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Tidal power Science project.

I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G. It seems, intuitively ,
that the stored energyu/ impetus would give greater burstsof energy
from aDC motor, which could be stored in a supercap, then bled off
slowly to smooth out the oulse. Just noodling, I haven't had the time
to think it through, so I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the
pack and await enlightenment. ;>
Kwiz
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
misterbee03@ hotmail.com said:
[...]I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the pack
and await enlightenment. ;>
Kwiz

Talk to someone who owns a boat that is used in saltwater.
It is a very nasty environment.
Even after using semi-exotic materials (e.g. stainless steel),
there are high maintenance requirements.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
misterbee03@ hotmail.com said:
[...]I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the pack
and await enlightenment. ;>
Kwiz

Talk to someone who owns a boat that is used in saltwater.
It is a very nasty environment.
Even after using semi-exotic materials (e.g. stainless steel),
there are high maintenance requirements.

If that's your only concern, use the tides in bodies of fresh water.
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:17:41 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

:I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
:up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
:the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G. It seems, intuitively ,
:that the stored energyu/ impetus would give greater burstsof energy
:from aDC motor, which could be stored in a supercap, then bled off
:slowly to smooth out the oulse. Just noodling, I haven't had the time
:to think it through, so I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the
:pack and await enlightenment. ;>
:Kwiz


The CETO wave power system looks to be promising.
http://www.ceto.com.au/home.php

Mechanical ratchet and pawl systems are high maintenance and not suitable for
long and reliable service imo.
 
M

MooseFET

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G. It seems, intuitively ,
that the stored energyu/ impetus would give greater burstsof energy
from aDC motor, which could be stored in a supercap, then bled off
slowly to smooth out the oulse. Just noodling, I haven't had the time
to think it through, so I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the
pack and await enlightenment. ;>

A different way to implement the idea:

Imagine a tube pointing down into the water. As the water rises, the
air trapped in the tube will be compressed. A check valve at the top
of the tube directs this compressed air into a tank. As the water
falls, the column of water creates a vacuum at the top of the tube. A
check valve causes this vacuum to create a vacuum in a second tank.
An air motor between the two tanks can provide an output.
 
M

MooseFET

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:17:41 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

:I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
:up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
:the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G. It seems, intuitively ,
:that the stored energyu/ impetus would give greater burstsof energy
:from aDC motor, which could be stored in a supercap, then bled off
:slowly to smooth out the oulse. Just noodling, I haven't had the time
:to think it through, so I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the
:pack and await enlightenment. ;>
:Kwiz

The CETO wave power system looks to be promising.http://www.ceto.com.au/home.php

Mechanical ratchet and pawl systems are high maintenance and not suitable for
long and reliable service imo.


It will only be cycling a couple of times per day. Such things can be
made to last for 100,000 cycles with careful design. 274 years is
long enough.
 
N

nospam

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G.

The idea is dumb. The energy generated by float falling a few feet twice a
day would never recover the energy use to construct it.

A 1000kg float falling 2m twice a day with 100% conversion efficiency would
produce about 450mW. About enough to make one cup of tea every 3 days.

--
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
:> On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:17:41 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
:>
:> :I am just curious if anyone has thought about a float that is lifted
:> :up against a ratchet and pawl to the highest point, then released at
:> :the lowest point of the tide to fall at 1G. It seems, intuitively ,
:> :that the stored energyu/ impetus would give greater burstsof energy
:> :from aDC motor, which could be stored in a supercap, then bled off
:> :slowly to smooth out the oulse. Just noodling, I haven't had the time
:> :to think it through, so I am tossing raw meat into the midst of the
:> :pack and await enlightenment. ;>
:> :Kwiz
:>
:> The CETO wave power system looks to be
promising.http://www.ceto.com.au/home.php
:>
:> Mechanical ratchet and pawl systems are high maintenance and not suitable for
:> long and reliable service imo.
:
:
:It will only be cycling a couple of times per day. Such things can be
:made to last for 100,000 cycles with careful design. 274 years is
:long enough.

Aside from the mechanical reliability, about which you are probably correct, and
going by the description in the OP's post, there would be only 2 energy
generation periods per day, ie. whenever low tide occurred. If I choose a
suitable location in my state where tides are roughly 8M
http://161.152.28.103:10003/pls/lweb/cdc_tide_prediction I see that low tides
generally occur when energy demand is not exactly at its peak. This method of
energy generation would not be particularly efficient unless there was some way
of storing the energy for later use to make it viable as a base power generation
source.

CETO, on the other hand is continuous in action 24/7, relying upon simple wave
action for its operation. As they say "many hands (pumps in this case) make
light (no pun) work", thus making it suitable for a use as a base power
generating source.
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
:Aside from the mechanical reliability, about which you are probably correct,
and
:going by the description in the OP's post, there would be only 2 energy
:generation periods per day, ie. whenever low tide occurred. If I choose a
:suitable location in my state where tides are roughly 8M
:http://161.152.28.103:10003/pls/lweb/cdc_tide_prediction I see that low tides
SNIP

Sorry, that link won't work directly I have found.

You will need to go here http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/imarine/coastaldata/1328.asp
and select BROOME and then in the next screen hit search to display the 7 day
tidal data.
 
C

Clifford Heath

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ross said:
If I choose a
suitable location in my state where tides are roughly 8M... I see that low tides
generally occur when energy demand is not exactly at its peak.

Not a very high percentage of the earth's coastlines have tides
anywhere near that high (it's caused by oceanic slop like in the
corner of a square bucket), and mostly they aren't high population
areas anyhow, as it's much harder to build port facilities.

The average neap tide is 0.5m, king tide is 1.5m, between high and
low. Multiply that difference by the mass of your float and you
have the maximum available energy. You'd need to cover several
square kilometers of area with floating objects that could derive
useful power from motion that has average twice-daily peaks of
0.07mm/second (0.26m/hour). It's just not viable.

Doing something with tidal flow in/out of a large estuary or bay,
now that's a possibility. I even recall seeing a proposed scheme to
dam the Mediterranean, which has a net inflow from the Atlantic,
and use the drop to reclaim sea-front land and generate GW. It'll
never happen though.

Clifford Heath.
 
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