Pumped-storage system

Abstract

The invention relates to hydraulic systems with constant delivery of fluid under pressure, using continuous balancing of pressures generated by liquid accumulated in a reservoir and coming from a collecting system. The system converts motion of liquid to operate individual high-pressure pumps, which pump water through water pipes from a natural body of water into the reservoir above sea level. A device for pressure conversion of the flow of water coming through the water duct from the reservoir in the consumption energy for the production of useful work. Tanks are at the bottom of the reservoir and connected to high-pressure pumps that pump water at high pressure, and which are equipped with pressure accumulators to normalize the pressure. A buffer vessel at the bottom of water duct, below the reservoir and above the sea level, is equipped with pressure accumulators.

Claims

1. A pumped storage system comprising: operating mechanisms that convert movement of water or air into work of individual high-pressure pumps, wherein the pumps pump water through water ducts from a natural body of water into a reservoir, wherein the reservoir is placed above a water level of the natural body of water; a device for conversion of a flow of water through the water ducts from the reservoir into useful work; the system further includes volumes, located at a bottom of the natural body of water and connected to the high-pressure pumps, wherein the high-pressure pumps are configured to pump water at high pressure into the volumes; a pressure accumulator for normalization of pressure in the volumes; and a buffer volume located at a coastline and located below the reservoir and above the water level in the natural body of water, wherein the buffer volume includes pressure accumulators to protect the water ducts from a pressure spike due to hydraulic impact.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operating mechanisms include buoy driven pumps.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operating mechanisms include windmill driven pumps.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operating mechanisms include electric driven pumps.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein pressure of the high-pressure pumps is determined by a height difference between the reservoir and the buffer vessel.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a length of the water ducts is calculated via an area of the ocean surface that is equipped with buoy pumps.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a length of the water ducts is based on a target energy that needs to be generated.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein a length of the water ducts is such that a speed of linear water movement in any point of any of the water ducts is no more than 2 meters per second.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the device for pressure conversion is a turbine and electricity generator.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the device for pressure conversion is a water shutter for direct pressured water use.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the device for pressure conversion is a direct pressure converter (double turbine) with shutter for pressure targeting for water desalination.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the device for pressure conversion is a direct driven air compressor.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the buffer vessel has a shape that is larger than a cross-section of the water ducts.

14. A pumped storage system comprising: operating mechanisms that use water movement for operation of high-pressure pumps; a plurality of water ducts for pumping water from a natural body of water into a reservoir located above a water level of the natural body of water, using the high-pressure pumps; a device for conversion of water flow through the water ducts into useful work, a plurality of volumes at a bottom of the natural body of water and connected to the high-pressure pumps, wherein the high-pressure pumps are configured to pump water at high pressure into the volumes; a pressure accumulator for normalizing pressure in the volumes; and a buffer volume located at a coastline and located below the reservoir and above the water level in the natural body of water, wherein the buffer volume includes pressure accumulators to protect the water ducts from a pressure spike.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the operating mechanisms include any of buoy driven pumps, windmill driven pumps, and electric driven pumps.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein pressure of the high-pressure pumps is determined by a height difference between the reservoir and the buffer vessel.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein a length of the water ducts is calculated via an area of the ocean surface that is equipped with buoy pumps.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein a length of the water ducts is based on a target energy that needs to be generated.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein a length of the water ducts is such that a speed of linear water movement in any point of any of the water ducts is no more than 2 meters per second.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the device for pressure conversion is any of a turbine and electricity generator, a water shutter for direct pressured water use, a direct pressure converter (double turbine) with shutter for pressure targeting for water desalination, and a direct driven air compressor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED FIGURES

(1) The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

(2) In the drawings:

(3) FIG. 1 shows an overall layout of the collecting tanks, water ducts, reservoirs and buffer vessel in a section perpendicular to the coastline;

(4) FIG. 2 shows placement of parts of the system on the surface of the shore and the bottom of the reservoir, in a plan view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(5) Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

(6) An embodiment of the present invention includes a system of tanks and ducts intended for the collection, normalization, accumulation, distribution, storage and utilization of fluids of different pressures, varying in different parts of the system in order to collect the energy of motion of different natural elements, and a subsequent production of a variety of useful work at the right time and in the right volumes, including production of electricity (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

