All-weather energy and water production via steam-enhanced vortex tower

A complex of the preferred modifications or new designs of units, implementing said additional and modified process steps of Clime 1, giving extension of usage of the steam-enhanced vortex electric stations into cold climatic zones at wide ranges of power loads, including additionally to the parent patent application:

• a new kind of three-phase vortex electric generator with hollow flow-through drum(s) rotated directly by an inner column vortex airflow at wider ranges of said airflow velocities, mass rate and momentum, relative to said magneto-vortex electric generator with MACs;
• a multi-purpose design of shut transparent streamline sector of vortex station site, allocated for enhancement of excessive solar, geothermal or/and waste heating of recycled condensate with inter-season low-temperature heat accumulation using pure or/and salty water and heat accumulating/releasing materials, and for sucking and heating of the cold winter ambient air by supplementary steam jets under said roof, giving directed forced acceleration of enhanced airflow into the bottom nozzle-swirler of the vortex tower;
• additional types of magnetic concentrators (MACs) for the magneto-vortex electric generator (MAGE), having reduced weight and magnetic repulsion of poles S at the same outer diameter of MACs, and allocated for generator operation at reduced velocities, mass rate and momentum of vortex airflow.

An electric generator of Clime 2 driven by vortex airflow for direct electricity generation, comprising:

