VADYNE MODULES
THE CLOSER LOOK
Fundamental entities, quantities, and statistics...
The Anchor... weighs so much, costs so much, has a certain strength, has a longevity, requires monitoring, is easily replaceable. The aspects, specifics and details go on. We need to know what can it hold and what are the basic holding factors. Is it solid, shock-proof, pliable, etc.? We have;- this anchor has been defined in this situation and here are its specifications. Rigorous testing, before an installation is put on line, is vital. Many scenarios have to be envisioned and as much data as possible must be collected about the local conditions. Strong gusting storms, or a highly variable flow rate where the bed of the flow is seasonally scoured are typical conditions. Extreme dynamics have to be searched out and evaluated well beforehand.
There are many different kinds of anchor and anchoring system available. Ship type anchors are made of a growing range of materials and structures;- wood, wrought iron, cast iron, carbon fire, composite layer and many others. The basic form is a grappling hook with 2 or more hooks, called flukes, which are like barbed tines. Some anchors are solid while others can be hinged.
Anchors vary from being easily hand-held, about half a metre long, up to something that needs serious machinery to move it at 36 tons and 6 metres long. These anchors are designed to drag along the sea, lake or river floor and be pulled up vertically when hauled from above. An anchor made of a heavy rock, or drum or caisson filled with cement and then lashed to, by a chain or rope, can also work. These kinds of anchor, even though heavy, are still classed as mobile anchors. Where instead bedrock or a permanent structure such as pier, jetty, wharf, wall, building or bridge is available, then tying or binding to a surface can represent a practical solution.
The attachment between the anchor and the rest of the system has its own specifics. A heavy anchor may require a heavy linked chain, some can weigh 2 tons per link, a smaller, but still large, anchor may be suited to a steel hauser or cable of some material that can be best sourced locally. A light anchor may be secured by a significantly lighter rope.
Couplings require consideration as the strength of any anchoring system is only as strong as its weakest link. If an installation is to work in what is already known to be a strenuous environment, then the fine detail specifications of links and other couplings must be known and well chosen.
The type and number of anchors and linkage used is an important economic factor. Supply and maintenance costs can be significant.
The Conversion Unit...
The Conversion Unit is the most exciting part of the system.
It can take many different forms and materials and satisfy many different environments.
Design often has surprising naturally successful precedents. Here is a Nebraskan model of a marine fossil called a bryozoan displaying an Archimedes screw coupled with a fenestrated structure whose purposes still remain to be discovered. It is suggestive of a form that could be extruded or 3D printed and therefore made locally, of recyclable materials and at low cost if thought useful in a system. The structural physics of the fossil are therefore worth examining for future technology.
Design and manufacture of conversion units is one of the most important, dynamic and challenging topics for the imagination, ingenuity and practicality, needed to make things work that humankind has.
This module weighs so much, costs so much, is deliverable in so many days, will last so long, has certain maintenance needs, etc..
We need to know in “this” flow regime ;- what can it withstand and what does it deliver ?
There are ranges of inputs and output that may differ wildly, so statistics are collected and used to turn dreams into reality.
Blades, vanes and Archimedes screws are prominent in conversion units. They have biological analogues whose usefulnesses have already been exhaustively tried, tested, validated and refined through evolution. While their ancient uses may have been different, they hint at being a common and successful theme in a similar environment. Nature helps the engineer, Nature inspires the designer.
The fossils above are Bryozoans, this genus is aptly named Archimedes, and 340 million years ago. They lasted on the order of 100 million years, compared to the 6 million years estimated for humankind, and so are evidence of a successful design for their environment and useful inspiration.
There are many other design themes that a conversion unit may have. Fundamentally, design of conversion modules is in the realms of research, creativity and sustainable development.
The Generator...
The Generator...the capacities and transfers this module can manage provide another interface between the previous and the next part of the installation.
Size is everything here and if a generator is better placed close to the conversion unit because, for example, the linkage is better kept short, or, a closely coupled conversion unit and generator can be more safely housed together against the outside environment, then we see that there is a balance involved of location of the generator that offsets against the requirement of cabling to transmit the power derived. A generator may be too heavy or large to place close to a conversion unit, or several conversion units may be simultaneously linked to a single generator. Again there are a multitude of reasons and conditions that make the siting of a generator its own autonomous primary consideration.
If direct mechanical energy is being transmitted by the generator, for example to a liquid or gas pumping system, then the generator can be seen to fulfil as aggregator, regulatory and amplification functions all in the one unit.
If electricity is being generated, the amount of cabling may be economised by bringing the generator closer to the feed.
The Feed...
The Feed...with so much energy coming along in a specific form and with individual flow rates, this module has to have capability and transfer factors well previsioned.
The times when peak power can be produced and the times of peak demand may require a storage facility such as a bank or battery of accumulator cells. Peak production and peak demand require monitoring in some larger use situations. It is economical to try and match these both as closely as can been made practical. Back-up facilities should be planned in situations where the environment of production or also that of demand are highly variable. Dynamic storage networks can now be created by pooling electric cars, EDSN's, and this exciting method has huge potential in other settings. It is directly linkable even to modestly sized installations.
In a marine or water based environment, there is also the vast possibility to locally store and shunt accumulated stored energy. Large weights or masses are more efficiently moved in intertidal settings. The potential exists to create and physically deliver major power banks.
Another ocean of opportunity for marine generated power is in uses that require or demand little direct human intervention or management.
Offshore farming in particular is an area of huge potential that has not truly yet begun and is very suited to the Vadyne system.
The range of amounts of energy and power that humans demand is large and varied. Vadyne aims to mitigate planetary costs by enabling and providing improved and new solutions to those demands.
GLOSSARY
Glossary aka Local Jargon aka Terms of Reference
Anchor : System to hold and stabilise the location of other modules.
Harness : System to collect and modify energy flow.
Conversion Unit : Physical form of the Harness.
Energy : how much work is done, or can be done. Energy is measured in units called Joules, which are units of 1x( 1kg x 1metre x 1metre) / (1sec x 1sec)), distance times acceleration of mass. Acceleration of mass is also called Force, and measured in units called Newtons, N, 1N =1x( (1kg x 1m/ 1sec) x 1/sec). Energy can be thought of in positive and negative amounts, and exampled in many forms.
Generator : Also a conversion unit itself but secondary to the main conversion unit.
Feed : System to use and store energy.
Flow Matrix : The physical factors of the energy environment and the modules interacting with it.
Installation : Both the physical assembly of modules and the reference specifics of the system, two different qualities.
Power : Power has several meanings, so care should be taken and the context of its use remembered;- a) In Physics it is the rate at which energy is transferred. Power can be embodied many ways, such as how much;- heat or radiation is transferred, or a mass is moved, or work done, in a certain time interval. The unit of measurement of power is the Watt, W, and this is Joules per second, J/s, which is energy per second. Power in physics can be used to mean, Average Power, Instantaneous Power or Constant Power. b) In a unit, or installation, or as a quality, Power is used to mean the potential of that item in relation to things that can be done. Examples;- "That is a powerful machine, it's full of power", "the power of love is great", "the power of this system is manifold". c) Power in an installation can be added to or subtracted, multiplied or divided, in short, transformed, as in "The power here is going there, and there, at this and that rate".
System : The method as specified and its subsystems.