(7) Generally, presented as a block diagram in the figures, the pumped storage system includes the following operating mechanisms 1 (such as buoy driven pumps, windmill driven pumps, electric driven pumps), which convert energy of various types to operation of individual high-pressure pumps 2 (the pressure is determined by a height difference between the upper water storage reservoir and buffer vessel), which pump water by water ducts from the natural reservoir 3 (here, the length of incoming ducts is calculated via an area of the ocean surface that is equipped with buoy pumps (i.e., via a target energy that needs to be generated). Cross-section of ducts is calculated via a liquid friction and Bernoulli law. This can be formulated as speed of linear water movement in any point of duct must not be more than 2 meter per second, but hydrodynamic calculations can give a more precise value), into the water reservoir 4, placed at a level above the natural reservoir location, as well as the device for pressure conversion 5 (such as turbine and electricity generator for electricity generation; water shutter for direct pressured water use; direct pressure converter (double turbine) with shutter for pressure targeting for water desalination; direct driven air compressor for air compression, etc.), of water flow coming through the water duct 6, from the reservoir in the consumption energy for the production of useful work. The system is provided with tanks 7 (the shape of the tanks is primarily defined by two criteria: 1) cross-section of shape (see above regarding roughly 2 meter per second for water moving) and 2) construction robustness for mechanism installation and ground retention, for reliable installation), placed at the bottom of the reservoir 3 and connected to individual high-pressure pumps 2, which are adapted to pump water at high pressure into these tanks and which are equipped with pressure accumulators to normalize the pressure therein, and in the buffer vessel 8 of the water duct 6, positioned below the reservoir and above the level of the location of natural reservoir and equipped with pressure accumulators to protect the water duct 6 and working mechanisms of pressure takeoff (spike) from the hydraulic impact. The buffer vessel 8 can be any shape which is larger than ducts' cross-section. The simplest shape is a round tube, but it can be a rectangle or any other suitable shape given the constraints of the construction location and used materials and technologies. Also it can be upgraded along a coastline in plant upgrade case, so it will preferably have an elongated shape along a coastline.

(8) Location of the working pressure tapping point at the equilibrium point of pressures of the two systems allows producing the required amount of useful work regardless of the current direction of the dynamic balance of pressures between the two systemsthe reservoir and the collecting system. The independence of the system performance from the instability of the natural activity over time is set in the design and construction of the system and theoretically allows providing set parameters for the production of useful work at any predetermined time. This feature allows using the system as a source of work for the production of electricity both for constant generation and for the power maneuver in national and trans-national power gridssimultaneously for both purposes without reducing the effectiveness of none of them, water desalination, air compression or any other useful work.

(9) This system, designed for the collection, normalization, accumulation, distribution, storage and utilization of fluids of different pressures, varying in different parts of the system in order to collect the energy of motion of different nature and the subsequent production of a variety of useful work at the right time and in the right volumes, including power generation, includes: an array of containers (tanks) 7 at the bottom of the reservoir, suitable for connect to the operating mechanisms 1, which convert the movements of different nature in the work of individual high-pressure pumps 2, which pump water under high pressure in this system of tanks, and equipped with pressure accumulators to normalize the pressure therein. reservoirs 4, calculated and built for storage of the volume of water, determined on the basis of necessary working time of the entire system. The volume of the reservoir is defined as a module of integral consumption on the settlement period with the necessary reserve. In this case, the volume and location of the construction of this reservoir does not depend on the influx and presence of rivers necessary for conventional hydroelectric power plants. water duct (conduit) 6 between the system tanks at the bottom of the reservoir and the reservoir calculated and built on the basis of the volume of production of compressed water and its maximum outlet pressure from the system of tanks at the bottom of the pond. In this case, the pressure of water from the reservoir is approximately equal to the specified pressure from the system of tanks at the bottom of the reservoir, which allows conducting the most efficient calculation of conduit construction.

(10) In a reduced projection case containers (tanks) 7 can be combined with a buffer vessel 8 up to using a same or similar building parts. The buffer vessel 8 in the bottom of the water duct 6 (the area between the coastline 9 and the reservoir 4) is equipped with a pressure accumulator, which provides protection of water duct 6 and working mechanisms of pressure takeoff from the hydraulic impact, which provides a high rate of change of the pressure takeoff of the system, which in its turn increases the usefulness of all the proposed design for the production of useful work at any needed scope, including but not limited by electricity for the national and transnational power grids and (or) ocean water desalination. The buffer capacity, which stabilizes the pressure in the system, also allows to tap the pressure in order to produce other useful work with direct use 10 of water under pressure, without intermediate conversion into electricity, thus increasing the overall efficiency of such operations (for example, a direct pressure supply at the pump/pumps or water turbine; the channels for the direct output of water from the buffer vessel 8 may be reduced by means of flaps 11).

