Energy provides the fuel for modem industry and commerce and hence is critically important for its continued viability and growth. Combustibles such as wood, coal and oil are not only nonrenewable, difficult and expensive to recover and the cause of serious international problems, but they increase pollution, global warming and have other well known problems. Accordingly great study, effort and expense has been given to finding alternatives. Solar is expensive, inefficient and does not lend itself to producing megawatts of power at an economically attractive cost.
Waterpower is limited by the supply of water at higher elevations and for the most part has been exploited in most parts of the world where energy is needed. Hence it is of limited value to meet increased energy needs.
Windmills have been used throughout the ages and more recently have been the subject of renewed interest using modern technology. Nevertheless, large modern windmills have shortcomings including the facts that they:
(a) are highly subject to lightning strikes,
(b) have high mechanical fatigue failure,
(c) are limited in size by hub stress,
(d) must be pivotally mounted,
(e) must be feathered in winds over 28 mph to prevent destruction,
(f) do not produce energy in winds below 8 MPH,
(g) require a 30 to 1 ratio transmission,
(h) require variable pitch blades,
(i) do not function well, if at all, under conditions of heavy rain, icing conditions or very cold climates, and
(j) are noisy and cannot be insulated for sound reduction due to their size and subsequent loss of wind velocity and power.
In view of the above and published average power output, it appears that the best windmill farms would be very hard pressed to deliver the equivalent power output of a 14 MPH average wind velocity, per resident windmill, per year. By contrast, the ACM pipe is not limited by problems (a) through (j).
Another recent form of energy production involves nuclear fission. However although this form was thought to be the answer to supplying power, it also has produced many problems. Thus, for example, nuclear power plants have produced billions of tons of deadly waste products, some having a 27,000 year half life. Although the energy chamber of nuclear plants is made of the finest quality double x-rayed 6-inch thick stainless steel, the pressure, temperature and corrosive environment causes the 6-inch thick walls to often require replacement or repair every 4 to 6 years. The nuclear plants must be located near a large body of water and far from residential areas. The nuclear plants are only {fraction (1/10)} of 1% efficient and the plants must be shut down every 30 to 50 days for replacement of the spent uranium, which replacement takes days to weeks. Also, many millions of dollars of taxpayers money is spent per year to bury the deadly waste products of atomic energy, in places such as the manmade tunnels in mountains such as Yucca Flats, Nev.
In addition, it is estimated that atomic power plants increase global warming by 2.58xc3x971015 BTUs per year, while simultaneously increasing pollution by a number in the order of 452,000,000,000 lbs. per year based on utility company published numbers of 671 pounds per 1000 kw hours per year. Putting this number in perspective, it should be noted that 2.58xc3x971015 BTUs could heat and cool about 63,000,000 homes each with 1000 kWh/month for an entire year. Also of great concern is the inescapable fact that nuclear plants are always a potential source of accidental or terrorist activated mechanisms of catastrophic mass annihilation. The ACM pipe eliminates all of these problems and concerns.
A system for the generation of energy based upon-the difference in the barometric pressure at geographically spaced sites, referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cAtmospheric Cold Megawattxe2x80x9d energy producing system of the invention (hereinafter xe2x80x9cACMxe2x80x9d), comprises at least one long conduit, in the order of many miles, preferably of at least two sections of different internal areas capable of conducting significant amounts of air therein and having a power converter therein. While it would be possible to use a conduit of only a single cross sectional internal area, the cost would be 130 times greater and the air acceleration rate would be 99.99% less.
The term xe2x80x9ccold megawattsxe2x80x9d is used to distinguish the inventions in ACM from all fuel and heat dependent energy generating means. In the preferred embodiment each conduit has at least one funnel shaped portion and at least two sections of differing internal areas. The conduit ends are located at geographically spaced sites designed on the basis of historical information to be far enough apart to encounter a historically useful difference in barometric pressure. Useful is considered to be any pressure that produces the required or desired power since even minute pressure differences can generate substantial amounts of power.
The ACM conduit configuration of the invention can transform even barometric pressure differences in the order of one tenth pound per square inch into wind velocities in the sonic range. This high wind velocity serves to drive an internal power converter means, such as a wind turbine for example, which will convert the energy into any desired type of power output, such as electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, etc.
In operation, energy per se is generated without consumption of materials and without mechanical moving parts. Air will flow into the conduit at a first site of high barometric pressure and travel through the conduit pipe and out the end located at a second site of the low barometric pressure. As the conduit decreases in cross sectional area in accordance with the invention, the air accelerates through the conduit and takes the form of a high velocity wind that provides an energy source from which power may be extracted by at least one energy converting means. It will be understood of course, that the energy converting means have moving parts.
