This application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 101150087, filed on Dec. 26, 2012, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus of generating power. More particularly, this invention uses atmospheric pressure and vacuum to push water inside a pipeline to a maximum of about 10.33 meter and let the water flow downwards to strike against the vanes of a hydraulic power generator (i.e. a turbine) to rotate the vanes for generation of electricity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power mostly comes from burning of petroleum. It has led to a greenhouse effect and El Niño phenomenon, thereby threatening life on earth. As a result, using green energy, such as solar energy, wind power, terrestrial heat, tides, etc., is a goal to pursue for the inventor of the present invention.
Solar power energy is of very limited usefulness at nighttime and during cloudy days; wind power energy is limited during windless days or in faint breezes; reservoir power energy is limited during dry seasons; tidal current power energy and wave power energy are required to operate in the seaside and are adversely affected by direct/reversed tides and stand of tide. Moreover, these methods require transmission and distribution facilities, which are costly.
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantage, the inventor undertook an in-depth analysis and research and, having endeavored for a long time and experimented repeatedly, finally completed the present invention.
The purpose of this invention is to produce electricity by atmospheric pressure and vacuum. Atmospheric pressure and vacuum are utilized to push water column inside a pipeline to reach a maximum height of about 10.33 meters in any diameter of pipeline due to Pascal's Law. Once the water reach a needed height, a sufficient amount of water is allowed to flow downwards to strike on the turbine of a hydraulic power generator to produce electricity.
The apparatus according to the present invention includes a main water tank containing water in communication with the atmosphere; an upward pipeline connecting the main water tank to a first vacuum tank, which is positioned at a desired height above the main water tank and is connected to a second vacuum tank below by a downward pipeline and a nozzle. A power generation device including a water wheel, an accelerator and a generator is installed inside the second vacuum tank. In addition, a cylinder including an upper module and a lower module is connected to the second vacuum tank and the main water tank to control and direct the water out of the second vacuum tank and to the main water tank. When a vacuum is created in the first vacuum tank, the water in the main water tank follows through the upward pipeline to the first vacuum tank; when a vacuum is created in the second vacuum tank and the water in the first vacuum tank is allowed to flow down through the downward pipeline, the water strikes at and rotates the water wheel to cause the generator to generate electricity. The water in the second vacuum tank is controlled and directed by the cylinder to flow out into the upper module of the cylinder then back to the main water tank.
By adding intermediate sets of vacuum tank, cylinder and water tank to the apparatus between the main water tank and the first vacuum tank, the first vacuum tank can be raised to essentially any desired altitude, thereby increasing the impact force of the down-flowing water on the water wheel for higher power generation.
Lastly, repeating sets of water tank, vacuum tank and cylinder may be connected sequentially to deliver water to a high altitude for water distribution in tall buildings.
Such apparatus can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can be directly installed in the backyard of a house or in a factory, regardless of whether it is in a frigid zone, temperate zone, or torrid zone. It generates electricity at zero-carbon, at low cost, and reduces the use of fossil fuel.
In order to make the purpose, effects and characteristics of this invention understood more specifically, preferred embodiments are illustrated below, accompanied by figures.
The apparatus and the method for generating electricity utilizing atmospheric pressure and vacuum is illustrated by the preferred embodiments described below.
A first embodiment of the apparatus for generating power using atmospheric pressure and vacuum according to the present invention is illustrated in
The first vacuum tank 1 is equipped with a ball valve 3 (for drawing air to create vacuum), a vacuum pressure gauge 2, and a liquid-level probe 4. The first vacuum tank 1 is connected to the top of the main water tank 29 by an upward pipeline 31 so that there is a proper height differential (10.33 meters at most) between the main water tank 29 and the first vacuum tank 1. The upper pipeline 31 is equipped with a normal-open solenoid valve 30 and a ball valve 32 for liquid.
The second vacuum tank 11 is equipped with a ball valve 9 (for drawing air to create vacuum), a vacuum pressure gauge 8, and a liquid-level probe 10. As mentioned above, the second vacuum tank 11 is positioned below the first vacuum tank 1 and connected thereto by a downward pipeline 6 so that there is a proper height differential between the first vacuum tank 1 and the second vacuum tank 11. The downward pipeline 6 is equipped with ball valves 5 and 7 for liquid, and the lower end of the downward pipeline 6 is fitted with a nozzle 13. Inside the second vacuum tank 11 is installed a power generation device, which includes a water wheel 12 placed in a position corresponding to the nozzle 13, an accelerator 14 connected to the water wheel 12, and a generator 15 connected to the accelerator 14.
