WO2003089787A1

WO2003089787A1 - Buoyant wind power plant

Info

Publication number: WO2003089787A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/004097
Authority: WO
Inventors: Egon Gelhard
Original assignee: Gelhard, Theresia
Priority date: 2002-04-19
Filing date: 2003-04-17
Publication date: 2003-10-30
Also published as: AU2003222302A1; DE20206234U1

Abstract

A buoyant wind power plant comprises a float (12), whereby a rotor unit (18) and an underwater part (14) extend from opposite sides of the float, and the rotor unit (18) has at least one Gelhard rotor (18a, 18b).

Description

Floatable wind turbines

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a buoyant wind power plant that can be anchored in the coastal area and generates energy as cheaply as possible in poorly developed or accessible areas. This energy can be used, for example, to operate a desalination plant.

State of the art

There are various systems for seawater desalination, all of which have a relatively high energy requirement. Almost all seawater desalination plants are operated with diesel generators, which in turn drive corresponding generators to generate the required electrical energy. As a result, the operation of conventional seawater desalination plants places a burden on the environment and climate due to the exhaust gas emissions and the resulting cooling heat. In addition, there is a difficulty in constructing such facilities in coastal areas that are difficult to access without appropriate infrastructure.

The same problems of difficult installation occur in conventional wind turbines, which are extremely difficult to transport with large dimensions and often cannot be brought to the most suitable locations for the generation of wind energy. Presentation of the invention

The invention is based on the object of proposing a decentralized energy supply device which can also be installed on coastal areas which are difficult to access and which can be coupled to seawater desalination.

This object is achieved by a buoyant wind turbine with the features of claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention follow from the remaining claims.

The invention is based on the idea of proposing a buoyant wind power plant which has a buoyancy body, from which a rotor unit and an underwater part extend on opposite sides to stabilize the wind power plant. The rotor unit here comprises at least one Gelhard rotor.

A Gelhard rotor, as will be shown later with reference to FIG. 1, essentially corresponds to a Darrieus-H rotor, the advantages of which are that no wind direction tracking is required. Gelhard rotors are inexpensive to manufacture because a simple mast construction is possible, no additional wind tracking is necessary, as is the case with horizontal axis systems and the individual rotor blades have a simple wing shape. In addition, the floating wind turbine with Gelhard rotors is also almost maintenance-free, as a very long service life can be achieved in particular due to the uniform rotary movement. In addition, the wind turbine is self-starting and has very low operating costs. Another advantage is that the floating wind turbine with at least one Gelhard rotor is quiet because there are no unpleasant, beating rotor noise (so-called drop shadow) occur.

A last advantage, which is associated with the use of at least one Gelhard rotor, is that the wind power plant starts up even at very low wind speeds of about 2.25 m / s (wind speed 2).

The floating wind turbine can be transported floating on the waterway to the desired installation location and anchored on the water bed using suitable anchors.

Preferred embodiments of the invention follow from the remaining claims. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a rotary body designed as a gyroscope is provided in the underwater part of the floating wind power plant and can be driven in the direction of rotation. This design has several advantages. On the one hand, a corresponding weight must be provided in the underwater part in order to generate the stabilizing and uprighting moment of the wind power plant in the event of a wave. For this purpose, a high weight must be provided in the area of the underwater part, similar to a keel in boat building. Because there is a rotating body that can be driven as a gyroscope in the underwater part, the weight required for stabilizing the wind turbine is provided and, at the same time, this weight is also used to store kinetic energy. A rotating body in the underwater part, which can have a diameter of about 2 m and a height of about 1 m, for example, can store a considerable amount of kinetic energy during rapid rotation and thus buffer changes in the available wind energy caused by wind technology.

The rotary body preferably has poles on its circumferential surface and acts together with one Coil arrangement on the surrounding inner wall of the underwater part as a multi-pole generator. In addition to the two functions mentioned above, providing a sufficient weight to stabilize the wind turbine and storing kinetic energy, this solution provides a third function of the rotating body.

According to a preferred embodiment, the underwater part can be sealed off and evacuated relative to the buoyancy body. The underwater part is sealed off, on the one hand, with regard to the operational safety of the entire system, which, when designed as a multi-chamber system, can still provide an undamaged chamber with appropriate buoyancy even if the floating body is damaged. On the other hand, by evacuating the underwater part in which the rotating body is located, the frictional resistance when rotating the rotating body designed as a gyro can be minimized in accordance with the degree of evacuation.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotor unit comprises two Gelhard rotors, the rotor shafts of which are arranged coaxially to one another and which rotate in opposite directions of rotation when the wind is applied. Due to this special design of two rotors rotating in opposite directions, no more lateral torque is generated, since the torques of the two rotors cancel each other out. If the torques of the rotors cancel each other, the floating wind turbine can be anchored even if the seabed is not optimal, since the anchors no longer have to absorb torques, but primarily serve to fix the location.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, each rotor shaft drives a gear pump with the hydraulic fluid in an associated hydraulic circuit is eligible. In other words, each rotor shaft acts on a gear pump and each gear pump has an independent hydraulic circuit. When using two Gelhard rotors, two hydraulic circuits are thus available, the hydraulic fluid being conveyed by a gear pump connected to a rotor shaft. Gear pumps are particularly characterized by their wear-free and maintenance-free operation.

