Conversion of lowland river flow kinetic energy

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the analysis of possibilities and feasibilities of the extraction of kinetic energy from lowland rivers, which are slow and shallow and their water may contain organic fibres of water vegetation and solid particles of soil. In these rivers the existing hydrokinetic energy converters are not optimised for use because at small flow velocity the efficiency of such converters is very low. The depth of a shallow river flow may be not deep enough to install the converters. The latter are sensitive to jamming by water plant fibres. To overcome the difficulties in developing river flow kinetic energy the structures, the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used converters have been analysed A conveyor type converter has been found to be the most suitable for use in shallow rivers. Results of our field and laboratory studies of hydrokinetic energy converters have confirmed the anticipated difficulties when applying the commonly used converters in lowland rivers. The validity of our proposed method has allowed to reduce the number of mobile elements and friction couples in our novel converter and to increase its reliability. A particular approach to the principle of kinetic energy extraction from a river flow has been developed and a novel converter has been invented. To increase the efficiency of the river flow kinetic energy conversion a new conveyor technology has been proposed. This converter allows the extraction of kinetic energy from the river flow almost without affecting the river and the surrounding environment.