Abstract:
A wind energy installation having a tower, a gondola supported by the tower, a rotor mounted in the gondola, and at least one pressure pump that is mechanically driven by said rotor and that feeds a raw water-treating reverse osmosis plant, the components of said reverse osmosis plant being arranged within the tower.

Description:
PRIOR APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This application bases priority on International Application No. PCT/DE02/00278, filed Jan. 28, 2002, which in turn bases priority on German Application No. DE 101 05 181.6, filed Feb. 6, 2001.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates to a wind power plant having a tower, a gondola carried by the latter, a rotor mounted in the gondola and at least one pressure pump, feeding a reverse osmosis plant, and mechanically driven by the rotor.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0005]    Wind power plants used for generating electric power are known in numerous different constructions. In addition, sea water desalination plants are known which desalinate sea or brackish water, usually employing fossil energy sources. Also in the case of electrically operated plants working according to the reverse osmosis process, use is normally made of electric power generated using fossil fuels.  
           [0006]    To permit the use of renewable energy sources, it has already been proposed to generate the electric power necessary for operating the pumps and other electrical units of a reverse osmosis plant by means of a wind power plant, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,173, DE 200 13 613 U1, DE 197 14 512 C2, DE 198 50 565 A1, and DE 43 21 050 A1. It is clear that such an interconnection of conventional plants has a limited efficiency.  
           [0007]    DE 38 08 536 A1 discloses a wind power plant in which the rotor acts by means of a miter gear on a set of pumps, which act on a pressure container located in the tower. This pressure container in turn supplies a reverse osmosis plant located outside the wind power plant.  
           [0008]    The known plants have a complicated and costly construction. Therefore, the problem of the invention is to provide a wind power plant, which in the case of a simple construction, can desalinate with high efficiency sea or brackish water for the production of drinking water. This problem is solved by the novel invention disclosed herein.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The essence of the invention is to use most of the available kinematic energy of a wind power plant directly for driving pump units, which produce the necessary pressure and volume flow of the sea or brackish water for a reverse osmosis plant. All of the functional elements such as untreated water reservoir, filter unit, pump units, reserve osmosis units and drinking water storage tank, are integrated into the wind power plant. With such a construction, it is ensured that electric power generated by a generator is not converted back into mechanical energy. This type pf conversion chain means double efficiency losses and high costs for the necessary components and unit.  
           [0010]    The energy of rotation of the wind power plant rotor is directly or indirectly via a gear transmitted to one or more pump units in the wind power plant gondola. These direct mechanically driven pumps are supplied from the base of the tower with the sea or brackish water to be desalinated and produce a speed-dependent volume flow. By means of a valve system, said sea or brackish water is supplied to the reverse osmosis unit.  
           [0011]    As a function of the valve control and the number of reverse osmosis units, a pressure is built up in the system. The pressure and volume flow are controlled by means of a regulating device and adapted to the given operating conditions. A temporary storage battery ensures the brief compensation of load fluctuations in the system. By means of the regulating device, it is also possible to connect or disconnect via valves, optionally, several pump units and reverse osmosis units in order to use the given available rotor power.  
           [0012]    The filter unit and reverse osmosis unit are preferably housed in the upper part of the tower and are supplied from above with pressure medium from the gondola. The filter and reverse osmosis units are preferably fixed in rotary manner to the gondola in a rotating frame, so that the pressure waterline can be firmly connected to the pump unit. Located there below is the drinking water tank which is firmly fitted in the tower; into it flows the drinking water from the reverse osmosis plant. Through the height of the head of water, a pressure is simultaneously produced in the drinking water removal pipe which permits a bridging of longer distances.  
           [0013]    For the passage of the sea or brackish water supply pipe and for personnel access purposes, the drinking water tank is centrally provided with a duct. In the foundation part of the wind power plant is located a sea or brackish water reservoir with a pre-filter, a chlorination plant and a feed pump.  