Each hydraulic circuit preferably comprises a gear motor, by means of whose gear movement the rotating body belonging to the multi-pole generator can be driven. The generator is therefore not driven mechanically, but hydraulically by the two rotors. The advantages are that a translation can be achieved through the measure. The speed of the coaxial rotor shafts with normal drive is around 70 - 80 U / min - a speed that is too low for the drive of the generator. In order to achieve a gear ratio, a separate hydraulic circuit is used for the entire power transmission of the two rotors and the gear pumps are selected in terms of volume as much larger than the gear motors as required by the gear ratio for the generator on the drive side. In this way, wear-free and maintenance-free power transmission can be achieved.

According to a preferred embodiment, an intermediate gear and / or a freewheel between each gear motor and the rotating body acting as a generator is also provided. The freewheel is required so that the wind turbine does not brake the rotating body when there is no wind or can bring it to a standstill when there is no wind. An intermediate gear can be provided in order to be able to constructively design the desired transmission ratios to the optimal values. The gear motors can act on the rotating body, for example, via an intermediate planetary gear.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a bypass line around the gear motor is provided in each hydraulic circuit and also a three-way valve with which the flow distribution between the bypass line and the flow line to the gear motor can be adjusted. With this measure, the transmission of power between the rotor shafts and the rotating body of the generator can be separated and recoupled without any problems and, if, according to a further preferred embodiment, the three-way valve in each hydraulic circuit interacts with a speed limiter that is mechanically or information-technically coupled to the rotating body maximum speed to be determined can be controlled. By controlling the hydraulic three-way valve accordingly when the maximum speed is exceeded, safe, reliable and, above all, cost-effective control of the speed limitation can be achieved.

The floating wind power plant preferably comprises a seawater desalination plant which is arranged in the region of the buoyancy body and can be operated via the wind energy generated. The environmentally friendly electricity generated by the wind power plant thus operates an integrated seawater desalination plant with which the seawater desalination and thus the decentralized

Drinking water supply can be achieved inexpensively. The operation of the corresponding pumps for drawing in sea water and for pumping drinking water can also be operated via the electrical energy generated.

It has proven to be particularly advantageous if the entire buoyant wind power plant further comprises a device for buffering the electrical energy. After the rotating body in the underwater part already one If the kinetic energy is buffered and the electrical energy is supplied as evenly as possible via the generator, the seawater desalination plant can be regulated as required by separate buffering of the electrical energy and longer periods of wind calm can be bridged by providing additional buffering for electrical energy become. Various systems such as batteries can be used to buffer the electrical energy, or an additional system for the electrolysis of water, a device for hydrogen storage and a fuel cell are provided. Alternatively, however, other systems known in the art for storing electrical energy can also be used.

According to a preferred embodiment, the wind power plant further comprises a multi-pole generator which is arranged between two rotor units of the wind power plant. This design variant is very simple and inexpensive because the oppositely rotatable shafts of two rotors interact in such a way that there is an increased relative movement between magnetic poles on one shaft and coil arrangement in the area of the other shaft, as a result of which the relatively low rotational frequencies are doubled.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of the buoyant wind turbine with two stacked Gelhard rotors;

Figure 2a shows a top view of the bottom, i.e. rotor closer to the water surface;

2b shows a top view of the upper rotor; and Fig. 3 schematically explains the power transmission between the rotor shafts and the multi-pole generator.

Ways of Carrying Out the Invention

In the following description, the same components will be designated with the same reference numbers.

1 shows the buoyant wind power plant according to the invention. The wind turbine (10) floats in a body of water and consists of a buoyancy body 12 which is rotationally symmetrical and, in addition to an essentially cylindrical floating part 12a, has a frustoconical attachment part which is fixedly connected to the floating part and which together has a buoyancy housing for aggregates of the overall system which will be explained in more detail later 10 form. The frustoconical shape above the water surface serves to offer only a small surface for both the wind and the waves.

On one side of the buoyancy body 12, an underwater part 14 is fixedly connected to it, which acts as a lowering keel and stabilizes the entire wind turbine 10, i.e. leaves calm even when the waves are strong and, if the entire wind turbine is tilted undesirably, returns it to the vertical position. One or more anchoring elements 16 are fastened to the drive body 12, by means of which the wind power plant is anchored on the body of water (not shown) via anchors or the like.

