This invention relates generally to renewable energy generation and more particularly to generating electricity for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and transportation use.
Energy generated from renewable sources such as wind cannot be generated at all locations around the world where wind blowing at substantial speed to turn the turbine blades is not available. Also, electricity generated from present day wind turbines is used as a supplement to existing electricity generating sources that cause the build-up of green houses gases in the environment. The present innovation teaches a novel way to generate electricity continuously at all locations around the world to be use as the main source of electricity for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and transportation use
In today's world energy has become such a basic necessity of life, so much so, food on a large scale is being diverted to create energy supplement in the form of ethanol. Increasingly, governments are mandating the use of ethanol as fuel supplement to reduce environmental pollution. On Mar. 12, 2008, a major world news journal, The Washington Post, published an article written by the current Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki Moon, titled “The New Face of Hunger” highlighting the plight of the 73 million hungry people worldwide. And on Apr. 11, 2008 the World Bank Web site posted comments from the bank's president, Robert B. Zoellick who stated “the crisis of surging food prices could mean seven lost years in the fight against world poverty”.
As more and more grain and other agricultural produce get diverted to produce fuel supplements, the price of food may sky rocket beyond the reach of the world's poor. These troubles are beginning to manifest in many third world and developing countries around the world; even the top industrial nations such as the United States and Japan are facing steep food price increases.
The diversion of food to produce energy supplements while aggravating the world hunger issue is neither making a significant impact in meeting the transportation energy requirements nor affectively addressing the global pollution problem. Every day human beings are contributing more green-house gases to the environment by burning increasing amounts of fossil fuels. Coal, another fossil fuel used in the generation of electricity is also contributing extensively to the environmental pollution.
As the environmental pollution and world hunger is rising, so is the demand for energy. Humanity at large is consuming ever increasing quantities of energy thereby driving all form of energy prices higher at a rapid pace creating hyper inflation. Countries such as India and Philippines have begun to curb the export of grains to meet local needs. Food riots in Pakistan, Egypt and many Latin American countries are becoming a norm forcing governments' to subsidize food to sustain a hungry populace; these subsidies are diverting valuable resources from developing their nation's infrastructure. Such is the enormity of this problem that if not checked timely, it has the potential to unleash unprecedented starvation and political upheaval on a global scale—in other words the perfect storm of the 21st century is brewing rapidly.
The present invention describes a novel way to produce clean energy from renewable sources for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and transportation use. The novelty of this invention is that clean renewable energy can be produced locally at any place on the globe and around the clock without dependency on wind, water or sunshine.
These and other objects and advantages will come to view and be understood upon a reading of the detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A renewable energy eco system for producing electricity which harnesses power from the blades of moving wind turbine(s) racing against the wind. Depending upon the operating environment, the wind turbines move on guided non contact levitation and propulsion system or wheel based propulsion system at constant or variable speed converting the kinetic energy of the incoming wind to rotate its blades thereby driving direct drive and\or shaft driven generators to produce electricity. The electricity thus produced can be used for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and transportation use.
While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that may be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.
As used herein, the functional terminology of [i] energy and electricity are used interchangeably [ii] computer based and electronic are used interchangeably [iii] incoming wind and oncoming wind are used interchangeably [iv] moving and travelling are used interchangeably.
The power generated by a stationary wind turbine is governed by the formula
P=0.5 rho AV3CpNgNd
where
Air density rho at sea level is approximately 1.225 kg/m3, the density of air falls at higher altitudes. Cp is the co-efficient of performance based on Betz law; said Betz law states that the theoretical maximum energy harvested from the wind is 16/27 or 0.59. For a well designed modern day wind turbine the Co-efficient of performance can be as high as 0.35 while the generator efficiency can be greater than 80% and the drive train or the gearbox efficiency can be 95%.
In the renewable energy eco system 1 the value of the coefficient of performance Cp1 can vary with respect to the coefficient of performance of Cp of a stationary wind turbine. In the renewable energy eco system 1, the coefficient of performance Cp1 is acted upon by the operational characteristics of a moving wind turbine 20 at constant or variable speeds against the incoming wind. The said value of co-efficient of performance Cp1 for a given combination of propulsion vehicle 10 and mounted wind turbines 20 can be equal to or vary from that of coefficient performance Cp of a stationary turbine; for a given value of Cp1, the energy yield for wind turbines of the energy eco system 1 is governed by the formula 0.5 rho AV3Cp1NgNd; said energy yield for a given wind turbine 20 can be computed over a defined kilo watt hour range.
Generally, as illustrated in
The load of the main tower assembly 15 of the wind turbine 20 is disposed across the load bearing magnets 11 of the propulsion vehicle 10; said load bearing magnets 11, preferably permanent magnets, generate a majority of the lift required to levitate the propulsion vehicle 10 relative to the magnetic guideway 2. As disclosed by Fiske et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,794, while assisting in the levitation of the propulsion vehicle 10, the primary purpose of the guidance electromagnets 13 is for lateral control and/or vertical damping.
