Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to wind power, and is particularly concerned with harnessing wind power for pumping water for hydro-electric purposes,

Background of the Invention

[0002] There are a number of patents or patent applications that relate to wind power actuating a pump thereby generating a hydraulic flow to power a hydraulic motor, to run a generator to generate electricity. [0003] More specifically, these patents describe a windmill or wind turbine (e.g. wind collector or wind rotor) rotating a hydraulic pump which pressurizes the inputting liquid (generally hydraulic oil) and discharges it to a hydraulic motor through a transmitting line; the hydraulic motor is rotated by the pressurized liquid and runs an electric generator to generate electricity. [0004] There is also further provision for these to be set up in a series wherein there are more than one wind collector and/or pump, with a hydraulic accumulator for collecting several lines of highly pressurized liquid to then actuate one or more hydraulic motors, to run one or more generators to produce electricity,

[0005] Some of these patents provide for running a motor in reverse as a pump and a pump in reverse as a motor.

[0006] The systems described in these patents have a number of problems and limitations: a) Oil as a Liquid o The other patents refer to liquid but specifically oil since this is the primary hydraulic fluid that would be handled by most standard hydraulic pumps. b) High Pressure, Low Volume Flow o they refer to low volume flow, but with high pressure, which would be greater than 250 psi, and this often may be a regulatory concern. c) Hydraulic Accumulator o they refer to the use of a hydraulic accumulator as a collector and storage of oil from multiple pumps; o however, the general definition of "hydraulic accumulator" can include the reference to the term "hydro-pneumatic accumulator". By definition, a hydraulic accumulator is an energy storage device. It is a pressure storage reservoir in which a non-compressible hydraulic fluid is held under pressure by an external source, That external source can be a spring, a raised weight or a compressed gas,

The main reasons that an accumulator is used in a hydraulic system are so that the pump does not need to be so large to cope with extremes of demand, so that the supply circuit can respond more quickly to any temporary demand and to smooth pulsations. Compressed gas accumulators are by far the most common type. d) Capacity Utilization o conventional wind turbine technology is designed and sized to achieve 100% power production, and therefore capacity utilization, at wind speeds of 12.5 metres per second (m/s); o other patents and patent applications do not improve on this. e) Excess Capacity Utilization o conventional wind turbine technology is designed and sized so that once it achieves maximum power production, for example generated by wind speeds in excess of 12.5 m/s, any extra wind energy is lost and not captured or utilized; o other patents and patent applications do not improve on this. (0007] Systems and methods disclosed herein provide a wind hydro generator system to obviate or mitigate at least some of the aforementioned disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention [0008] An object of the present invention is to provide an improved wind hydro-generator,

[0009] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a wind hydro- generator system comprising a wind rotor for capturing wind energy, a hydraulic generator coupled to the wind rotor and having an inlet and an outlet, a storage tank in fluid communication with the inlet of the hydraulic generator, a pressure vessel in fluid communication with the outlet of the hydraulic generator and having an outlet for pressurized fluid, a hydraulic motor in fluid communication with the outlet of the pressure vessel, whereby the hydraulic generator uses energy from the wind rotor to pump fluid from the storage tank to the pressure vessel to store energy for use by the hydraulic motor.

[0010] The present wind hydro-generator employs a combination of standard, commercial components and could be applied entirely by using available industrial devices. However, key components were re-designed specially for the purpose of the present wind hydro- generator and to make it innovative so that it works most efficiently, where other equipment or proposed patents do not prove any real effectiveness or remain purely theoretical devices.

[0011] Therefore the present wind hydro-generator may be designed to use the same water flow through out the production line, which then works in a closed circuit. Nevertheless, when necessary, the system also may use an existing water source and release the produced water flow into a separate receiver (i.e. when using the present wind hydro-generator to store energy in an elevated container),

[0012] The present wind hydro-generator uses water, possibly with compounds added to the water to reduce the freezing point of the mixture below the lowest temperature that the system is likely to be exposed to (i.e. glycol added for the purpose of colder climates), or to inhibit corrosion. [0013) The present wind hydro-generator does not use oil because it would be too explosive and dangerous if combined with compressed air, which could be both a practical and regulatory concern.

