Wave Engine Inertial Tube Layout 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 of 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 liquid reservoirs and turbines to convert kinetic and gravitational potential energy, with specialized fluids to minimize corrosion and biofouling.
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 employs dynamic inertial tubes that oscillate in response to wave motion, converting the slow, long-period wave movements into faster, higher-frequency liquid oscillations. The inertial mass of the liquid within the tubes creates dynamic response that amplifies the energy extraction from each wave cycle, resolving the contradiction between slow wave speed and energy extraction efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters by using pressurized air pockets to drive liquid through turbines at controlled pressures and flow rates. This parameter transformation converts the low-speed wave input into high-pressure liquid flow that can efficiently drive turbines, achieving effective energy extraction despite the slow wave movement.
2Reliability
If standard seawater is used in the system, then the system is simple to operate, but corrosion and biofouling occur on internal surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces specialized fluids as intermediaries between the external seawater environment and the internal mechanical components. These specialized fluids are contained within sealed inertial tubes and chambers, acting as a protective intermediary that prevents direct contact between corrosive seawater and metal surfaces, thereby eliminating corrosion and biofouling issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates an inert, controlled environment within sealed chambers using specialized fluids that are chemically inert or less reactive than seawater. This inert environment protects internal components from corrosion and biofouling, maintaining reliability without requiring complex external protection systems.
3Reliability
If the system uses sealed specialized fluids, then corrosion and biofouling are reduced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the protective function with the operational function by using the specialized fluid both as a protective medium against corrosion and as the working fluid for energy transmission. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate protection systems, reducing overall complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The specialized fluid serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a protective barrier against corrosion, a working medium for transmitting wave energy, and a pressure control agent for driving turbines. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components, maintaining simplicity while achieving high reliability.
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 risks of corrosion and biofouling, 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 (relative to the pressure of the upper air pocket)
Implementation Method 2
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
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 disclosed herein include buoyant wave energy converters. 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. 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 below the waterline and vertically beneath the upper chamber. In an embodiment, 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 second fluid reservoir.