A potable water producing system for disposition at a body of salt water and a method of producing potable water is provided. The system includes a wave energy conversion system (AWECS) and a portable filtration-anchor system. The AWECS is in the form of a floating articulated barge housing a desalination system including a reverse osmosis membrane. The filtration-anchor system is submerged in the body of salt water and includes a sand filter to filter the adjacent salt water and to provide the filtered salt water to the desalination system on the articulated barge. The action of the waves on the articulated barge provides energy to pump the filtered salt water from the sand filter to the reverse osmosis member to produce potable water. Moreover, the action of the waves on the articulated barge effects the shaking of the reverse osmosis filter, thereby rendering it self-cleaning.

Modular Sand Filtration-Anchor System and wave energy water desalinization system incorporating the same

An apparatus and method for generating electricity from ocean wave energy by using a floating device having a first portion that is movably coupled to a second portion. A hydraulic pump is coupled between these portions such that when the floating device is exposed to ocean wave energy, the hydraulic fluid within the pump is displaced. A flow rectifier is used to create a unidirectional hydraulic fluid flow that is dispensed through a rotary-vane pump which, in turn, is coupled to an electrical generator. Thus, as the rotary-vane pump is activated by the unidirectional hydraulic fluid flow, the rotary-vane pump turns the electrical generator for generating electricity. A plurality of hydraulic pumps and associated flow rectifiers, rotary-vane pumps and electrical generators can be coupled between the first and second portions. In addition, the floating device can include a third portion that is also movably coupled to the second portion and a plurality of hydraulic pumps and associated flow rectifiers, rotary-vane pumps and electrical generators can be coupled between the second and third portions.

Articulated-raft/rotary-vane pump generator system

A bi-directional pump system that can be configured for a plurality of operating modes. The bi-directional pump system includes a plurality of bi-directional pumps each having their own valving system that are connected to a common high pressure manifold, a low pressure manifold and a suction manifold. Via the respective valve systems, each pump can be configured into: (1) a single-acting pumping mode; (2) a double-acting pumping mode; (3) an inactive free motion mode; and (4) an inactive rigid mode. One exemplary application of the bi-directional pump system is on an articulated wave energy conversion system that consists of three floating barges: a front barge, a center barge and a rear barge where the front barge and center barge are hingedly connected as are the center barge and the rear barge. A first set of the bi-directional pumps span the first hinge connection and the second set of bi-directional pumps span the second hinge connection. The bi-directional pump system intakes sea water and, using wave energy, outputs a high pressure flow of sea water for water desalination and/or for driving electrical generators.

Remotely reconfigurable high pressure fluid passive control system for controlling bi-directional piston pumps as active sources of high pressure fluid, as inactive rigid structural members or as isolated free motion devices

A constrained buoy experiencing vortex-induced, in-line and transverse angular motions and designed to absorb and attenuate the energies of streams, rivers and localized ocean currents is described. Referred to as a Finned-Spar-Buoy (FSB), the buoy design can be considered an exoskeleton, in that vertical fins are externally mounted on a vertical cylindrical float. The fins increase the drag coefficient by enhancing the wake losses. The FSB operates as a single unit or as a component of an array, depending on the application. The FSB can adjust to high-water events caused by tides, storm surges or spring-melting runoffs because the FSB can move axially along a center-staff which is attached to an anchor pole at a pivot point. The buoy-staff system is allowed to rotate in any angular direction from the vertical, still-water orientation of the center-staff. The FSB has a relatively small diameter-to-draft ratio, analytically qualifying the buoy as a slender-body.

Articulated bed-mounted finned-spar-buoy designed for current energy absorption & dissipation

A hinge system and method for an Articulated Wave Energy Conversion System (AWECS) that provides for hinge and piston pump displacements due to multi-axis forces in allowing adjacent barges of the AWECS to pivot with respect to one another due to wave motion. The hinge system uses a plurality of parallel hinges, and axle segments, coupled between adjacent barges wherein the hinges are coupled to upright trusses positioned transversely along facing edges of each barge. Hinge bracing includes lower V-shaped struts that act as lower stops when the barges pitch up and also include upper struts that act as upper stops when the barges pitch down. The pumps are positioned in parallel. The pumps have special couplings such as ball joint couplings that permit motions other than longitudinal pump/ram motions due to multi-axis forces generated by the wave motion and thus provide omni-directional stress relief to the pumps.

Hinge system for an articulated wave energy conversion system

A linearized theory for the response of a circular pendulum
spar in 2-dimensional waves and a uniform current is developed. The linear forces on the cylinder are predicted using an approximate potential flow theory for slender bodies. The dynamic
equations are then amended to account for the wake effects of
viscous bluff body flow by including a quadratic drag law and
neglecting wave damping. A spectral model for the forces on a
cylinder due to an oscillating wake, modeling the force as a
frequency modulation process, is proposed. The non-linear
equations of motion which result are then solved, assuming constant
force coefficients, by linearization for use with a Gaussian
random sea. The method of equivalent linearization is extended to
include mean flow effects and a spatially distributed process.
Some numerical experiments are then used to test the performance
of the linearization. For a variety of environments, the
linearization predicts the standard deviation of the simulation
response to within 10% and the mean angle of inclination to
within 30%. Results of the numerical experiments indicate that
there is significant variation (order of magnitude changes) in
both response and mean angle of inclination. Thus, significant
changes are followed by the linearization.
A laboratory experiment was carried out to test the
linearized spar model in a realistic fluid environment. Only
the low Keulegan Carpenter number regime was investigated.
With some minimal manipulations, good agreement is obtained
between the experiment and the linearized estimates. It appears
that the drag coefficients for vortex induced in-line forces may
be an order of magnitude larger than those reported in the
literature, .5 instead of .06, and that the shedding of vortices
due to steady flow may reduce the added mass coefficient significantly,
as observed in oscillating flows with significant vortex
shedding.

/pdf/response-of-a-pendulum-spar-to-2-dimensional-random-waves-lni0gosw4m.pdf

George Rodenbusch

Papers

Response of a pendulum spar to 2-dimensional random waves and a uniform current