[0014] The present wind hydro-generator uses high volume water flow that enables low pressure below 250 psi which is exempt from most applicable regulations.

[00151 The present wind hydro-generator uses a pressure vessel containing compressed air and the water flow, not as a collecting reservoir for energy storage, rather to pressurize the compressed air and thereby the water, which stabilizes and steadies the flow of water expelled to the hydraulic motor/turbine within a range of flow and pressure not subject to the variances in wind, such as gusts, This is an important component of the wind hydro- generator because it enables dealing with gusts of wind, which in a conventional wind turbine system requires a more expensive, more sensitive and less robust gearbox-brake system to steady the rotation of the shaft actuated by the wind turbine which otherwise would be adversely affected by gusting of the wind. Accordingly, the use of a pressure vessel in the present wind hydro-generator could be defined as a "hydro-pneumatic amortizer" to deal with pulsations that would be otherwise created by the gusting of the wind. Preferably using the applicant's drag rotors, the present wind hydro-generator makes possible to be 100 % efficient, by transforming about 80% of the energy contained in the wind, with wind speed from 2-3 meters/sec up to 30 meters/sec, (0016] Therefore the present wind hydro-generator and its components can be sized to achieve 100% of the required power production, and therefore capacity utilization, over a wide range of wind speeds varying approximately from 8 m/s up to 22 m/s. The present wind hydro-generator and its components are designed to capture and store excess wind energy, Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017] The present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 illustrates a generalized schematic of a wind hydro-generator system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates a wind rotor - hydraulic generator, which combines the functions of a hydraulic pump with those of a hydraulic converter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 illustrates a pressure vessel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a wind hydro-generator in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

[0018] Referring to Fig. 1 there is illustrated a generalized schematic of a wind hydro- generator system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The wind hydro-generator 10 includes a wind rotor 12 coupled to a hydraulic generator 14 via a drive shaft 16. The hydraulic generator 14 is in fluid communication with a water tank 18 at its inlet and a pressure vessel 20 on its outlet. A conduit 22 connects the pressure vessel to a hydraulic motor/turbine 24. A second conduit 26 connects the hydraulic motor/turbine 24 to the water tank 18.

[0019] In operation, wind causes the wind rotor 12 to rotate, driving the hydraulic generator 14 via the drive shaft 16, which pumps water into the pressure vessel 20 thereby pressurizing the water therein. The pressurized water can then be used to drive the hydraulic motor/turbine 24 to do work on demand, for example generate electricity.

[0020] The wind rotor 12 transformer the kinetic wind power into rotational motion. This rotation of the rotor's shaft 16 corresponds to a torque, which actuates the hydraulic generator 14, directly mounted on the shaft 16 or on an output shaft of a gearbox, i.e. a speed increaser or multiplier, [0021] The wind rotor 12 can have either a horizontal or vertical shaft. As it is the creation of torque by the wind power that is important, any design and type of rotor can be used as long as it produces the requisite torque to turn a shaft actuating the hydraulic pump connected to or part of the shaft. (0022] The water tank 18 supplies the water necessary to the system. The water tank 18 can be an open or closed container but should protect the water from soil and grit. The water tank 18 can either be open to the atmosphere so that stored water remains at atmospheric pressure, or air tight so that the fluid can be pressurized.

[0023] In colder climates, compounds can be added to the fluid to reduce the freezing point of the mixture below the lowest temperature that the system is likely to be exposed (e.g. ethylene or propylene glycol added to water when water is used as the fluid). The dimensions and capacity of the water tank 18 are computed to satisfy the requirements resulting from the downstream application.

[0024] The present wind hydro-generator 10 is based on low pressure (2 - 16 bars / 30 - 250 psi) and high volume water flow (from 10 Liters per second (L/s) up to 1,500 L/s / 500 gal/s).

