Patent ID: 7645115
Filing Date: 2010-01-12
Classification: F03B,F05B,Y02E,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A system for providing hydropower from a body of water, comprising: a penstock for delivering a flow of water from the body of water; an engine case having an inlet in fluid communication with the penstock for receiving the flow of water, the engine case having a single outlet opposite the penstock for delivering the flow of water such that the flow of water between the inlet and the single outlet is confined within the engine case; a draft tube in fluid communication with the outlet of the engine case for receiving the entire flow of water from the engine case; a linear fluid impulse engine located in the engine case and extending in a substantially parallel plane relative to the engine case, the linear fluid impulse engine comprising: a pair of shafts having parallel axes spaced apart from each other along an inter-axle plane that extends through both axes; a plurality of continuous conveyors coupled to the shafts and defining upstream and downstream sides that are immediately adjacent the inter-axle plane; a plurality of moving curved blades having lateral ends that are mounted to the continuous conveyors, the moving curved blades being evenly spaced apart from each other about a circumference of the continuous conveyors, and wherein the moving curved blades move in substantially linear paths along the upstream and downstream sides of the inter-axle plane; and a stationary cascade of mid-plane guidevanes located along the inter-axle plane immediately adjacent to and between the moving curved blades on the upstream and downstream sides of the continuous conveyors.