Oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10844829-B2
Application number	US-201716344329-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2017
Priority date	Nov 8, 2017
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

The present invention provides an oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter. The present invention combines the advantages of the wave energy converters of the oscillating water column and the oscillating buoy. The conversion principles of wave energy of the oscillating water column and the oscillating buoy are on the contrary. The oscillating water column works when the structure does not move, while the oscillating buoy works when the structure substantially vibrates. The oscillating water column and the oscillating buoy are respectively operated in respective spectral ranges without affecting each other, thereby expanding the effective frequency band width of wave energy conversion. Due to the characteristic of absorbing the wave energy at all directions of 360°, the absorption efficiency of the wave energy is enhanced. Through the adoption of a fixed structure, stability of the converter can be ensured, generating efficiency is enhanced and maintenance is facilitated.

First claim

We claim:

1. An oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter, the wave energy, converter comprising:
an oscillating water column system and an oscillating buoy system;
wherein the oscillating water column system comprises an air chamber, a turbogenerator and an inner supporting cylinder; and the oscillating buoy system comprises an oscillating buoy, a damping generator and a pile foundation structure;
wherein the oscillating water column system is connected with the oscillating buoy system through the inner supporting cylinder and the oscillating buoy; and the pile foundation structure is used to fix the entire converter to a seabed;
wherein the air chamber is a cavity composed of a cylindrical ring body and a hemispherical ring body; the hemispherical ring body is upturned on the upper end of the cylindrical ring body and has the same radius as the cylindrical ring body; the cylindrical ring body is a hollow cylinder with open top and bottom; the hemispherical ring body is a hollow hemispheroid; an air hole pipeline is arranged in the center position of the top of the hemispherical ring body; the turbogenerator is positioned in the air hole pipeline; the air hole pipeline is provided with a baffle plate;
wherein the inner supporting cylinder is positioned on an axis of the air chamber, and the top of the inner supporting cylinder is connected with the hemispherical ring body through a supporting truncated cone; the top of the supporting truncated cone is attached to an inner surface of the hemispherical ring body and is used for supporting the air chamber; the top center of the supporting truncated cone is provided with an air hole pipeline which is communicating with the air hole pipeline on the hemispherical ring body; four cylindrical air holes which penetrate through the truncated cone are uniformly formed in the supporting truncated cone, and are communicating with the air hole pipeline in the top center of the supporting truncated cone so that a compressed airflow enters the air hole pipeline; and
wherein the oscillating buoy is a cylinder with a cavity on the bottom to produce buoyancy, and has an air cylinder on the lower part; the top of the oscillating buoy is fixedly connected with the bottom of the inner supporting cylinder; the damping generator and a piston are positioned in the cavity; the upper part of the damping generator is connected with the inner wall of the cavity of the oscillating buoy, and the lower part is connected with the piston; and the piston is fixedly connected with the pile foundation structure through the air cylinder.

2. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical ring body, the hemispherical ring body and the air hole pipeline are made of high-strength light materials; and joints are anchored with high-strength stainless steel bolts.

3. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 1 , wherein the turbogenerator rotates under effect of bidirectional airflows in a direction of the bidirectional flow.

4. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 1 , wherein upper and lower round edges of the oscillating buoy are smoothed to reduce horizontal force of waves on the entire converter.

5. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 3 , wherein upper and lower round edges of the oscillating buoy are smoothed to reduce horizontal force of waves on the entire converter.

6. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 1 , wherein the piston and the air cylinder are sealed with a seal ring.

7. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 3 , wherein the piston and the air cylinder are sealed with a seal ring.

8. The oscillating water column-oscillating buoy combined wave energy converter according to claim 4 , wherein the piston and the air cylinder are sealed with a seal ring.

Assignees

• Univ Dalian Tech

Inventors

• Ning Dezhi
• Zhou Yu
• Zhang Chongwei

Classifications

• Y02E10/30

  Energy from the sea, e.g. using wave energy or salinity gradient · CPC title

• F03B13/24 Primary

  to produce a flow of air, e.g. to drive an air turbine {(F03B13/142 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F03B13/1845

  and the wom slides relative to the rem · CPC title

• F03B13/142 Primary

  which creates an oscillating water column · CPC title

• F03B13/14 Primary

  using wave energy · CPC title