In another embodiment, the load bearing support magnets 11 along with the guidance electro magnets 13 are spacedly disposed on either side of the propulsion vehicle 10 based on the well known Transrapid Maglev design [not shown]. The support magnets 11 provide the lift to levitate the propulsion vehicle 10 while the guidance magnets 13 hold it laterally on tracks. In this configuration, the guideway arrays of magnets (not shown) are located on the flip side of the guideway not facing the underside of the propulsion vehicle 10. In such a Transrapid Maglev design, the load of the main tower assembly 15 is distributed across the edges (not shown).
In the aforementioned configurations, the propulsion vehicle 10 is propelled and braked by a synchronous long stator linear motor (not shown) located in the guideway 2. When energized, an electromagnetic travelling magnetic field is generated in the windings of the said stator propelling the vehicle along the guideway without contact. In this way, the propulsion vehicle 10 travels along the guideway. Thus the non-contact vehicle 10 while levitating is propelled along the magnetic guideway 2 against the oncoming wind converting its kinetic energy to rotate the turbine blades 21 providing torque to generators producing electricity.
In another embodiment as illustrated in
In the example embodiment of
The superconductor based levitating propulsion vehicle 10 of
Conversely, the superconductors based levitation vehicle can be constructed in a hybrid format with a backend wheel based propulsion system (not shown). In such a configuration, the propulsion path is constructed of a hybrid magnetic guideway and runway (not shown). The wheels extend on either side of the magnetic guideway on the wheel runway. The wheel based propulsion system propels the superconducting material based levitating vehicle to a desired speed and can be then disconnected. The superconducting blocks memorizes the path to travel and thus while levitating propels the vehicle along the guideway without further propulsion aid by virtue of the flux trapped between the superconducting blocks and the magnetic guideway.
Thus the said superconducting material based non-contact levitation vehicle as illustrated in
In
In
The said subsystems of the logic system 50 comprises of but not limited to the communication manager module 51, the nacelle subsystem control logic module 52, the magnetic guideway controller logic module 53, the video system controller module 54, the meter logic module 55, the alarm control manager module 56, the rotor/turbine safety control logic module 57, the grid system controller module 58, the climate adaptation control logic module 59, the system-wide sensor controller module 60, the vibrations monitoring and control logic module 61, the vehicle propulsion controller logic 62 and the 3rd party logic interface module 63.
The communication manager module 51 facilitates communication amongst and between the various systems and components of the renewable energy generation eco system 1. The communication can be based on wireless communication technologies or wire-line communication technologies or a combination thereof. The communication manager module 51 facilitates uni-directional mode of communication; bi-directional mode of communication or a combination thereof between the various systems and components of the energy generation eco system 1. The communication manager 51 also includes logic to communicate with processes and systems [not shown] outside of the energy generation eco system 1.
The nacelle subsystem control logic module 52 monitors, controls and regulates the nacelle subsystems including the drive shaft, the gear train, the blade controls, nacelle hydraulics, nacelle climate control assembly, the generator subsystems, the yaw drive subsystem etc.
The magnetic guideway controller logic module 53 monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the magnetic guideway 2.
The video system controller logic module 54 monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the video capture system spacedly disposed across the energy generation eco system 1.
The metering module 55 tracks and monitors the flow of energy to and from the energy generation eco system 1.
The alarm control manager module 56 continuously monitors the system wide alarms and alarm parameters of the energy generation eco system 1.
The rotor/turbine safety control logic module monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the wind turbine rotors and allied subsystems of the renewable energy generation eco system 1.
The grid controller logic module 58 monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the electrical subsystems for transporting the electricity generated by the energy generation eco system 1 through the public and or the private grid for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and transportation use.
The climate adaptation control logic 59 module monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the wind turbines 20 based on the weather conditions, wind speeds, propulsion vehicle functioning and guideway/runway conditions etc.
The sensors controller logic module 60 monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the system wide sensors spacedly disposed across the renewable energy generation eco system 1.
The vibrations monitoring and control logic module 61 tracks and monitors turbine movement and vibrations while moving on propulsion vehicles and provides timely feedback to the eco system components for vibration adjustments.
The propulsion vehicle controller logic module 62 monitors, controls and regulates the functioning of the propulsion vehicles 10.
The third party interface module 163 provides interface for third parties to provide additional logic and intelligence for the functioning of the renewable energy generation eco system 1.
While particular embodiments are described and illustrated, the particular embodiments described and illustrated are only representative of the subject matter contemplated. The scope of the present invention encompasses embodiments that are or could become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims. In the claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean one and only one, but rather one or more unless explicitly stated. The present invention encompasses all structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the embodiments described and illustrated that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device, method, or logic to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention to be encompassed by the present claims. No element, component, or method step in the described and illustrated embodiments is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. sections 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2009/042736 | 5/4/2009 | WO | 00 | 11/3/2010 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61126685 | May 2008 | US |