[0025] The purpose of the hydraulic generator 14 is to use the torque of the wind rotor 12 to exploit its rotary motion to create directly the requisite water flow. Because the hydraulic generator 14 mainly functions like a pump in the present wind hydro-generator 10, it may be replaced by some existing model of pumps. However, many industrial hydraulic pumps will not fit because they are made for hydraulic fluid like oil, and these pumps could burn out if they were pumping water. Furthermore, there are very few pumps that can pump water at sufficiently high variable volume flows but with low pressure and very low rotational speed, although the question of the pump capacity and rotary speed may be solved by using a tooth element, gear or cog for multiplying the rotational speed rendered by the wind rotor's shaft [0026] Gusts of wind are a major problem in the wind power industry. They make the rotor turn faster or slower, requiring either mechanisms to adjust to the variations in rotor speed, or a method of storing part of the excess/shortage energy as rotational energy until the gust is over. In the present wind hydro-generator 10, a pressure vessel 20 is used to regulate the flow volume and pressure so that the downstream application may be powered steadily at the nominal revolutions per minute (RPM) over longer periods of time, regardless of variances in wind speed,

[0027] Also, the pressure vessel 20 makes it possible for the present wind hydro-generator 10 to avoid the requirement for a mechanical device to transfer, transform or modify the working power through out the present wind hydro-generator 10, thereby avoiding mechanical loss and enabling an overall rendering ratio over 90% of the power collected by the wind rotor 12. As the pressure vessel 20 is filled with water by the hydraulic generator 14, the water pressurizes the air inside even more, and the water is pressurized to the same level of pressure as the air. [0028] The pressure vessel 20 is filled with compressed air at the time of installation to raise the basic working pressure, while the remainder of the pressure vessel is filled with water. For example, the pressure vessel 20 would be filled with water to approximately 1/5 of its capacity at time of installation,

[0029] Referring to Fig. 2 there is illustrated a wind rotor - hydraulic generator, which combines the functions of a hydraulic pump with those of a hydraulic converter, designed to convert the torque of the wind rotor into a pressurized water flow, A wind rotor 40 and a hydraulic generator 42 are coaxially arranged. The hydraulic generator 42 includes swiveling / sliding blades 44, in a separate cylinder fixed at the bottom of the shaft, to create vanes whose capacity may vary, As a result, such device may act like a variable displacement rotary vane or piston pump. A similar design can be used in the wind rotor. Hence, both the wind rotor 40 and the hydraulic generator 42 may have flexible vanes in an axis displaceable about a center to create eccentric configurations of the vanes (only a concentric configuration is shown in Fig.2), [0030] Referring to Fig. 3 there is illustrated a pressure vessel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, Possibly the working pressure inside the pressure vessel 20 may be regulated with valves 52 and additional compressed air stored separately in industrial gas bottles 54. [0031] The fluid is expelled under pressure from the pressure vessel 20 through a pipe 22 to power a hydraulic motoτ/turbine 24, as long as the water pressure/volume is above the working pressure/volume of the hydraulic motor/turbine 24,

[0032] The pressure vessel 20 and the water tank 18 are dimensioned to enable independency over a required period of time as determined by the downstream application. [0033] Referring to Figs 4a and 4b there is illustrated a wind hydro-generator in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention. Fig, 4a shows a plan view while Fig. 4b shows an front elevation. Both Figs. 4a and 4b show a wind rotor having double drag rotors 60, that are made of light-weight materials, which optimize the torque exploited by the present wind hydro-generator and operate within a much larger range of wind speeds than other rotors. The wind rotor includes sails 62 for catching the wind and deflectors 64 directing the wind to the outer sails. As discussed with regard to Fig. 2, the axes of rotors 60 are movable to create an eccentric configuration that varies the size of the sails 62 exposed to the wind. Fig. 4a shows the axes offset from center. This allows the wind rotor to accommodate a wider range of wind speeds and in particular to operate as lower wind speeds.

[0034] Similarly, the hydraulic generators 66 includes swiveling / sliding blades 68, which can be added in the central casing of a double drag wind rotor 60, which forms a cylinder, to create vanes whose capacity may vary. As a result, such device may act like a variable displacement rotary vane or piston pump. The advantage being that the pumping capacity can be adjusted in dependence upon the rotational speeds. Alternative & Complementary Equipment

[0035] With a Pressure Vessel using a pneumatic spring, the medium for storing the energy is the compressed air (CA,), because water is not compressible. Pressure Vessels are strictly regulated. [0036] With larger installations, building larger Pressure Vessels may become an obstacle due to size requirements and cost, even when using in-ground water tanks. For these larger installations, it may be less expensive to include a Hydro-Air Compressor ('HAC) between the Hydraulic Generator 14 and the Pressure Vessel 20, thereby decreasing the size requirement of the Pressure Vessel 20, or even replacing the Pressure Vessel 20 with the HAC and storing compressed air in a bank of industrial gas bottles.