(11) The presence of water in almost infinite volumes around the system allows to capture it by operating mechanisms, to pressurize it up to the operating pressure and transmit it to the part of the system intended for its collection from the working mechanisms. The working mechanisms thus can use movements of any natural masses for their work. These can be different water movements (currents, fluctuations of tides, churning of water at the surface), air movement (wind) or other natural phenomena that can be transformed by the operating mechanism in the work of its pump. In a particular case, the operating mechanism may be provided with an electric pump, if there is a need to utilize electricity from unstable sources, such as solar panels.

(12) Specially designed system of tanks at the bottom of the reservoir collects various portions of water under different pressure rates (but not lower than the internal pressure of the tank), damping the pressure surges by means of pressure accumulators, which smoothes out pressure surges in the tank up to the average quickly enough, so they do not interfere with the operation of the working mechanisms. Subsequently, the pressure between the volumes is aligned according to the law of communicating vessels. This design allows the proposed system not to use pressure limiters, separate from the operating mechanisms, and thus save energy, communicated into the system by means of a portion of excessively high pressure fluid, and accumulate it for useful work.

(13) The artificial reservoir, built on the beach, is a reservoir for the temporary storage of water for the same purpose as in the classic PSPP. The difference in height between the water level in the reservoir tank and the system of tanks at the bottom determines the operating pressure in the system of tanks and is set at the design stage of the entire system. This difference is not constant and varies during the operating cycle of the system. The larger the reservoir area, less the change in pressure in the system of tanks at the bottom of the reservoir during the work cycle.

(14) The operating cycle of the simplest system of the proposed construction is 24 hours, which allows serving successfully the so-called daily fluctuations of electricity consumption. A more attractive option is a system that is calculated in view of fluctuations in electricity consumption within a week (weekends recession), which significantly increases the demand for such a system from the side of power supply systems with a slight increase in reservoir size (about dozens of percent). A further increase in buffering capacity of the system by increasing the capacity of the reservoir to buffer (for example, seasonal fluctuations in energy consumption) is structurally possible, but economically inefficient.

(15) Between the reservoir and the system of tanks for pressure collection, there is located a water duct with an intermediate capacity for pressure takeoff. The main water duct is a system of pipes of the maximum possible cross-section, whose material and cross-section is selected at the design stage, taking into account the existing structural materials and construction technologies. Usually, steel or reinforced concrete pipes about 5-7-9 meters in diameter (often with smoothing steel or plastic inserts) are used for huge plants and HDPE/LDPE pipes for smaller ones. Since the manufacturing and fixing of larger diameter tubing is much more expensive, the water duct is typically made of the necessary number of available tubes. The larger the diameter of the water duct pipes (straight pipes), the lower non-productive energy wasted due to water friction and the greater the overall efficiency of the entire system.

(16) An intermediate tank for pressure takeoff for the production of useful work is placed in a convenient location (usually it is a land surface on the shore). A tank for pressure takeoff is needed for two reasons: In order to avoid hydraulic impact in case of change of direction of water movement to/from the reservoir, it is necessary to have a buffer tank with damping mechanisms for the protection against hydraulic impact; An effective rapid change of the amount of fluid taken from the system allows to raise the demand for the system in order to generate electricity and for other purposes (but this also can cause a hydraulic pressure spike).

(17) The use of a separate tank for pressure takeoff, equipped with pneumatic or other pressure accumulators: allows to conveniently divide water duct pipes of different diameters and mechanisms for the production of useful work, which thus can have independent dimensions; provides a relatively large capacity (several times larger in volume than the pipeline of the water duct on this interval), equipped with pneumatic or other pressure accumulators, which effectively smooth out pressure fluctuations in the system. The required capacity of the pressure accumulators is calculated at the stage of system design based on the proposed rate of the pressure takeoff change in the system and can reach tens of operation seconds in cubic meters of working fluid. Because the pressure accumulators in this case are located in a stationary building and are easily accessible for inspection and maintenance, they can be set in the desired quantity in terms of production and mounting of structure.

(18) Besides the selection of pressurized fluid for energy production the system also allows to effectively select the required amount of fluid under pressure for direct use without conversion into electricity, for example: A drive unit of the pneumatic pump for the production of compressed air for the needs of the plant itself, for accumulation in high-pressure containers and subsequent use, such as in a pneumatic tool; Direct use of water under pressure for the washing of transport, vessels

(19) Water pressure direct conversion for ocean water desalination; Driving other working mechanisms for any purpose.

(20) Having thus described a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain advantages of the described method and apparatus have been achieved.

(21) It should also be appreciated that various modifications, adaptations, and alternative embodiments thereof may be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention. The invention is further defined by the following claims.