• at least one hollow flow-through drum rotated by inside vortex airflow and having the following two working sides:
• on the inside are laying rotated working airfoils converging vortex kinetic energy into kinetic energy of rotation of said airfoils themselves, rotated part of a detaching vortex channel wall and drum frame with outside voltage inducing and bearing magnets, through action of tangential/helical forces of said vortex airflow;
• on the outside are carried:
• said rotated voltage inducing magnets interacting with circumferencial adjustable stator winding through initial alternating magnetic whirl created by alternate magnetic poles N and S of said magnets;
• said rotated bearing magnets representing parts of magnetic cushions and magnetic suspensions of said rotated drum frame;
• groups of said magnetic cushions and magnetic suspensions located in circles, bearing said rotated drum, and having said bearing magnets at the outside of said rotated drum and relating interacting magnets at generator supporting case;
• said adjustable stator winding comprising modules switched independently in series or/and in parallel via outside switching subsystem for voltage, frequency and capacity control;
• said modules of said winding, together with insulated connectors of said switching subsystem and with high-permeability stator core, are cooled in parallel by chilled condensate separated from said vortex flow;
• said adjustable stator winding, high-permeability core and connectors, together with modular hitless transfer switches and other units of said switching subsystem, and with said rotating magnets, said magnetic cushions, magnetic suspensions and said supporting case, are cooled also outside by cold flow bypassing said vortex flow under its pressure drop;
• said vortex flow can be upward column tornado-like vortex airflow enhanced and controlled by supplementary water steam jets in confining vortex tower integrated with said electric generator and with near-bottom heat accumulating/releasing system using excessive solar, geothermal or/and low-temperature waste heat energy for said steam flexible generation, airflow enhancing and forced directed acceleration, or said vortex flow can be of another type integrated with vertical or horizontal electric generator having standard three-phase or another electric parameters, arrangement and rating;
• said electric generator can be large-rating vertical three-phase synchronous generator with standard angular velocity of said rotated drum and standard parameters of three-phase current, located at central core zone of said tornado-like vortex airflow, or can be of another allocation, type, arrangement, rating or/and parameters;
• said vortex airflow can be replaced by vortex flow of another gas, driving any said type of vortex electric generator, enhanced and controlled by non-water steam in another king of vortex confining structure, device or apparatus;
• said chilled cooling condensate separated from said vortex airflow can be returned back for utilization in said vortex tower after heating in said electric generator, and can be replaced by said cold air bypassing said vortex airflow during negative ambient air temperatures reduced additionally in said vortex airflow, said condensate can be non-water or can be replaced by another cooler in said another types of electric generator driven by another type of vortex flow enhanced and controlled by non-water steam;
• said bearing magnetic cushions and suspensions can be replaced by another kinds of bearing units in said three-phase or said another types of electric generator;
• said vertical hollow flow-through drum rotated by upward tornado-like column vortex airflow has strengthening vertical cylindrical frame comprising carried in a circle vertical stiffening steel beams connected by inner and outer strengthening horizontal steel rings;
• said inner rings bear and fix said rotated part of detaching wall of vortex channel, with said working airfoils on the inside of this part;
• said outer rings bear and fix the groups of said rotated inducing magnets comprising partially permanent magnets, and partially electromagnets correcting induced voltage, the lowest of said outer ring carries the isolated current leading collectors for groups of said correcting inducing electromagnets and for correcting electromagnets of bearing magnetic cushions and suspensions including also partially permanent magnets;
• said rotated working airfoils realize tangential/helical momentum of the vortex airflow, distinct of the radial stretched working blades of the conventional gas turbines realizing mainly axial momentum and easily destroyed in the fast tornado-like airflow;
• said airfoils available for vortex electric generator can be at least of the following kinds:
• working airfoils laying on said rotated inside bearing rings at lower part of said rotated drum frame, facing the highest of the peripheral velocities of said upward column vortex airflow;
• working airfoils half-laying on said rotated inside bearing rings at the higher part of said rotated drum frame, or at similar second drum located above the first drum, said second drum can use lower velocities and momentum of said vortex airflow and has reduced standard angular velocity;
• said standard angular velocity of every said drum is constant and synchronized in the electric power system, representing the divisor of 3000/3600 revolutions per minute for synchronous generation of the standard three-phase current through definite given number of pares of magnetic poles of said inducing magnets at every drum;
• such two-drum design can be more flexible at sharply different season and loading conditions at the plant site;
• said laying working airfoils are hollow and have a streamline waveform of vertical longitudinal section with half-spheroidal form of vertical cross-sections, and have height smaller of half of footing width;
• said half-laying working airfoils are hollow and have a streamline waveform of vertical longitudinal section with half-ellipsoidal form of vertical cross-sections, and have height close or larger of the footing width, but lower of two such widths;
• said working airfoils of both kinds have length several times larger of their height, providing continuity of the air passing on and from the surfaces of said airfoils;
• said working airfoils can be strengthened by inner fins and have fixing roots in said rotating inner rings, enveloping the whole foot perimeter of every said working airfoil;
• said laying working airfoils are made of usual low-temperature blade steels or/and strengthened plastics available at low positive and at negative temperatures of airflow (° C.);
• said working airfoils can have small outer longitudinal ribs increasing lifting forces and reducing aerodynamic losses dependent on character regimes of vortex plant;
• said half-laying working airfoils are made of the same strengthened plastics and can have front and ghost streamline holes reducing eddy losses;
• said working airfoils dependent of concrete project conditions can have another kinds of profiles supporting together the requirements on maximum transformed tangential/helical kinetic momentum, minimum eddy losses, enough strength and lifting force transmitted by said vortex airflow, and said laying and half-laying kinds of profiles can be used as the base for correspondent profile optimization;
• said rotated drum is borne by said circular magnetic cushions from the bottom and by circular magnetic suspensions from the top, said drum has also radial side magnetic cushions near drum bottom and near drum top, and can have additional correcting and stabilizing radial side cushions and/or vertical suspensions located along height of said drum between sections of said stator winding and on said drum frame;
• said magnetic cushions and suspensions are integrated with starting-stopping self-aligning rollers and radial supporting and correcting self-aligning rollers, unloaded at normal regimes.
• said inducing permanent magnets are maid of standard electrotechnical materials, or include lighter magnetic laminated plastics and reinforced high-permeability laminated plastics reliable at working negative and positive temperatures character for driving vortex airflow and bypassing cooling airflow dependent on the weather conditions and loading regimes;
• the same relates to permanent magnets in magnetic cushions and suspensions;
• said correcting and controlling electromagnets are made of standard electrotechnical materials;
• said rotating units and units of interacting stator and ancillaries are made symmetrically relative to central vertical axis of electric generator superposed with central vertical axis of driving column vortex airflow.

