V-Shaped Floating Platform Wind Farm with Compressed Air Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wind farms occupy large areas, are not aesthetically pleasing, and face challenges with intermittent energy production due to non-steady winds, especially when located offshore, requiring complex underwater support structures and power delivery systems.
Innovation Solution
A floating wind farm with V-shaped platforms that store compressed air generated by wind machines, allowing for steady power production even in low winds, with features like collapsible towers for maintenance, hinged connections for transport, and detachable anchors for easier anchoring and retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If wind machines are located offshore to reduce land occupation and improve aesthetics, then space utilization and visual appeal are improved, but the system requires complex underwater support structures and power delivery systems
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the support function from underwater structures and relocates it to a floating platform that sits on water surface, eliminating the need for complex underwater support structures while maintaining offshore location benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The floating platform serves multiple functions: it supports wind turbines, stores compressed air, houses generators, and provides a stable base for power conversion equipment, replacing multiple separate systems that would otherwise be needed
2Ease of manufacture
If electricity is generated directly and transferred to shore using cables, then power delivery is straightforward, but the system complicates power delivery and storage infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces compressed air as an intermediary energy storage medium between wind generation and electricity production, allowing decoupling of wind capture from power generation and enabling steady-state operation
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces direct electrical power transmission through cables with a mechanical energy storage and conversion system using compressed air, simplifying offshore infrastructure requirements
3Device complexity
If wind machines operate directly with intermittent winds, then the system is simple, but wind machines become non-productive for extended periods when winds are not steady
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by using wind-powered compressors to store compressed air in advance during windy periods, which can then be released to drive generators during calm periods, ensuring continuous productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The compressed air storage system maintains continuous useful action by decoupling wind capture from power generation, allowing the generator to operate at steady state regardless of wind intermittency
4Device complexity
If fixed towers are used for wind machines, then structural simplicity is maintained, but maintenance and repair require complex access systems and protection mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is designed with dynamic collapse capability, allowing it to be deliberately collapsed to a horizontal position to provide access to blade assemblies for maintenance, then re-erected when maintenance is complete
Solution Approach 2:
The tower temporarily discards its vertical structural function during maintenance operations, collapsing to enable access, then recovers its structural function after maintenance is complete
5Productivity
If the floating platform is designed for operational stability, then power production is optimized, but transport and anchoring become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The platform employs dynamic reconfiguration of its leg structures, allowing transformation from a stable V-shape configuration during operation to a collapsed or folded configuration for transport and anchoring operations
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 enables efficient, steady power generation, simplified maintenance and transport, and optimized energy production by utilizing stored compressed air to drive generators, addressing the issues of space, aesthetics, and wind intermittency.
Implementation Method 1
Wind machines comprising bladed rotor members are well known and have been around for hundreds of years. The rotating blade assemblies are positioned on towers or other static structures and the rotational energy is used to drive a generator
Implementation Method 2
the wind machines to compress air which is then stored in the floating platform, the compressed air then being released at a steady-state pressure to drive one or more generators
Implementation Method 3
the compressed air then being released at a steady-state pressure to drive one or more generators to produce the electricity
Data Source
AI summary
A floating wind farm having wind machines positioned on a generally V-shaped floating platform, the platform being tethered to an anchor such that the platform is free to be repositioned by the wind for optimum production. The wind machines power air compressors and the floating platform itself comprises a large storage tank to receive the compressed air, the compressed air being used to power electrical generators or the like.