17-07-2013, 03:38 PM
Under water Windmill
Under water.doc (Size: 1.8 MB / Downloads: 52)
INTRODUCTION
I just did a Search here for "underwater" and "windmill" and it came up blank, so if this idea really has been posted here using some other verbiage,
Anyway, this Idea should be somewhat obvious in hindsight. We build ordinary windmills to extract useful power from wind energy. We put turbines in rivers (usually accompanied by dams) to extract useful power from downhill water flow. The second is more "energy intensive" than the first, which is why we all know that dams are great sources of electrical power, while electric-generator windmills spent decades in the economic doldrums (return on investment --ROI-- is relatively tiny, and only recently proved viable on a large scale).
Anyway, putting the equivalent of a windmill in a steady ocean current, say the Gulf Stream, should have an automatically-viable ROI that is intermediate between windmills and ordinary hydropower. This is because water is something like a thousand times denser than air, so a volume of flowing water contains a thousand times the energy of an equal volume of equally-flowing air.
HISTORY
Two British consultants have developed an underwater pump that can irrigate riverside fields without using fuel or causing pollution. The prize-winning turbine is easy to construct and can work continuously
Originally designed to harness the energy of the Nile to irrigate the desert areas of Sudan, the pump has a three-blade rotor that utilizes the energy of moving water, just as a windmill uses wind. The underwater pump can be operated by a single person with little training.
Renewable Energy
We can divide renewable energy sources into two main categories: traditional renewable energy sources like biomass and large hydropower installations, and the "new renewable energy sources" like solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, etc. Renewable energy sources provide 18% of overall world energy (2006), but most of this energy is energy from traditional use of biomass for cooking and heating - 13 of 18%. In large hydropower installations is another three percent. So, when we exclude conventional biomass and large hydropower installations it is easy to calculate that so called "new renewable energy sources" produce only 2.4% of overall world energy. 1.3% are water heating solutions, 0.8% are different power generation methods, and 0.3% are biofuels. In the future this portion should be significantly increased because the availability of non-renewable sources is decreasing with time, and their damaging influence has significantly increased in the last couple of decades. Sun delivers 15 thousand times more energy to Earth than humanity really needs in this stage, but despite this some people on Earth are still freezing.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy is the energy derived from the sun through the form of solar radiation. Solar powered electrical generation relies on photovoltaic and heat engines. A partial list of other solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, day lighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.
BIO MASS
Biomass (plant material) is a renewable energy source because the energy it contains comes from the sun. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture the sun's energy. When the plants are burnt, they release the sun's energy they contain. In this way, biomass functions as a sort of natural battery for storing solar energy. As long as biomass is produced sustainably, with only as much used as is grown, the battery will last indefinitely.
In general there are two main approaches to using plants for energy production: growing plants specifically for energy use (known as first and third-generation biomass), and using the residues (known as second-generation biomass) from plants that are used for other things. See bio based economy. The best approaches vary from region to region according to climate, soils and geography.
BIO FUEL
Biofuels include a wide range of fuels which are derived from biomass. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Liquid biofuels include bio alcohols, such as bioethanol, and oils, such as biodiesel. Gaseous biofuels include biogas, landfill gas and synthetic gas.
Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. With advanced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are also used as feedstock’s for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil.
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using trans esterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe.
TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal power is a consequence of Sun's and Moon's gravity forces. For now, there is no major commercial exploitation of this energy, despite of its big potential. This energy can be gained in places where sea changes are extremely emphasized (for instance some places have difference between high tide and low tide bigger then 10 meters). The principle is quite simple and very similar to the one of the water power plant. On the entrance to some gulf, escarpment is built and when the level of the water rises, water leaks across the turbine in to a gulf. When gulf is filled with the water escarpment is sealed and after the level of the water falls the same principle is being used to direct water out of the gulf. In more simple case water leaks through turbines in only one direction, and in this case turbines are less complicated (unilateral, not bilateral). The biggest problems of this use of energy are vicissitude of tidal power (wait the sufficient level of the water to rise enough, or to fall enough) and small number of places suitable for using this energy source. The most famous power plant is the one on the river Rance delta in France (picture) built in 1960 and still functional. Russia has build small power plant near city of Murmansk, Canada in gulf Fundy, China small number of them, but neither of this countries has made any significant progress. Alternative method of use relates to the location of power plants in sea ravines where due to a canalizing tidal wave, its energy increases, and underwater turbines similar as the ones of the wind power plants would be used as the generator machinery. Energy of the sea currents is also planned to be used in the same way, but this technology is still in very early phase.