On the side of the buoyancy body opposite the underwater part 14, the rotor unit 18 is provided, which consists of two Gelhard rotors 18a and 18b arranged one above the other. The two rotors 18a and 18b are each rotatable about a vertical axis 20 and arranged coaxially to one another. The buoyancy body 12 is provided with an access hatch 22 which can be completely closed and ensures absolute tightness. The hatch is arranged as far up as possible and is additionally surrounded by a grating 26, which serves as protection against waves. Starting from the hatch there are ladders into the buoyancy body 12 and the underwater part 14. The underwater part could be provided in the area 14a, which connects the connecting tube from the buoyancy body 12 to the expanded underwater part 14b, which receives the rotating body explained later, with a diameter of about 1.0 m, so that a person can comfortably get into the underwater part with a ladder ,

The underwater part 14 of the wind turbine 10 consists of a connecting pipe 14a and a rotationally symmetrical underwater housing 14b, in which there is a rotating body 28 which is designed as a gyroscope and, as will be explained later, set in rotation by the rotation of the rotors 18a, 18b becomes. In the present exemplary embodiment, the rotating body 28 is provided with magnetic poles 30 which interact with a coil 32 arranged on the housing 14b and together form a multi-pole generator which generates electrical energy when the rotating body 28 rotates.

2a and 2b, the two rotors 18a and 18b are shown in section. It is therefore a horizontal cutting plane. As can be seen from FIGS. 2a and 2b, three rotor blades 34 each with a streamlined profile are rigidly connected to a linkage 36, which in turn is rigidly connected to a hollow axis 38a for the rotor 18a and 38b for the rotor 18b. The outer diameter of the hollow shaft 38b and the inner diameter of the hollow shaft 38a are matched to one another such that the hollow shaft 38b of the rotor 18b can be arranged within the hollow shaft 38a of the rotor 18a. When applied by wind from any wind direction, the profiling of the rotor blades creates a rotation of the entire rotor consisting of rotor blades, linkage and hollow shaft. Since the arrangement of the profiled rotor blades is different for the two rotors, the opposite direction of rotation of the two rotors 18a and 18b also results.

A seawater desalination plant can be located in the area of the buoyancy body, which in addition to the fittings and instruments required for this purpose also accommodates the necessary control, regulating and control instruments. In addition to the rotary body 28 already described, which can be used as part of a multi-pole generator, a storage device for electrical energy in the form of hydrogen electrolysis and fuel cell, high-pressure bottles for storing hydrogen or buffer batteries for emergency power can also be accommodated in the underwater part.

A tightly lockable hatch can be provided in the area of the connection 14a between the buoyancy body 12 and the underwater part 14. This hatch divides the unit consisting of buoyancy body 12 and underwater part 14 into two chambers, so that in the event of possible damage from the remaining chamber there is sufficient residual buoyancy. The tightly closing hatch also makes it possible to evacuate the underwater part, so that the rotating body 28 does not have to overcome air friction when it rotates and thus the energy loss is minimized.

3 shows the operation of the entire system according to the embodiment described here in a highly schematic manner. The individual components are both shown schematically and arranged on the drawing plane at a location which makes it easier to depict the interaction between the individual components is suitable, but does not reflect the correct geometric position of the individual components.

3, the hollow shafts 38a and 38b belonging to the two rotors 18a and 18b are shown schematically. The hollow shaft of the rotor 18b, i.e. the axis 38b is directly connected in a rotationally rigid manner to a first gear pump 40 and drives the first gear pump 40 by its rotation. The hollow shaft 38a of the rotor 18a is also non-rotatably connected to the second gear pump 42. In the present example of the hollow shaft 38a, it was schematically shown that the hollow shafts do not have to be connected directly to the gear pumps, but that an intermediate gear can also be present, as is indicated by the reference number 44 in relation to the external hollow shaft 38a.

A separate hydraulic circuit is assigned to both the first gear pump 40 and the second gear pump 42. However, since the flow in both hydraulic circuits is the same, the separate hydraulic circuits can be discussed together below. Via the gear pumps 40 and 42, the hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic circuits is pumped through the pipelines and reaches a three-way valve 46 or 48 in the direction of arrow A, via which the hydraulic fluid can be divided into the partial flows B1 and B2. The three-way valve 46 or 48 can of course be actuated so that hydraulic fluid flows only through path B1 or B2 or, in predetermined conditions, through both paths simultaneously. While the path Bl flows through the further gear pump 50 or 52 assigned to each hydraulic circuit, which acts as a gear motor and is set in rotation by the flow of the hydraulic fluid, the paths Bl serve as a bypass around the gear rotors 50 and 52. After the sub-lines Bl and B2 have been combined again, the hydraulic fluid flows via the return path C back to the first gear pumps 40 and 42.