In addition, a cylinder 25 is connected to the second vacuum tank 11 and the main water tank 29 to control and direct the water out of the second vacuum tank 11 and back to the main water tank 29. The cylinder 25 comprises an upper module 250 and a lower module 251 separated by a cylinder piston component. The upper module 250 is connected to the second vacuum tank 11 and the main water tank 29 via a check valves 16 and 27, respectively. The lower module 251 is connected to an accessory water tank 28 via a normal-open solenoid valve 22 and to a pump 21 for the accessory water tank 28 via a check valve 26. The cylinder piston component comprises a spring 23 connected to the lower module 251, and a cylinder piston 20 connected to the spring 23. On the cylinder piston 20 is mounted a ferrogum 19 (rubber magnet). The outside of upper module 250 and the lower module 251 are equipped with a normal-close upper-limit reed switch 17 and a normal-open lower-limit reed switch 18, respectively.
With the above-described apparatus, the method according to the present invention to produce energy using atmospheric pressure and vacuum proceeds as follows: air is drawn out through the ball valve 3 of the first vacuum tank 1 and the ball valve 9 of the second vacuum tank 11, respectively, to create a vacuum inside the first vacuum tank 1 and the second vacuum tank 11. At this point, the water in the main water tank 29 in communication with the atmosphere is pushed up into the first vacuum tank 1 through the upward pipeline 31 due to the pressure of the atmosphere. The water then runs along the downward pipeline 6 and through the nozzle 13 to form a jet stream, which strikes onto and rotate the water wheel 12 and thereby causes the accelerator 14 and the generator 15 to generate electricity. The electricity generated by the generator 15 can be transmitted to the main power switch 33 through a cable line and then distributed to each of the sub-power switches 34, 35, 36 for supplying the power system and for use by end users. In this embodiment, one of the sub-power switches 35 controls the operations of the liquid-level probes 4,10 and the normal-open solenoid valve 30.
Subsequently, the water that strikes on the water wheel 12 flows into the upper module 250 of the cylinder 25 through a check valve 16 which connects the bottom of the second vacuum tank 11 to the upper module 250. The cylinder 25 operates by sensing the rubber magnet 19 inside the cylinder 25 with the normal-close upper-limit reed switch 17 and the normal-open lower-limit reed switch 18 separately from outside the cylinder piston 20. As shown in
The normal-close upper-limit reed switch 17 and the normal-open lower-limit reed switch 18 can be installed with a time controller (not shown) as needed. That way, both switches 17,18 may control the times when the pump 21 is turned on and off and when the normal-open solenoid switch 22 is opened and closed, and may also control the quantity of water stored inside the upper module 250.
According to the foregoing description, this method according to the present invention produces liquid's flow by raising the altitude of water and pressure difference. This enables the liquid to strike against the water wheel 12 of the generator 15 and rotate the water wheel 12 to generate power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The apparatus can be installed in the backyard of a house or in a factory, regardless of whether it is in a frigid zone, temperate zone, or torrid zone. It can generate power at zero-carbon at low cost and reduce the use of fossil fuel.
Please refer to
The apparatus according to this invention uses little power to deliver clean water from the main water tank 29 to a high place, which is not limited to any height. Vacuum and the atmospheric pressure are employed to realize the energy-saving device.
From the foregoing, this invention has the following advantages:
1. In the method described by this invention utilizing atmospheric pressure and vacuum force to produce energy, vacuum force and the atmospheric pressure are utilized to push water column inside a pipeline to maximum height of 10.33 meters and is not limited to any diameter of the pipeline due to Pascal's Law. Once these water columns rise to a needed height, water is allowed to strike against the turbine of a hydraulic generator to rotate the turbine to generate electricity.
2. In the method described by this invention utilizing atmospheric pressure and vacuum force to produce energy, the user can connect a number of devices as needed to push the liquid to a needed height for use. That way, more impact force can be generated against the water wheel or turbine of a generator. This will allow the power generator to produce more electricity.
3. The method consumes little electricity to deliver clean water from the main water tank at a low place to a high place for residential use in tall buildings. This saves energy and is convenient to utilize.
In the apparatus of the present application, water is used due to its great abundance and wide availability on earth. However, other liquids can certainly be used instead of water.
A search throughout technical documents of such structure did not find any identical or similar structure existing prior to this application. Therefore, this invention meets patentability requirements and should be patentable.
The foregoing are merely some preferred embodiments of this invention and should not limit the claims of the present application as a result. Changes of equivalent structures which apply this invention's instructions and claims are all included in the claims of this invention for the same reason.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101150087 | Dec 2012 | TW | national |