A multi-purpose vortex station central sector of Clime 2, providing:

• inter-season solar, geothermal or/and waste low-temperature heat accumulation, and heat release due to the cold winter and warm or hot rest seasons at wide range of power loads;
• with supplementary sucking, humidifying, heating and directed centripetal acceleration of the cold or warm ambient air into bottom zone of vortex tower at the calm or any winds;
• confining and control of near-bottom zone of working tornado-like vortex airflow;
• said sector comprises:
• a streamline concave down roof made of assemblage of transparent solar water heating modules connected in series and in parallel by circular and radial tube collectors;
• every said module is made of clean technical double glass surfaces providing at warm sunny times solar heating up to 100÷110° C. of pure slightly pressed water passing between said double surfaces without boiling;
• said collectors transporting heated water into sections of a peripheral ring pond and central circular pond for excessive daily, weekly, season and inter-season heat and water accumulation;
• said water temperature and filling of said sections are controlled with respect to differences between solar insolation of said modules, integral density of said winds and accumulated heat release;
• said double glass surfaces are partially passed though by solar rays heating further said accumulated water in said lower ponds, at simultaneous solar heating of sucked ambient airflow passing between said roof and water surfaces of said ponds with partial water vaporization into said airflow directed into center of said sector, occupied by said vortex tower;
• said sucked ambient airflow during the calm or insufficient wind is supplementary humidified, heated and accelerated into near-bottom part of said vortex tower via accelerated and centripetal directed steam jets;
• said steam jets received after accumulated hot water flexible fleshing in drums and directed acceleration into centripetal ascending airflow formed from said omnidirectional sucked and enhanced airflows, and additionally sucked into said vortex tower;
• said solar rays reaching a bottom of said ponds heat an accumulating/releasing granular materials having large density of accumulated heat, for instance washed sand mixed with pebbles, or similar local granular materials;
• said materials are covered from the upside by coarse gravel painted by black light-resistant, heat-resistant and waterproof metallic pain, giving larger useful pond depth with higher temperature up to ˜90÷100° C. in said pond with pure water and up to ˜105÷110° C. in said ponds with salt water, at higher specific heat capacity of the water ponds, reducing sizes and cost of said sector;
• said materials in said ponds with pure water give possibility to utilize heat of an excessive recycled condensate slightly pressed and heated up to 110÷120° C. in the solar heaters of [9];
• said heat is accumulated partially by said materials and partially is transmitted into higher hot water layers and into surface vapor flows mixing with said enhanced centripetal airflow;
• the same is made between near-bottom hot layer and intermediate warm layer in said pond with salt water, said heat is accumulated by said materials and by hot near-bottom salt solution, and said lighter condensate is ascending to near-surface level accumulating pure water having lower density;
• said accumulated heat of water and granular materials is released mainly during cold winter periods with insignificant solar radiation and winds, when the main sucking, humidifying, heating and accelerating mean for inlet cold ambient air with snow is assemblage of rows of supplementary steam jets providing the following additional process steps:
• inertial removing of inlet snow via turning of the sucked inlet cold air flows at inlet streamline vanes;
• involving of rest snow particles into said sector and replenishment of used hot accumulated water is made via snow melting in said peripheral enhanced airflows mixed with supplementary hot steam jets and falling into peripheral pond;
• further enhancement and directed acceleration of said airflows into said vortex tower via rows of faster supplementary steam jets;
• turning of said enhanced accelerated centripetal airflows with following helical acceleration into a bottom nozzle-swirler with usage of additional rows of steam jets and concave bottom cone,
• said roof thermal insulation and water replenishment is doing through natural snow coverage melting and falling into said peripheral pool with scrubbing of said sucked and heated airflows;
• said central pond is used for direct humidifying and heating of the enhanced airflows through hot water surface vaporization with additional directed acceleration of said airflows, together with acceleration from said supplementary forcing steam;
• said supplementary steam is received via delivery of hot water, filtered from bottom sand, from pure water pond with further heating in salt water pond and accumulating materials through near-bottom heaters, with further flexible fleshing in drums, said heaters are made of thin ceramic tubes made of local materials.
• said central section can be used for variant combining of accumulation/release of excessive solar energy with season-independent geothermal or/and waste heat of the large industries, thermal or atomic power stations, said combining can be made through the following simples ways:
• filling of the salty water solar pond by flowing hot geothermal water and it mixing with geothermal steam in this pond, giving higher temperature of said supplementary pure steam with simultaneous raising of efficiency of the solar heating inside the space under transparent roof, filled by low-transparent steam intensifying airflow directed acceleration by said supplementary steam;
• said geothermal water can need of preliminary storage for sedimentation of impurities, with further re-sedimentation and bottom blowing in the pond;
• the same relates to usage of waste industrial hot or warm water and steam;
• filling of said pure/salty water solar ponds with pure/salty or sea water after condensers of large thermal or atomic electric station working at low vacuum, with usage of the same solar heating and steam directed accelerating effects in the space under transparent roof.