[0037] A Hydraulic Motor or Turbine 24 is connected to the Pressure Vessel 20 via pipe or transmission line in order to be actuated by the pressurized water expelled from the Pressure Vessel 20. The present wind hydro-generator 10 requires a Hydraulic Motor or Turbine 24 that can process a low pressure, high volume water flow, preferably designed as variable displacement type. Therefore the water flow and pressure requirements as required by the Motor are reflected in the present wind hydro-generator 10 as major factors in the design and dimensions of the Water Tank 18, Hydraulic Generator 14 and Pressure Vessel 20. A specially designed Turbine was developed, including a Hydraulic Centrifugal Converter, and is described in a separate patent application. (0038] The invention represents a wind hydro-generator 10, based on the exploitation of a Wind Collector (herein referred to as the "Drag Rotor"), preferably designed to work with the air resistance (called the "Drag") which is engendered by the foil surface of its body rather than to use the "lift effect" commonly exploited by propellers with conventional wind mill/turbines. [0039] An embodiment of the present wind hydro-generator could be described as: the rotation of one or more Wind Rotors (preferably of Drag Type) which transmit a torque, which turns a shaft, which actuates a Hydraulic Generator (or pump, or motor or turbine acting like a pump), and converts the wind velocity into a water flow which passes through a Pressure Vessel to amortize the variances of the water flow volume / pressure, and to enable a steady powering of a downstream Hydraulic-Pneumatic Device, over long periods of lime.

[0040J The present wind hydro-generator proposes to improve performance by exploiting torque rather than velocity, while based on drag forces rather than lift effects, and to make it operate at much larger range of wind speeds than other wind collectors' systems.

[0041] Therefore the present wind hydro-generator enables enhancements in: o The transformation of the kinetic force of the wind into rotational motion, i.e. by using "drag" type rotors instead of "lift" type rotors, which results in greater collection of energy, at every wind speed, compared to conventional wind collector designs, o A direct conversion of the wind push into a water flow which enables exploitation of the collected energy as kinetic force of water in a hydropneumatic circuit

Stabilization of this kinetic force is performed by a "Pressure Vessel", using compressed air to amortize the variances of the gusts of the wind, thus stabilizing and steadying the power which may be used by any downstream application, o Installing all of the equipment for collecting, transforming and exploiting wind power on the ground rather than on the top of the wind tower, which enables the wind collector to be lighter and cost significantly less, This also may reduce the time ftom manufacture to installation (e.g. 90 to 180 days compared to more than up to 2 years for conventional wind power) o Longer periods of production, thereby making the present wind hydro- generator more independent of wind speed conditions and responding better to consumer needs. The system may be dimensioned to suit the site precisely to the consumer requirements, enabling 100% capacity utilization with wind speeds from about 8 meters/second up to over 22 meters/second, therefore, facilitating the sizing of the facility to fit the average wind speed where the present wind hydro-generator is installed o Being less sensitive to potential turbulences due to surrounding terrain and wind shear, the present wind hydro-generator enables lower and more discreet installations, less noisy, more user friendly, but also more accurate to meet with environmental regulations. Reducing by 1.5 to 5 times the costs for building, installation and maintenance of a wind powered electrical facility, represents the core of the present wind hydro-generator concerns. All of the equipment for converting wind power into electricity is installed on the ground rather than on the top of the tower. This enables*. simplifying the frame of the structure, thereby enabling use of standard less expensive materials and reducing the overall weight, which can significantly reduce the costs of building and installing the facility. using standard devices out of the industry. the tower, which can comprise one third of the cost of a conventional wind turbine, need not hold the weight of heavy equipment at the top, which in conventional wind turbines can exceed 50 tons. So the tower can be lighter and thereby cost a lot less to manufacture and install. the system to be less expensive and easier to build, to fix and to maintain. the manufacture, installation and operation requires less skilled labor than conventional wind turbines, - reducing the maintenance costs, including refurbishment and major overhauls, because of the ease of accessing the equipment and lack of sensitive equipment, which otherwise comprises a conventional wind turbine process. not requiring any special infrastructure, including foundations, road constructions, telephone and cabling, at the site or prior to transportation to the site as required by conventional wind turbines, assembling can be made without heavy equipment and cranes which is very expensive making wind power installations easier to build and install almost everywhere. AU of this means that the costs for building, assembling and maintaining the installations may be significantly less than compared to conventional wind turbines.