At least one flow control means such as a gate or variable orifice may be strategically located in the conduit or conduits to regulate the wind conduit path and velocity to provide the most efficient and maximum power output. The energy converting means are strategically located in the pipe or pipes to extract power from the wind energy as the wind moves past the energy converting means at high speed.
Additional ACM conduits extending from and having ends in other spaced geographic locations or sites may be interconnected and air flow controlled to maximize the flow for greatest barometric pressure differences between the conduit ends for even greater output power than could be achieved by fewer conduits.
The cold energy ACM pipe has all the advantages of windmills, and none of the several disadvantages outlined herein. Thus, for example, the heights of the windmills (many in the order of 250-328 feet), their required high geographical location necessary to capture maximum wind force and their electrically conductive construction make them very vulnerable to destructive lightning strikes.
Mechanical fatigue failure results from the high length to width ratios, the blade weight and the double stress reversal in each blade per each revolution.
With regard to noise, the ACM pipe has acceptable sound levels over 99% of its length and in those places where noise does occur, it may be easily overcome by insulation or other sound deadening means . While the ACM conduit""s power converter is basically just as noisy as the windmill, that noise is entirely inside the ACM conduit and may be easily reduced as required. The sound controlling insulation may be internal and/or external and does not reduce power output as it does in windmills. By contrast to the average wind speed of 14 mph for the best windmill farms, the ACM conduit pipe can, for example, provide 550 mph wind velocities in 2.97 seconds with as little as one tenth (0.1) psi pressure difference; an acceleration of 271.8 feet per second per second results.
Because of unknown variables and because it is for purposes of presenting broad distinctions, the quantification of the differences with prior art structures and methods such as the power output between windmills and the ACM system, the calculations omit friction and use a standard atmosphere. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that windmill horsepower varies according to the laws of xe2x80x9cDynamic Similarityxe2x80x9d. These laws of dynamic similarity provide an exact time tested method of evaluating all of the pertinent variables of turbo machinery. These laws indicate that power varies as the square of the wind speed; the cube of the rpm; and the fifth power of the diameter. Thus, a state of art windmill farm operating under the very best average yearly wind speed per resident windmill per year will encounter a wind speed of 14 mph. With 60 rpm used for electrical generating efficiency and a blade diameter of 256 feet, the calculations are 142xc3x97603xc3x97256 to the fifth power for a total of 4.16xc3x971019. By exact comparison, the ACM pipe with an air speed of 550 mph, the factors are 5502xc3x979753xc3x97445=4.624xc3x971022; which reveals that the ACM pipe could produce the power of a windmill farm of about 996 large state of the art windmills as defined above.
The profitable operating life span of the ACM pipe is estimated to be at least 3 times greater, and the ACM maintenance, repairs and operating costs are estimated to be less than 15% of that of windmills.
By the numbers, therefore, it could be said that the overall relative merits between the ACM system and windmills, considering the above power output, profitable lifespan and operating costs, can be generally represented by: 996xc3x973xc3x976.67=19,929 to one in favor of the ACM pipe over windmills.
Furthermore, if each of the large windmills has 5 moving parts, it could be claimed that the ACM pipe delivers the same energy with 4780 fewer moving parts. Also, based upon the absence of thousands of mechanical parts, the extremely low stress and the totally protected environment, the profitable life span of the ACM pipe could reasonably be expected to outlast the profitable life span of a windmill farm of the same output power, by a factor of between three and five to one.
By contrast with nuclear energy, an ACM power system would have none of the nuclear problems. Thus because ACM does not consume any materials and does not require heat, it would reduce global warming by 2.57xc3x971015 btu per year and reduce pollution by 4.52xc3x971011 pounds per year.
ACM will outlast any other energy system by tens of years and it will generate the wind velocity from which the energy is extracted without mechanical moving parts or depletion of materials.
The true cost of nuclear electricity, including building, maintaining, repairing, cooling, operating, waste disposal cost (excavating and tunneling at Yucca Flats, Nev. for example), transportation and storage of the nuclear waste (with its 27,000 year half life), the mining, smelting and machining of uranium 235, and last but not least, the very substantial and inevitable de-commissioning cost, is estimated to be magnitudes more than the cost of electricity generated with an ACM energy plant.
Based upon the foregoing, it will be understood that there is a dire and long felt need for an efficient, clean, environmentally safe means for generating the megawatts of power that are needed to meet civilizations"" increasing needs, without increasing pollution, global warming or material depletion.