Vortex power plant

Abstract

FIELD: hydropower.SUBSTANCE: vortex power plant comprises a water-receiving funnel 1, partially submerged in water and facing towards the water flow, with a vertical side 2 and a drain hole 3, a generator 4, connected by a shaft 6 to a rotor with blades 10, installed under the funnel 1 configured for rotation around the outlet of the drain 3. The rotor is made with a centrifugal impeller, the blades 10 of which are made along the chords on its annular bases 7 and 9. The beginning of the side 2 is secured on the edge of the drain hole 3 and is deployed around it at the bottom of the funnel 1 in the form of a spiral with a uniformly increasing radius of curvature and the formation of a tray for moving the flow of water along the concave wall of the side 2 to the axis of rotation of the whirlpool. The width of the tray changes in direct proportion to the radius of curvature of the side 1 of the funnel 2. The centrifugal impeller is made in the form of an inverted truncated cone configured for rotating its annular base 7 around the outlet of the drain hole 3.EFFECT: generating electricity from a directed surface flow of water without a difference in the height of the water surface.1 cl, 5 dwg

Description

[0001] The invention relates to the field of hydropower for generating electric power from a directed surface flow of water without a difference in the height of the water surface.

[0002] The whirlpool station (Technical whirlpool) of Franz Zottletersr from Austria is famous, which includes a supply water pipe that enters tangentially into the cylindrical bowl of the pool, in which the water, swirling, forms a whirlpool and flows out through an opening in the center of the bowl, down onto the turbine blades, with a vertical drop of 1.6 meters, converting the energy of the falling water into electric current.

[0003] However, the impact of the resulting whirlpool on the energy efficiency of the station in the presence of a difference in the height of the water surface is minimal due to the inverse proportionality between the circumference of the pool and the energy efficiency, with a multiple of the short circumference of the drain hole in the center of the bowl, and in the absence of a difference in the height of the water surface, the station design is inoperable.

[0004] A hydroelectric power station is known that uses a ring water flow and contains a supply water conduit that enters an annular trough, in which, under the action of the water flow, the turbine blades lowered into the trough move in a circle (patent RU 2396392 C1).

[0005] The disadvantage of the proposed design is its bulkiness and its installation below the river surface, i.e. the presence of a difference in water surface height.

[0006] A microhydropower system is known that uses a water vortex, containing a water-receiving funnel, partially submerged in water and facing the water flow, with a vertical side and a drain hole, a generator connected by a shaft to a rotor with blades, installed under the water-receiving funnel with the possibility of rotation around the drain hole (KR 102373476 B, 11.03 2022. F03B 3 / 02, prototype).

[0007] The disadvantage of this system design is the need for its placement on a “stepped” river (p. 10, paragraph 4 of the description), i.e. the need for a difference in the height of the water surface at the installation site.

[0008] The essence of the proposed invention lies in the transformation of a directed surface flow of water without a difference in the height of the water surface into a whirlpool with a downward (downward) movement of water - a whirlpool (ru.wikipedia.org) for the purpose of generating electricity.

[0009] The said objective is achieved in that in a whirlpool power plant comprising a water-receiving funnel partially submerged in water and turned towards the water flow with a vertical side and a drain hole, a generator connected by a shaft to a rotor with blades installed under the water-receiving funnel with the possibility of rotation around the drain outlet, according to the invention, the rotor is made with a centrifugal impeller, the blades of which are made along the chords on its annular bases, the beginning of the vertical side is fixed on the edge of the drain hole and turned around it at the bottom of the water-receiving funnel in the form of a spiral with a uniformly increasing radius of curvature and the formation of a tray for moving the water flow along the concave wall of the vertical side to the axis of rotation of the whirlpool, wherein the width of the tray changes in direct proportion to the magnitude of the radius of curvature of the vertical side of the water-receiving funnel,and the centrifugal impeller is made in the form of an inverted truncated cone with the ability to rotate its annular base around the outlet of the drain hole.

[0010] The attached drawings show:

[0011] Fig. 1 - General view of the whirlpool power plant

[0012] Fig. 2 - section A-A

[0013] Fig. 3 - rotor

[0014] Fig. 4 - plan of the water intake funnel

[0015] Fig. 5 - hybrid design variant with orthogonal Darrieus rotor.

[0016] Whirlpool power plant contains:

[0017] - a water-receiving funnel 1, partially submerged in water, with a vertical side 2, installed on the bottom of the water-receiving funnel 1 along a curved trajectory, which begins at the edge of the opening of the drain 3 and is successively deployed in the form of a spiral with a uniformly increasing radius of curvature, towards the incoming flow of water with the possibility of moving the latter, along the concave wall of the vertical side 2 to the axis of the whirlpool, coinciding with the center of the drain 3 along a tray formed by adjacent turns of the vertical side 2, the width of which decreases;

[0018] - generator 4, installed on table 5, on top of vertical side 2 coaxially with drain hole 3;

[0019] - rotor shaft 6, connected to generator 4, the free end of which is passed downwards through the coaxial opening of drain 3 and then through the upper, larger annular base 7 of the centrifugal impeller 8 of the rotor is secured in the lower, smaller annular base 9, from the inside of the impeller 8, formed by trapezoidal blades 10, secured along the chords in the annular bases 7 and 9 of the impeller 8, made in the form of an inverted truncated cone with the possibility of moving the larger annular base 7 around the outlet of the opening of drain 3;

[0020] - stiffening ribs 11, made in the horizontal plane between the blades 10;

[0021] - coupling 12 on the free outlet of the generator shaft 4 for a hybrid version of the installation with an orthogonal Darrieus rotor.

[0022] The whirlpool power plant works as follows.

[0023] The water flow entering the water intake funnel, secured upstream, moves within it, forming a downward spiraling whirlpool, coaxial with the outlet opening 3 and matching the latter in diameter. Along the axis of rotation of the whirlpool around the rotor shaft 6, a radial force is exerted on all blades 10 simultaneously from within the impeller 8. The water flow trajectory interacting with the blades 10 lies in the plane of rotation of the rotor impeller 8, which contributes to increased energy efficiency, unlike systems in which the trajectory of the outgoing flow from the impeller is perpendicular to its plane of rotation.

Claims

A whirlpool power plant comprising a water-receiving funnel, partially submerged in water and turned towards the flow of water, with a vertical edge and a drain hole, a generator connected by a shaft to a rotor with blades, installed under the water-receiving funnel with the possibility of rotation around the outlet of the drain, characterized in that the rotor is made with a centrifugal impeller, the blades of which are made along the chords on its annular bases, the beginning of the vertical edge is fixed on the edge of the drain hole and is turned around it at the bottom of the water-receiving funnel in the form of a spiral with a uniformly increasing radius of curvature and the formation of a tray for moving the flow of water along the concave wall of the vertical edge to the axis of rotation of the whirlpool, wherein the width of the tray changes in direct proportion to the magnitude of the radius of curvature of the vertical edge of the water-receiving funnel,and the centrifugal impeller is made in the form of an inverted truncated cone with the ability to rotate its annular base around the outlet of the drain hole.

Images