[0042] By using a "drag type rotor" as wind collector: o the power collected from the wind per square meter of the rotor is greater than that collected per square meter of a conventional wind rotor, o therefore the foil surface area of the drag rotor may be less than the rotor of a conventional wind turbine to collect the same amount of wind energy, o the overall height of the drag rotor can be less and thereby easier to protect against storms, o the rotors can be lighter thereby enabling turning, initiating turning and creating the requisite torque at lesser wind speeds than conventional wind rotors, o this also means that there are no particular needs for the rotors to be made out of expensive special materials, like matrix of GRP (Glass fiber reinforced polyester) as used for conventional wind propellers, so manufacturing costs can be significantly lower, o the rendering ratio for wind power collection is over 80% compared to less than 50% with propellers of conventional wind turbine rotors, o the rotors can be sized so that the present wind hydro-generator can achieve 100% power production, and therefore capacity utilization, at lower wind speeds for example at approximately 8 m/s, whereas conventional wind turbine technology is sized to achieve 100% power production, and therefore capacity utilization, at wind speeds of 12.5 m/s, o the collector is less sensitive to potential turbulences due to surrounding terrain and wind shear (e.g. agricultural land with some houses and sheltering hedgerows with some 100 m intervals means that heights of only 10 meters above the ground are sufficient for a drag type collector, whereas heights of greater than 80 meters generally are required for conventional wind turbines, with intervals over 500 m), o the drag rotors produce less noise than conventional wind turbines and rotors, o drag rotors meet environmental regulations more easily than conventional wind turbines and rotors,

10043] By using a Pressure Vessel 20: o the use of pressurized water flow with the different levels of present wind hydro-generator to generate electricity may reduce mechanical losses and solve inertia concerns, o there is no need for special sophisticated engineering to address problems with inertia, or to stabilize the generator's rotary speed with gear boxes or brakes, o gusts of wind, which can make the rotor turn faster or slower, may be balanced by varying automatically the working pressure and flow volume over periods of time possibly ranging over 15 minutes, o working as a closed circuit, it is always the same fluids which are exploited throughout the present wind hydro-generator with less thermodynamic effects and other heat losses incurred by mechanical devices. [0044] By using a Hydro-Air Compressor: o peak energy collection which exceeds the current rate of consumption is stored for later use. o the production of electricity may fit better with the peaks of consumption by using stored compressed air to complete partial energy collected at the time of consumption ^, o it may provide an inexpensive way to store energy with zero impact on the environmental carbon print. o it may enable use of green energy alone over longer periods (from 1 hour to 1-2 days, depending on the storage capacity dimensions). [0045] The present invention has been described with regard to one or more embodiments. However, it will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. All citations are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0046] While the intention is first to use the present wind hydro-generator to run a generator to produce electricity, it is designed more generally as a hydraulic generator producing a water flow, which may be used in any industrial application where the kinetic force of a liquid flow can actuate circuits designed for the generation, control and transmission of power by the use of pressurized liquids.

Therefore, the present wind hydro-generator also enables running a compressor to create compressed air stored in tanks for times of peak demand to actuate a pneumatic motor (e.g. to run a generator to produce electricity),

[0047] Accordingly, the present wind hydro-generator can use either hydraulic or pneumatic engines to run any other downstream application, including but not limited to:

o reverse osmosis

o sewage o draining or pumping

o energy storage using elevated containers

o power hydraulic tools and/or industrial facilities.

[0048] Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.

[00491 Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the particular embodiments described above without departing from the scope patent disclosure, which is defined in the claims.