The gear motors 50 and 52 are set in rotation by the flowing hydraulic fluid and act on the rotating body 28, which is arranged in the underwater part and can be set in rotation in the form of a gyroscope. The transmission of the kinetic energy between the gear pumps 50 and 52 and the rotary body 28 can take place via intermediate gears 54 and 56, which are preferably each provided with a freewheel, so at low wind speeds and, as a result, a low delivery capacity of the gear pumps 40 and 42 and a low rotational speed of the gear motors 50 and 52 corresponding to the rotating body 28 cannot be braked or even brought to a standstill. On the other hand, provision is also made so that the rotating body 28 cannot reach a speed that is too high. This is realized in the form of a speed limiter 58, which is connected in a rotationally rigid manner to the rotary body 28 and can act in a manner familiar to the person skilled in the art, for example via a centrifugal mechanism. The speed limiter 58 is either directly mechanically connected to the three-way valves 46 and 48 via the connections 60, or is in an information connection to these. If the rotational speed of the rotary body 28 becomes too high in accordance with the specification, the three-way valves 46 and 48 open the bypass path B2, so that less hydraulic fluid is available for driving the geared motors 50 and 52.

The electrical energy generated in the multi-pole generator is first preferably fed to an energy buffering device 62, which can have, for example, a first subunit 64 for hydrogen electrolysis. The hydrogen generated can be stored in a further subunit 66, for example in the form of high-pressure bottles, and again via a power unit 68, for example in the form of a fuel cell be made available to operate a seawater desalination plant 70, which is supplied in the direction of arrow E sea water and from which drinking water is pumped out in the direction of arrow F and is conveyed via a line to the nearby bank. The

Seawater desalination plant can operate by any method known in the art today, but preferably seawater desalination plant 70 operates by reverse osmosis.

The interaction of the buffering of kinetic energy in the rotating body 28 and the buffering of electrical energy in the energy buffering device 62 can also bridge longer wind drafts and still provide the energy required for the operation of an energy-consuming seawater desalination at low cost.

Due to the use of Gelhard rotors, the buoyant wind turbine can achieve very favorable kWh prices, which for systems up to 10 kW at ax. 0.05 EUR and for systems from 10 kW is approximately 0.04 EUR. At the same time, the environment is relieved and, if such desalination plants are used to cover drinking water needs, the increase in water in the oceans caused by climate change is compensated.

Claims

Expectations

1. Floating wind turbine comprising:

a buoyancy body (12), of which on opposite sides

a rotor unit (18); and

an underwater part (14) extends; in which

the rotor unit (18) comprises at least one Gelhard rotor (18a, 18b).

2. Floatable wind power plant according to claim 1, characterized in that in the underwater part (14) a rotary body (28) formed as a gyroscope is provided which can be driven in the direction of rotation.

3. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 2, characterized in that the rotating body (28) has on its circumferential surface magnetic poles (30) and together with a coil arrangement (32) acts on the surrounding inner wall of the underwater part (14) as a multi-pole generator.

4. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 1 or 2 further comprising a multi-pole generator which is arranged between two red units of the wind turbine.

5. Floatable wind turbine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the underwater part (14) relative to the buoyancy body

(12) can be sealed and evacuated.

6. Floatable wind power plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotor unit (18) comprises two Gelhard rotors (18a, 18b), the rotor shafts (38a, 38b) of which are arranged coaxially to one another and rotate in opposite directions when the wind is applied.

7. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 6, characterized in that each rotor shaft (38a, 38b) drives a gear pump (40, 42) with which hydraulic fluid can be conveyed in an associated hydraulic circuit.

8. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 7, characterized in that each hydraulic circuit comprises a gear motor (50, 52), by the gear movement of the rotating body (28) can be driven.

9. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 8, further comprising an intermediate gear (54, 56) and / or a freewheel between each gear motor (50, 52) and the rotating body (28).

10. Floatable wind turbine according to one of claims 6 to 9, further comprising in each hydraulic circuit a bypass line (B2) around the gear motor (50, 52) and a three-way valve (46, 48) with which the flow distribution between the bypass line and line

(Bl) to the gear motor (50, 52) is adjustable.

11. Floatable wind turbine according to claim 10, characterized in that the three-way valve (46, 48) in each hydraulic circuit cooperates with a speed limiter (58) is mechanically or information technology coupled to the rotary body (28).

12. Floatable wind power plant according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising a seawater desalination plant that can be operated via the wind energy generated.

13. Floatable wind power plant according to claim 3 or one of claims 4 to 11, if this is related to claim 3, further comprising a device (62) for buffering the electrical energy.

14. Floatable wind power plant according to claim 12, characterized in that the device (62) for buffering the electrical energy comprises:

an electrolysis plant (64),

hydrogen storage means (66); such as

a fuel cell (68).