Pressure-Regulating Hydrodynamic Pump With Effluent Buffer Chamber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydrodynamic pumps face challenges in maintaining stable net pressure across their water turbines due to fluctuations in inlet and back pressures, leading to inefficiencies and increased complexity and cost, particularly when operating under varying wave conditions.
Innovation Solution
The hydrodynamic pump incorporates an effluent buffer chamber to stabilize short-term pressure swings and a reservoir pressure-stabilizing trompe to adjust the air pocket pressure passively, maintaining optimal water flow rates into and out of the reservoir.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the hydrodynamic pump operates without pressure stabilization mechanisms, then the device complexity is reduced, but the net pressure across the water turbine varies stochastically, leading to reduced efficiency and increased mechanical fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
An effluent buffer chamber is introduced as an intermediary component between the water turbine and the effluent discharge. This buffer chamber absorbs short-term pressure fluctuations and stabilizes the net pressure across the water turbine, reducing mechanical fatigue and improving reliability without requiring complex active control systems
Solution Approach 2:
A reservoir pressure-stabilizing trompe is implemented to passively adjust the air pocket pressure in response to water level changes. The trompe automatically regulates pressure by allowing air to enter or escape based on the water level, maintaining optimal operating conditions without external intervention or complex control mechanisms
2Productivity
If the air pocket pressure is not adjusted passively, then the device complexity is reduced, but the water flow rate cannot be maintained at optimal levels under varying wave conditions, reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir pressure-stabilizing trompe is designed to automatically adjust the air pocket pressure in response to water level changes. When water level rises, air is displaced and escapes; when water level falls, air is drawn in. This self-regulating mechanism maintains optimal pressure and water flow rate without requiring external control systems or additional energy input
Solution Approach 2:
The trompe mechanism changes the pressure parameter of the air pocket dynamically in response to water level variations. By allowing the air pocket volume and pressure to vary naturally with water level, the system maintains optimal water flow rate through the turbine across varying wave conditions without complex control
3Reliability
If pressure stabilization components are added, then the net pressure stability is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The effluent buffer chamber serves as a simple intermediary structure that can be manufactured as a basic tank or chamber. It stabilizes pressure through its physical presence and volume, without requiring complex mechanisms, sensors, or active control systems, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while improving reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The trompe is designed as a passive, self-regulating component with simple geometry that allows air and water to interact naturally. Its construction requires minimal precision and no moving parts, making it easy to manufacture while providing effective pressure stabilization
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 solution stabilizes net pressure, reducing mechanical fatigue and electronic complexity, enhancing efficiency and reliability, and optimizing power production across varying wave conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a reservoir pressure-stabilizing trompe to adjust the air pocket pressure passively
Implementation Method 2
an effluent buffer chamber to stabilize short-term pressure swings
Implementation Method 3
a water turbine, a generator, and a complementary set of power electronics
Data Source
AI summary
A pressure-regulating buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that floats adjacent to a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. In response to wave-induced movements of the device, water is drawn into a mouth at a lower end of an injection tube, and water is ejected from a mouth at an upper end of the injection tube. The ejected water is deposited into an interior of the hollow buoy thereby augmenting a water reservoir therein. And water flows from the water reservoir to and through a water turbine, thereby energizing a generator, power electronics, and an electrical load. A novel water-turbine effluent buffering tube, or chamber, smooths pressure variations felt across the water turbine.