Power Net - Power from the Ocean

POWER NET, AN OCEAN WAVE-ENERGY HARVESTING INVENTION INVENTED BY MR. SECIL BOYD

Little more need be said about the costs of oil (economic and political), and the effects of greenhouse gases on the planetary ecology. Factors such as these emphasize the importance of alternative, ecologically-friendly technologies, such as the harnessing of wave energy to generate electricity.

Energy Innovations has therefore undertaken to represent Mr. Secil Boyd in efforts to engineer, prototype, and promote his wave-energy conversion invention, described in U.S. Patent #6,647,716 and summarized below:

Disclosed herein is a compound device (a "modular power-producing network", or "power net") for the purpose of transducing the energy in ocean waves into electrical energy. The invention first pressurizes ocean water (or a suitable alternative hydraulic fluid) into at least one storage chamber with a compressible air pocket, employing at least one float (responding to oscillatory wave motion) linked to at least one hydraulic ram (or alternative pressurizing device), the system being designed so that a multiplicity of these inventions [organized as an array] may function concurrently in proximity to each other. The fluid in the chamber, when brought to a minimum threshold pressure by the float/ram mechanism, is released in a pressure-regulated stream that engages a hydraulically-operated turbine, which, because of the regulation, may directly produce properly governed alternating current suitable for release on standard power grids. Modified versions or configurations of the invention may also generate hydraulic pressure at a level suitable for purifying a portion of the ocean water in a storage chamber by reverse osmosis or other suitable means.

The particular advantages of this invention are multiple:

• It is modular, with each individual unit capable of independent action--the size of an array of these devices can be expanded or contracted, and maintenance can be performed without taking an entire array out of service.


• It can power a standard rotational generator, generating grid-ready 60-cycle power.


• An array of the modules can be cabled together, anchored, and deployed nearly anywhere.


• It is not necessarily a permanent installation and is low-impact in its appearance and ecological effect.


• It is tunable to different wave conditions and will produce output in a wide variety of wave conditions.

To download a pdf version of the full patent report, please click on the following link: PowerNet Patent PDF.

To download a video-demostration of a PowerNet pump. please click the link below": download.

To receive further details, please contact us at powernet@energyinnovations.us.