Modifications of magnetic concentrators (MACs) of Clime 2, having reduced weight and magnetic repulsion for operation of the magneto-vortex electric generator [9] at negative ambient air temperatures and/or low power loads, giving reduced velocities and momentum of carrying vortex airflow, comprising:

• (1) a jointed magnet made of a high-permeability ellipsoidal core, or core having form of isosceles chamfered triangle, bearing and fixing correspondingly two or three identical constricting permanent magnets converging symmetrically out of core geometrical center and focusing maximum magnetic flux density in an external zone crossing through in series phase conductors;
• (2) a profiled circular magnetic enhancer with a through circular hole, made of soft electrical laminated steel and raising said density;
• said enhancer fixes together converging ends with poles N of said magnets having diverging wider ends with poles S joined symmetrically by said core;
• (3) two nested with air gap spherical shells made of fiberglass laminate, having the next designs:
• an outer protective readily slipping two-side smooth shell with ventilation stabilizing holes;
• an inner shell smooth outside and attaching fixedly said core, permanent magnets and magnetic enhancer, and resting on said vertexes of said ellipsoidal or chamfered triangle core;
• said inner shell has correspondingly two of three stretched profiled stop lugs forming symmetrical inside sectors bearing and fixing said core in said shell and creating two or three zones of additional magnetic resistance for back magnetic fluxes after interactions with phase conductors;
• said inner shell has an inside space fulfilled by sub-atmospheric air favorable for magnetic flux, including correspondingly two or three symmetrical sectors near core vertexes giving main ways with minimum magnetic resistance for said back magnetic fluxes;
• said inner shell has a partial air gap relative to said enhancer, slackening stresses from said outer shell;
• said MAC has a gravity center located out of geometrical center of said inner shell, between said magnetic core and enhancer on an axis of said focused magnetic flux, giving dynamical radial auto-orientation of said pole N in said vortex airflow;
• via auto-centrifugal force of whirled MAC;
• said focused flux zone is distanced from said inner shell and superposed with equivalent section center of the crossed through phase conductor, said focused flux zone has effective width and depth equal nearly to effective width and depth of said conductor;
• said outer shell has diameter equal nearly to width of three slots and teeth of stator magnetic core;
• said permanent magnets and high-permeability core in said MACs are made of the next materials:
• (a) at least two types of MACs correspondingly with at least two different laminated hard-magnetic plastics having higher and lower permanent magnetization and weight, and magnetic core made of reinforced high-permeability plastic, for said electric generator of minimum and middle range;
• (b) a neodymium-boron iron laminated alloy having high permanent magnetization, and magnetic core made of silicon laminated steel, for said electric generators of higher and maximum range;
• said plastic with lower permanent magnetization and weight, used at partial changeable power loads, and core made of reinforced plastic, for said generator of maximum range,
• an universe of said MACs having a controlled working number of rows with rated row quantity of MACs, outside diameter and inlet velocity of MACs, correlated with inner diameter of vortex channel so that said quantity is a common devisor to channel diameter and 3,000/3,600 r.p.m.