generated power can be used even in regions or places where power is not supplied, without requiring a power source.

[0005] In the invention described in Patent Document 1, as an example, the vertical motion 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, electric power 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, It is formed as a container-like vessel that can be placed on a ground surface, The system comprises multiple chambers filled with liquid, and turbines installed in each chamber that are rotated by compressed air introduced into the chamber. Each chamber has an inlet path for introducing compressed air and an outlet path for discharging compressed air. The outlet path of the preceding chamber is connected to the inlet path of the subsequent chambers. Compressed air is introduced from the inlet path of the foremost chamber to rotate the turbine inside the chamber, and then compressed air is sent from the outlet path of the foremost chamber to the inlet path of the next chamber to rotate the turbine in the next chamber, and so on, sequentially sending compressed air to multiple connected chambers to rotate each turbine. In addition, a guide member is provided along the outer circumference of the turbine, extending from near the inlet to the compartment on the inlet side to near the outlet on the outlet side, and separate from the inner wall of the compartment, to guide the compressed air in the direction that rotates the turbine. It is characterized by the following:

[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. [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 compressed air introduced into the compartment 11 as the working gas. The turbine 12 is equipped with, for example, a generator, and the rotational motion of the turbine 12 is used to generate electricity with the generator. The shape of the turbine 12 is not particularly limited as long as it can be rotated by compressed air, but as an example, a waterwheel-like structure with multiple blades arranged around the circumference can be used. The compressed air rotates the turbine 12 by, for example, contacting these blades and being pushed up by buoyancy or the like.

[0019] Each turbine 12A, 12B, and 12C may be designed to rotate individually or to rotate in conjunction with each other. For example, in Figure 1, the rotation axes of each turbine 12A, 12B, and 12C are shown to be perpendicular to the direction in which the respective chambers 11A, 11B, and 11C are connected. However, if the rotation axes of each turbine 12A, 12B, and 12C are positioned in the same direction as the direction in which the respective chambers 11A, 11B, and 11C are connected, it is possible to make each turbine 12A, 12B, and 12C rotate in conjunction with each other on the same axis.

[0020] Each of the compartments 11 has an inlet-side passage 13 into which compressed air is introduced, and an outlet-side passage 14 from which the compressed air is discharged. As an example, the inlet-side passage 13 is provided on the lower side of the compartment 11, and the outlet-side passage 14 is provided on the upper side of the compartment 11. With this configuration, the compressed air rises from the lower side to the upper side of the compartment 11 by buoyancy, so 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 compartments are connected such that the outlet-side passage 14 of the preceding-stage compartment 11 is connected to the inlet-side passage 13 of the subsequent-stage compartment 11. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, in the three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C, the outlet-side passage 14A of the compartment 11A and the inlet-side passage 13B of the compartment 11B are connected, and the outlet-side passage 14B of the compartment 11B and the inlet-side passage 13C of the compartment 11C are connected. In this case, the three compartments 11A, 11B, and 11C are arranged in series, but in another aspect 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 passage 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 passage 14A of the foremost compartment 11A to the inlet-side passage 13B of the next compartment 11B to rotate the turbine 12B of the next compartment 11B. The compressed air is sequentially sent to the plurality of connected compartments 11A, 11B, 11C to rotate the respective turbines 12A, 12B, 12C. With this configuration, the compressed air can be sequentially sent to the plurality of compartments 11A, 11B, 11C in a so-called push-out mode, and by using the rotation of the turbines 12A, 12B, 12C as power for power generation, several times the efficiency can be obtained from one unit of compressed air.

[0023] Figure 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 Figure 2, the inlet-side path 13 is introduced from the upper side of the compartment 11 to the vicinity of the bottom surface inside the compartment 11, and the outlet-side path 14 is connected to the upper outer side of the compartment. In this way, by adopting a mode in which the inlet-side path 13 is introduced from the upper side of the compartment 11 to the vicinity of the bottom surface inside the compartment 11, for example, there is no need to connect the inlet-side path 13 (piping or the like) to the lower side (bottom surface portion) of the compartment 11 as shown in Figure 1, and the bottom surface portion of the compartment 11 can be placed directly on the ground (ground contact surface).

[0024] Further, in the mode shown in Figure 2, the plurality of compartments 11A, 11B, 11C can be arranged adjacent to each other. By doing so, the volume occupied by each component of the power generation system 10 can be reduced, and space saving can be achieved.

[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, from the vicinity of the introduction port of the inlet-side path 13 into the compartment 11 (the boundary portion between the inlet-side path 13 and the compartment 11) to the vicinity of the discharge port of the outlet-side path 14 (the boundary portion between the outlet-side path 14 and the compartment 11), there may be provided guide members 15 (15A, 15B, 15C) that are arranged along the outer periphery of the turbine 12 and guide compressed air in the direction of rotating the turbine 12.

[0026] By providing such a guide member 15, the compressed air introduced from the inlet-side path 13 into the compartment 11 is guided by the guide member 15 in the direction of rotating the turbine 12, so that the compressed air can be prevented from leaking out from the turbine 12 to other directions of the compartment 11, and the energy possessed by the compressed air can be efficiently utilized for the rotation of 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 considered to fall 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, It is formed from a container-like vessel that can be placed on a ground surface, and has 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. Compressed air is introduced from the inlet side of the first stage compartment, rotating the turbine inside that compartment. Then, compressed air is sent from the outlet side of the first stage compartment to the inlet side of the next stage compartment, rotating the turbine in the next stage compartment, and so on, sequentially sending compressed air to multiple connected compartments to rotate each turbine. A power generation system characterized in that a guide member is 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 separate from the inner wall of the compartment, to guide the compressed air in a direction that rotates the turbine.

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

Images