This new technology is pretty exciting.  It has very little negative impacts on environment, and we don't have to put up with looking at its ugliness like wind power.  Since most of our cities are on the water, perhaps this may be a very important player in energy technology of the future.  Best of all, it's cheap!  And could be ready for production in just a few years.

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20090113/NEWS05/901130324?imw=Y

"As the water flow hits the cylinders, it creates vortices that cause the cylinders to move up and down. That energy drives generators to make electricity, which goes through cables to the electrical grid on land. "

 

I am trying to visualize this.  I see a complex array of gear boxes.  Does anybody know how this works?

"As the water flow hits the cylinders, it creates vortices that cause the cylinders to move up and down. That energy drives generators to make electricity, which goes through cables to the electrical grid on land. "

 

I am trying to visualize this.  I see a complex array of gear boxes.  Does anybody know how this works?

One simple way to produce electric power from oscillating or reciprocating motion is to move a magnet (armature) back and forth through a field coil, inducing a voltage. That would produce low-frequency AC, which fairly simply could be rectified to DC and then inverted to whatever AC frequency you want.

 

The DC coming out of the rectifier would be pulsating; the voltage would rise and fall. That could be stabilized with capacitors before inverting, or the whole job of stabilizing and inverting could be done with a rotary mechanical device like a motor-generator set.

Concept is interesting...

 

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20090113/MULTI/90113001/1007

Concept is interesting...

 

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20090113/MULTI/90113001/1007

 

I bet the university will own the patent on it and will make a killing.

Thanks Rob and Jar3232.  The generator looks like one of those "shaken flashlights" with a magnet slug inside of an "armature" winding.  I wonder if they seal where the cylinder connects to the magnet or if they just leave the whole magnet & winding apparatus underwater.