A collection device for energy from water with wave motion has working fluids, a number of pumping units and accumulators interconnected together, and valves to regulate the fluid flow. Each pumping unit has a chamber with an intake port connected to an accumulator, an exhaust port connected to another accumulator, and an outlet to the water. The working fluid in the chamber is in contact with the water, or is partitioned from the water by a flexible membrance or a piston. The pressure from the wave motion of the water pumps the working fluid from one accumulator to another with certain pressure or elevation increase. The working fluid gains suitable pressure or elevation increase through several stages of pumping units.
The present invention relates to an air flow check valve and a system incorporating a plurality thereof, having a function for rectifying the flow of air produced by compression and expansion of air in a closed air vessel which in turn is caused by the force of waves of the sea, as well as a function for regulating the pressure of rectified air flow, the air flow check valve having an air chamber, a liquid stored in the air chamber, a pipe extending into the air chamber and immersed in the liquid a predetermined depth, an inlet connected to the pipe and an outlet opening into the air chamber, wherein, when the air pressure at inlet becomes higher than the pressure at outlet by an amount corresponding to the depth of immersion of the pipe in the liquid, the air is discharged through the outlet and when the air pressure at the outlet higher than that at the inlet, the air forces the liquid in the air chamber into the pipe until the level of the liquid in the pipe rises at the immersion depth, so that the air flow-back from the outlet to the inlet is checked until the level of liquid in the air chamber falls down to the lower end portion of the inlet pipe, because the cross-sectional area of the pipe is much smaller than that of the air chamber, and therefore being applied for a system for checking air flow and incorporated with an energy converting plant for converting wave energy into electric energy.
A method and device are provided for generating energy from the motion of waves. Fluid is conveyed through stages in series, each stage having at least one unit, and each unit incrementally increasing the energy available. The fluid passes under the forces created by differential pressure within that unit and energy from a preceding stage is input into the succeeding stage in series. Preferably, each unit includes a first member and an associated second member, the first member being immersed in or floating on the surface of a body of water, the first member rising and falling with the rise and fall of wave motion, and the second member being anchored. Energy is created as the result of the relative movement between the first and second members as the fluid passes through a unit. The fluid may then be used to drive turbines and electric generators or other energy conversion devices.
A wave energy device comprising a tube assembly comprising a plurality of open pipes of different lengths and natural resonant frequencies each (FIG. 8) where each tube (13) floating upright in the water (FIG. 2), with the tower end of the tube open to the water and generally disposed below the effective wave base. There is an air column above the water in the tube. Turbine (17) is provided for harnessing power from fluctuations in the air column caused by the changing water level (16) in the tube as a result of the wave motion of the surrounding water (11).
A method and device are provided for generating energy from the motion of waves. Fluid is conveyed through a series of fluid pressurization units, each unit incrementally increasing the pressure of the fluid as the fluid passes under the force of differential pressure within that unit. The pressurized fluid from a preceding unit is outlet from that unit and input into the succeeding unit in series. Each unit includes a first member and an associated second member, the first member being immersed in or floating on the surface of a body of water, the first member rising and falling with the rise and fall of wave motion, and the second member being submerged and anchored. The fluid is pressurized as the result of the relative movement between the first and second members as the fluid passes through a unit. The pressurized fluid may then be used to drive turbines and electric generators or other energy conversion devices.
A pumping system for gates wherein a sluice body liftably received in the guide grooves formed in the side walls of a water channel mounts a plurality of pumps in parallel with each other, the suction ports and the discharge ports of the pumps being located in the upstream and downstream sides, and a debris collecting device is provided in the water channel upstream the pumps. The suction ports of the pumps are opened towards the bottom of the water channel at a given height, and the debris collecting device is so constructed that it can be liftable over the level of the water channel. At the time of a natural drainage, the sluice body and the debris collection device are lifted to allow free flow of the water through the water channel, while at the time of a forced drainage the sluice body and the debris collecting device are lowered so that debris, etc. flowing in the upstream side of the water channel are first collected by the debris collecting device, and the water is then pumped from the upstream to the downstream sides by the suction thereof through the pit.
