Visit our Popular Forums

speakeasy · 26-09-2009, 20:41

A boat in the water is always moving. Up, down, over and back. A kinetic generator could be kept dry, maybe placed where the motion is greatest like high up the mast, and would be putting out watts even at anchor. It could replace a genset for electric propulsion. At least theoretically it seems to me. Does anyone know if such a generator exists? Like a self-winding watch or a gyro generator.

Chief Engineer · 26-09-2009, 22:29

The Secrets are being kept underground at Groom Lake or HAWC....they are the Tesla Files that mysteriously disappeared after his death.....think the closing scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

**David M** · 26-09-2009, 22:54

This is supposed to generate electricity?

**GordMay** · 27-09-2009, 02:59

See Dr. Beeby’s micro electromagnetic generator for vibration energy harvesting
➥ http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/14798...ogenerator.pdf

A slightly larger (80 Tonne) generator suffered a set-back as it was being deployed
➥ Trident Energy: Power from the Seas

speakeasy · 27-09-2009, 04:04

Quote:

The Secrets are being kept underground at Groom Lake or HAWC....they are the Tesla Files that mysteriously disappeared after his death.....think the closing scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

Intriguing! Can you elaborate, or are you being watched at the moment?

Quote:

This is supposed to generate electricity?

Yes. I was half watching a green channel show tonite called Planet Mechanics wherein these two guys build a surf power contraption to power the trailer of our two cool Irish surf dudes. Simple really, a 2' diameter plastic drain pipe bolted to the rock sea wall with a cone reduction at the top and propeller/generator catching the wind produced by the wave action.
National Geographic Channel - Green issue

I got to thinking there must be a simple way of harnessing all the motion of a boat in the water to generate electricity without dragging a prop thru wind or water. A self-contained unit that would convert motion into volts without producing drag. I would dearly love to have electric propulsion, hot showers and a freezer on a 38 foot boat, ya know? I was hoping there was a production model of some sort or a prototype easily copied that would supplement a decent solar array and provide the juice required without buring anything.

Quote:

See Dr. Beeby’s micro electromagnetic generator for vibration energy harvesting
➥ http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/14798...ogenerator.pdf

A slightly larger (80 Tonne) generator suffered a set-back as it was being deployed
➥ Trident Energy: Power from the Seas

I would like to buy your hard drive and frontal lobe when you are finished with them.

I'm a bit light on math and engineering vocabulary for the research paper. Is there a good "speak electric" book for dummies?

witzgall · 27-09-2009, 06:13

Without producing drag? Is that possible? Maybe something could be fashioned for use at anchor, but I would think any energy harnessing device would slow a boat down under sail.

Chris

**GordMay** · 27-09-2009, 06:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakeasy

...Is there a good "speak electric" book for dummies?

Electropedia (also known as the "IEV Online") is the world's most comprehensive online electrical and electronic terminology database containing more than 20 000 terms

Goto ➥ IEC 60050 - International Electrotechnical Vocabulary - Welcome

Hurricane Harry · 27-09-2009, 06:42

If there was such a gadget we all probably would have one.
Actually they are testing wave generators here. The university does./ Harry

Starbuck · 27-09-2009, 08:18

Quote:

A boat in the water is always moving. Up, down, over and back.

That's pitch, roll, and yaw.

I love these "there must be a gadet that will give me exactly what I want with no downside at all" posts. Link this to the "Can I make a cheap watermaker out of a garden hose and some used pantyhose?" threads.

Gotta love an optimist.

Cheechako · 27-09-2009, 09:45

"Yea, I would never buy one of the fancy steam engines.... oars are just more reliable..." with all the boat motion, it does seem possible. I'm envisioning a peripheral weighted flywheel, the key is how to make the wheel turn the same direction (like ccw) with every boat motion.

speakeasy · 27-09-2009, 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheechako

"Yea, I would never buy one of the fancy steam engines.... oars are just more reliable..." with all the boat motion, it does seem possible. I'm envisioning a peripheral weighted flywheel, the key is how to make the wheel turn the same direction (like ccw) with every boat motion.

The two guys on Planet Mechanics ran into the same question after they built their conical venturi-like top on the wave tube. Their handheld anemometer clocked 30 mph wind in and out of the top as the waves pushed then sucked the air in the tube. Their little fabricated pinwheel prop had to reverse direction on each cycle. So, they bought a pinwheel prop from a N. Irish company that invented it, that turned only one direction whichever way the wind passed. Looking end-on the blades, they were symetrical airfoils, forcing the bulk of the wind energy off the tail end of the airfoil. For a flywheel, I don't know how that would work.

I had in mind something more along the lines of a gyro generator that would translate the continous boat motion on any axis into electricity. Gyro wave activated power generator and a wave suppressor using the power generator - US Patent 7003947 Claims There are a number of sites using that term, especially re wave action, but I couldn't find a reference to a functional device. How big, I wonder, would a gyroscope generator in a box have to be to get say 250 watts?

**James S** · 28-09-2009, 00:26

Seems worth looking into....Just because it does not exist now means nothing...advances in technology make thinks possible today that were not possible yesterday.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

That's pitch, roll, and yaw.

I love these "there must be a gadet that will give me exactly what I want with no downside at all" posts. Link this to the "Can I make a cheap watermaker out of a garden hose and some used pantyhose?" threads.

Gotta love an optimist.

Imagine if we had a biminy top that could give us shade AND make electricity.....oh...thats right....we have it...solar panels!

denverd0n · 28-09-2009, 14:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakeasy

It could replace a genset for electric propulsion.

Could a small, kinetic generator at the masthead generate electricity? Of course it could! Enough to run an electric propulsion unit? Not a chance!

Electric propulsion requires HUGE amounts of power. Even a sailboat with lots of solar panels and a couple of wind generators could not produce enough electricity on its own to run an electric propulsion unit. At least, not unless you intend to use your electric propulsion once a month, for no more than 5 minutes at a time, or thereabouts.

Any kinetic generator small enough to fit at the masthead, and not create serious problems from excessive weight aloft, is only going to produce a couple of amp-hours per day at best.

It's not a bad idea, and would certainly be a cheap and easy way to generate a little bit of electricity. Might even produce enough to counteract the natural battery draining that occurs. But it's just not going to produce enough power to run any serious appliances.

seandepagnier · 28-09-2009, 21:18

How about a heavy flywheel in the boat geared down to feed into a brushless generator. So turning the flywheel 5 degrees spins the small generator 10-20 times or more. Then rectify the alternator and feed it to the battery.

denverd0n · 29-09-2009, 08:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckosenator

How about a heavy flywheel in the boat geared down to feed into a brushless generator. So turning the flywheel 5 degrees spins the small generator 10-20 times or more. Then rectify the alternator and feed it to the battery.

Okay, but what's going to turn the flywheel? The energy has to come from somewhere.