Flutter oscillation hydrofoil system utilizing a hydraulic power circuit to efficiently transmit harvested energy
AssigneeResHydro LLC
InventorColin Kerr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments of an apparatus and method for extracting useful work from a fluid stream are disclosed. Some embodiments comprise balanced hydrofoils comprising upper and lower semifoils joined by a member. Some embodiments comprise an array of removable hydrofoil modules wherein each module is adapted to provide an independent power contribution to an overall system, depending on speed of the fluid stream in the vicinity of the module, and each module is further adapted to provide its power contribution at a substantially consistent pressure to an array-wide high pressure fluid circuit. These and other embodiments are further disclosed herein.
Claims18
An apparatus for converting kinetic energy of a fluid stream into useful work by producing fluid pressure conveyable in a fluid conduit, the apparatus comprising a plurality of hydrofoil modules arranged in an array of hydrofoil modules, each hydrofoil module of the plurality of hydrofoil modules comprising:
- a plurality of balanced foils, a balanced foil comprising top and bottom semi-foils joined by a member;
- at least one translational transducer adapted to, in response to translational forces from the plurality of balanced foils, provide fluid pressure conveyable by a fluid conduit;
- wherein:
- the member joining a top semi-foil to a bottom semi-foil is mechanically linked to the at least one translational transducer for conveying translational force to the translational transducer;
- and
- the plurality of balanced foils and the at least one translational transducer are mounted within a module frame such that vertical axes of adjacent balanced foils are maintained parallel to each other and are limited to translational and rotational oscillatory movement within a translational range of motion and within a rotational range of motion;
- a module-specific fluidic power circuit fluidically coupled to the translational transducer to convey energy at a module-specific fluid pressure;
- and
- a module power decoupler unit coupled to the module-specific fluidic power circuit and to a high-pressure array-wide fluidic power circuit at an array-wide fluidic transmission pressure for transmission of fluid pressure to a fluidic accumulator, wherein the module power decoupler unit is adapted to convert energy at the module-specific fluid pressure to energy at the array-wide fluidic transmission pressure so that the translational transducer can provide fluid pressure through the fluid conduit to the array-wide fluidic power circuit at a substantially consistent array-wide pressure level despite variations in a speed of the fluid stream in the vicinity of the module.
An apparatus for converting kinetic energy of a fluid stream into useful work by producing fluid pressure conveyable in a fluid conduit, the apparatus comprising a plurality of hydrofoil modules arranged in an array of hydrofoil modules, each hydrofoil module of the plurality of hydrofoil modules comprising:
- a plurality of hydrofoils;
- and
- at least one translational transducer adapted to, in response to translational forces from the plurality of hydrofoils, provide fluid pressure conveyable by a fluid conduit;
- wherein:
- a hydrofoil of the plurality of hydrofoils is mechanically linked to the at least one translational transducer for conveying translational force to the translational transducer;
- the plurality of hydrofoils and the at least one translational transducer are mounted within a module frame such that vertical axes of adjacent hydrofoils are maintained parallel to each other and are limited to translational and rotational oscillatory movement within a translational range of motion and within a rotational range of motion;
- and
- the module frame is adapted for mounting within a cell of an array frame, such that a plurality of hydrofoil modules so mounted provide the array of hydrofoil modules;
- wherein the module frame and the array frame comprise corresponding module and array portions of an interface unit, the interface unit being adapted to connect a module high pressure conduit to an array high pressure conduit such that, when the module frame is removed from the array frame, the array high pressure conduit is sealed at the corresponding array portion of the interface unit and, when the module frame is inserted into the array frame, the interface unit is adapted to provide a fluid connection between the module high pressure conduit and the array high pressure conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.