Patent Application
20100148509
The present invention relates to an omni-directional turbine and, more particularly, to a vertical axis turbine designed to produce power from water currents or water that oscillates back and forward like in a beach.
It is well known that today the demand for energy is increasing at an accelerated speed. It is also well known that to produce energy we use fuels that are very toxic and dangerous. There are ways to produce such energy in a more safe manner. One of them being the sea or rivers. This form of energy is none toxic and completely renewable. Also since water is more dense than air, the flow of water can produce more energy than air.
Using nuclear power is not a good solution. because no mater how many safety solutions they have, they will never be save. Examples of this is Three Mile Island and Chernoville.
As all ready said, Chernoville is an example of the very high possibilities of something going wrong with nuclear power. Today Chernoville is a ghost town and it will take many years before people can return there.
It is therefore an object of the invention to produce power from running water.
It is another object of the invention to have few moving parts.
It is another object of the invention to use only one support to the bottom of the sea or river.
It is another object of the invention to be able to be constructed at small or large scales depending on the amount of power needed.
It is another object of the invention to be able to have the turbine under water and the generator chamber outside the water for easy maintenance.
It is another object of the invention to be able to in water currents that are constantly changing directions.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided on omni-directional turbine and a generator, that are connected by a main axle. There is also provided a chamber that houses the generator and pulleys or transmission. The generators chamber is oval in shape, so as to provide little resistance to the water current or flow. Also the chamber will keep the generator dry because it is water sealed. The omni-directional turbine has vertical vanes that are placed 360 degrees around the turbine. Here the energy is transferred to the generator from the turbine by means of pulleys and belt, although gears or a transmission could be used. The turbine will spin in one direction no matter from what direction the flow is coming from. So the omni-directional turbine will turn as the water current pushes it, no matter if the direction of the current is constantly changing. This energy will be transferred to the generator by the belt and pulleys as already explained. The whole mechanical function is held together by one main axle, making it very easy to construct and operate. The generator chamber can be placed under water or above the water line. Above the water line the maintenance to the generator and other control systems will be easier and much more practical. The Ortiz turbine could be used in a river at the sea or on the beach. Any where there is a current or oscillation of water. For example in a river where the water is flowing in one direction. On the beach where the water is oscillating back and forward. Or in the sea where you have different surface or deep sea currents. The Ortiz turbine can be made to have long vanes that stretch from surface to bottom of the sea. And even if the surface currents do not run in the some direction as the deep currents the turbine will extract the power from both of them, because the turbine is omni-directional. Making it very efficient and powerful.
A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent, detailed description, in which:
For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components will bear the same designations and numbering throughout the Figures.
The Ortiz turbine is an omni-directional turbine designed to capture the kinetic energy of any running or current of water. Be this at sea, river or any large body of water. Doing this even if the water is constantly changing directions like on the beach. As shown in
The operation of the Ortiz turbine is as fallows, the omni-directional turbine 20 will rotate when it comes in contact with running water. This is because the vanes on the right side are open to the incoming water and this vanes will be pushed by the water, on the left side the vanes are overlapping and will offer little resistance to the water, there for, there will be an imbalance of the forces that hit the omni-directional turbine 20 head on and will cause a rotation on the omni-directional turbine 20. This kinetic energy will be transferred to the generator 3 by the belt 5 and pulleys. In the generator 3 the kinetic energy will be converted to electrical energy.
In
In
The Ortiz turbine can be designed with different dimensions, for example a 4 or 5 feet long for use on the beach, or 100 feet or more with vanes that run vertically from top to bottom of the sea or river. So that it can extract power from top and bottom currents even if they do not run in the same direction because it has an omni-directional turbine.
Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.
Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.