           [0014]    It is particularly advantageous if the wind power plant is constructed offshore and is installed directly in the sea or brackish water. The untreated water reservoir with the necessary components can be incorporated directly into the foundation part below the water level, and can be supplied directly with virtually unlimited sea or brackish water quantities. The continuously produced filter sludge and other waste concentrates can be returned directly to the sea or brackish water.  
           [0015]    The entire functional unit is directly integrated into the offshore wind power plant. There is merely a need for a water pipeline on land to the customer. The necessary electrical auxiliary energy for secondary units is generated by a small generator.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    Further advantages and features of the invention can be gathered from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the attached drawing, wherein:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 shows a wind energy installation having a seawater or brackish water desalination wind power plant of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]    The energy transformation of the wind power plant from translatory air movement to energy of rotation takes place by means of the rotor blades  10  which are pivotally mounted on the rotor hub  12 , and whose setting angle can be modified by means of the blade adjustment  14 . By means of the gear  16  which is driven on the rotor side by the hub  12 , the speed of the driven shafts is raised to 1500 to 3000 min −1 . At the rapidly rotating driven shafts are driven, an auxiliary generator  18  and one or more pressure pumps  20 . The electric power generated by the auxiliary generator  18  is temporarily stored by a battery supplying the regulating device.  
         [0019]    These components are located in the gondola  22  of the wind power plant continuously oriented in accordance with the variable wind direction by means of the wind direction tracking system  24 . By means of a rotary passage  26 , the sea or brackish water  44  is fed into the storage tank  27  and supplied by means of valve  31  to the pressure pump  20  in the rotary gondola  22 . The pressure pump  20  places under pressure the sea or brackish water supplied.  
         [0020]    The pressure reservoir or tank  28  compensates load peaks, and therefore smooths the pressure distribution per time unit. By means of the regulating device  32  using the regulating valve  30 , the volume flow of the pressurized sea or brackish water and via the blade adjustment  14 , the output of the rotor are regulated so that they are matched to one another.  
         [0021]    Below the gondola  22 , the filter units  36  and reverse osmosis unit  38  are located in a jointly rotating frame  34 . As a result of the suspension rotating with the gondola  22 , the pressure pipes can be firmly connected between the pressure pumps  20  and the filter unit  36 , as well as the reverse osmosis unit  38 . The drinking water tank  40 , which serves as a reservoir, is located below the reverse osmosis unit  38 . As a result of the overall height of the tank above the ground, the static pressure can feed the water via the drinking water pipe  42  over long distances.  
         [0022]    In the proposed solution, the wind power plant is installed directly at the sea or brackish water  44  so that the plant is surrounded on all sides by sea or brackish water  44 . By means of an untreated water filter  46 , the water passes into an untreated water reservoir  48  located below the water surface. By means of an electrolytic chlorination system  50 , the water is chemically pre-treated. An electrically operated lifting pump  52  feeds the sea or brackish water  44  via the untreated water lifting pipe  54 , the rotary passage  26 , and the storage tank  27  to the pressure pump  20  in the gondola  22 . Parallel to the untreated water lifting pipe  54  is located the waste water pipe  56  which returns the salt water concentrate and filter sludge from the filter unit  36  to the sea or brackish water  44 . These pipes are arranged centrally to the outer pipe and are located in the climb-through pipe  58  within the drinking water tank  40 . Said pipe  58  is also used for the ascent of personnel for maintenance or repair purposes, the lower tower part being reached through the entrance door  60 .  
         [0023]    The entire plant is connected by means of the foundation part  62  to the sea bed. The tower  66  is connected to the foundation part  62  by the bottom flange  64 . The tower  66  comprises the lower tower segment with the drinking water tank  40 , and the upper tower segment with the filter unit  36  and reverse osmosis unit  38 . Both tower parts are interconnected by means of the connecting flange  68 . For maintenance purposes on the filter unit  36  and reverse osmosis unit  38 , the rotating frame  34  contains two maintenance platforms  70 , in each case below the subassemblies.  
         [0024]    Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in the same manner in the same way for achieving the same result.