Under water.doc (Size: 1.8 MB / Downloads: 52)
INTRODUCTION
I just did a Search here for "underwater" and "windmill" and it came up blank, so if this idea really has been posted here using some other verbiage,
Anyway, this Idea should be somewhat obvious in hindsight. We build ordinary windmills to extract useful power from wind energy. We put turbines in rivers (usually accompanied by dams) to extract useful power from downhill water flow. The second is more "energy intensive" than the first, which is why we all know that dams are great sources of electrical power, while electric-generator windmills spent decades in the economic doldrums (return on investment --ROI-- is relatively tiny, and only recently proved viable on a large scale).
Anyway, putting the equivalent of a windmill in a steady ocean current, say the Gulf Stream, should have an automatically-viable ROI that is intermediate between windmills and ordinary hydropower. This is because water is something like a thousand times denser than air, so a volume of flowing water contains a thousand times the energy of an equal volume of equally-flowing air.
HISTORY
Two British consultants have developed an underwater pump that can irrigate riverside fields without using fuel or causing pollution. The prize-winning turbine is easy to construct and can work continuously
Originally designed to harness the energy of the Nile to irrigate the desert areas of Sudan, the pump has a three-blade rotor that utilizes the energy of moving water, just as a windmill uses wind. The underwater pump can be operated by a single person with little training.
Renewable Energy
We can divide renewable energy sources into two main categories: traditional renewable energy sources like biomass and large hydropower installations, and the "new renewable energy sources" like solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, etc. Renewable energy sources provide 18% of overall world energy (2006), but most of this energy is energy from traditional use of biomass for cooking and heating - 13 of 18%. In large hydropower installations is another three percent. So, when we exclude conventional biomass and large hydropower installations it is easy to calculate that so called "new renewable energy sources" produce only 2.4% of overall world energy. 1.3% are water heating solutions, 0.8% are different power generation methods, and 0.3% are biofuels. In the future this portion should be significantly increased because the availability of non-renewable sources is decreasing with time, and their damaging influence has significantly increased in the last couple of decades. Sun delivers 15 thousand times more energy to Earth than humanity really needs in this stage, but despite this some people on Earth are still freezing.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy is the energy derived from the sun through the form of solar radiation. Solar powered electrical generation relies on photovoltaic and heat engines. A partial list of other solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, day lighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.
BIO MASS
Biomass (plant material) is a renewable energy source because the energy it contains comes from the sun. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture the sun's energy. When the plants are burnt, they release the sun's energy they contain. In this way, biomass functions as a sort of natural battery for storing solar energy. As long as biomass is produced sustainably, with only as much used as is grown, the battery will last indefinitely.
In general there are two main approaches to using plants for energy production: growing plants specifically for energy use (known as first and third-generation biomass), and using the residues (known as second-generation biomass) from plants that are used for other things. See bio based economy. The best approaches vary from region to region according to climate, soils and geography.
BIO FUEL
Biofuels include a wide range of fuels which are derived from biomass. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Liquid biofuels include bio alcohols, such as bioethanol, and oils, such as biodiesel. Gaseous biofuels include biogas, landfill gas and synthetic gas.
Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. With advanced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are also used as feedstock’s for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil.
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using trans esterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe.
TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal power is a consequence of Sun's and Moon's gravity forces. For now, there is no major commercial exploitation of this energy, despite of its big potential. This energy can be gained in places where sea changes are extremely emphasized (for instance some places have difference between high tide and low tide bigger then 10 meters). The principle is quite simple and very similar to the one of the water power plant. On the entrance to some gulf, escarpment is built and when the level of the water rises, water leaks across the turbine in to a gulf. When gulf is filled with the water escarpment is sealed and after the level of the water falls the same principle is being used to direct water out of the gulf. In more simple case water leaks through turbines in only one direction, and in this case turbines are less complicated (unilateral, not bilateral). The biggest problems of this use of energy are vicissitude of tidal power (wait the sufficient level of the water to rise enough, or to fall enough) and small number of places suitable for using this energy source. The most famous power plant is the one on the river Rance delta in France (picture) built in 1960 and still functional. Russia has build small power plant near city of Murmansk, Canada in gulf Fundy, China small number of them, but neither of this countries has made any significant progress. Alternative method of use relates to the location of power plants in sea ravines where due to a canalizing tidal wave, its energy increases, and underwater turbines similar as the ones of the wind power plants would be used as the generator machinery. Energy of the sea currents is also planned to be used in the same way, but this technology is still in very early phase.