Wave energy device with constricted tube and generator pod
AssigneeLone Guil Holdings, Ltd.
InventorsBrian Lee Moffat, Garth Alexander Sheldon-Coulson
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Abstract
A wave energy converter utilizes a flotation module that rises and falls with the passage of waves, a submerged tube containing a constriction which multiplies the speed of the water passing therethrough, a turbine (or other hydrokinetic apparatus) positioned so as to extract energy from the accelerated flow of water within and/or through the tube, and a submerged gas- or liquid-filled chamber housing one or more energy conversion components (e.g. generators, transformers, rectifiers, inverters). By providing a chamber in proximity to the turbine, generators can be placed in closer proximity to the turbine that turns them, and the shared shaft can be shorter than if the generators were placed in the buoy adjacent to the surface.
Claims10
A wave energy converter, comprising:
- a positively buoyant buoy adapted to float adjacent to an upper surface of a body;
- a hollow tube suspended from the buoy, the hollow tube including a constricted tube portion having a lesser cross-sectional internal area than a cross-sectional internal area of a mouth of the hollow tube;
- a water turbine energized by water pressurized within the constricted tube portion;
- a pod attached to the hollow tube and adapted to contain one of a non-corrosive fluid and a non-corrosive gas;
- and,
- a generator positioned within the pod and operably connected to the water turbine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.