Inertial Tube Wave Engine for Slow-Oscillation Energy Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently extracting energy from ocean waves due to their slow movement and long periods, while also dealing with issues like biofouling and corrosion.
Innovation Solution
A wave energy converter design featuring upper and lower air pockets and inertial tubes that capture and store energy from wave-induced oscillations, using pressurized gas to elevate liquid for turbine activation, and utilizing specialized fluids to prevent biofouling and corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional wave energy extraction methods are used, then energy can be captured from waves, but the slow wave movement and long periods make efficient energy extraction difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a dynamic inertial tube that oscillates in response to wave motion, converting the slow, long-period wave movements into faster, higher-frequency liquid oscillations. The inertial tube's movement is dynamically coupled to the wave-induced chamber oscillations, allowing efficient energy transfer despite the slow input wave speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the temporal parameters of wave energy by using the inertial tube to convert long-period wave oscillations into shorter-period liquid column oscillations. This parameter transformation allows the turbine to operate at optimal speeds while the waves move slowly, resolving the mismatch between wave speed and turbine requirements.
2Reliability
If standard seawater is used in the wave energy converter, then the system is simple to operate, but biofouling and corrosion occur on inner surfaces and components
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a closed, sealed environment containing the liquid reservoir and inertial tube, isolating the internal components from direct contact with external seawater. This creates a controlled environment where specialized fluids can be used without exposing external surfaces to corrosive seawater, thereby preventing biofouling and corrosion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces specialized fluids as intermediaries between the wave energy conversion process and the external seawater environment. These specialized fluids perform the necessary hydraulic functions while being contained within the sealed system, preventing direct interaction between corrosive seawater and internal components.
3Reliability
If specialized fluids are used to prevent biofouling and corrosion, then reliability improves, but the risk of leakage and environmental contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealed enclosure creates an inert, isolated environment that contains the specialized fluids, preventing them from contacting the external seawater environment. This containment strategy allows the use of corrosion-resistant specialized fluids while eliminating the risk of environmental contamination through leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates redundant sealing mechanisms and pressure compensation features that prevent leakage before it can occur. The enclosed design includes provisions for maintaining fluid containment under varying pressure conditions, cushioning against potential failure modes that could lead to leakage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design efficiently captures and converts wave energy into electrical power, reducing biofouling and corrosion risks, and allows for the use of specialized fluids without leakage, enhancing operational reliability and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The liquid in the inertial tube tends to be 'suspended,' or elevated, by the elevated pressure of the lower air pocket
Implementation Method 2
Wave-induced vertical oscillations of the embodiment cause the liquid mass thus suspended in the inertial tube to oscillate. As this mass, i.e., the liquid within the inertial tube, oscillates, it captures and stores energy (as kinetic and gravitational potential energy)
Implementation Method 3
As this mass, i.e., the liquid within the inertial tube, oscillates, it captures and stores energy (as kinetic and gravitational potential energy)
Implementation Method 4
the captured energy lifts fluid from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir where its elevated head pressure (relative to at least one reference reservoir within the embodiment) causes that fluid to flow through, and energize, a turbine
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments include a buoyant wave energy converter. In an embodiment, the wave energy converter comprises an upper chamber having a first fluid reservoir and a first gas pocket, and a lower chamber having a second fluid reservoir and a second gas pocket. In an embodiment, an injection tube is between and fluidly coupled to the upper chamber and the lower chamber, where the injection tube is to impel a fluid from the second fluid reservoir into the first fluid reservoir when the upper chamber, the lower chamber and the injection tube oscillate about a waterline with the upper chamber adjacent to the waterline and the lower chamber submerged below the waterline and vertically beneath the upper chamber. An effluent tube is fluidly coupled to the upper chamber and the lower chamber, where the effluent tube is to return the fluid from the first fluid reservoir to the injection tube.