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Replace the dams with many barges.
Use a barge made of giant plastic bags (from the
freshwater industry) filled with air, and on top of them
giant plastic bags that will be filled with water.
When energy is available at low prices, pull water (sea
water, river water or lake water) up into
the water
compartment on the barge. When needed, release the
water and get electricity from it.
Correct, your not bringing the water high up. But with
modern technology, computers and electronics, you can
restore most of the energy in a useful way, from a vast but
low difference of height.
See this
http://en.wikipedia...ge_hydroelectricity
for what I DONT mean [pashute, Jun 17 2013]
Simpler than this
http://www.hydrostor.ca/technology/
[pashute, Jun 17 2013]
The math for pumping up and retrieving energy from water storage
http://physics.ucsd...ump-up-the-storage/
[pashute, Jun 17 2013]
Wave dragon - floating reservoir for energy storage filled by wave power
http://www.wavedrag...=view&id=7&Itemid=7
[pashute, Jun 17 2013]
If you were wondering what slack mooring is
http://www.iwwwfb.o...b26/iwwwfb26_50.pdf
[pashute, Jun 17 2013]
[link]
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I thought for sure this would be django, because of the bags of water. |
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What is the advantage here of doing this with bags of water and bags of air? Why not pump the water into a reservoir when energy is cheap? |
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There must be some reason this is not done. For example, nukes - my understanding is that when the energy is not needed the rods are quenched to decrease the heat. This is not like saving gas - the rods continue to decay at the same rate but the decay is not converted to heat. |
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My understanding is that surplus nuclear power during nonpeak time is used in some places to desalinate water. I wonder why not use a pump and recapture energy from thefalling water. I suspect it is because that whole rigamarole is too much fuss for limited payback. Which means the bags-within-bags is probably way too much fuss. |
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As usual, the critics ([Pashute]'s third link)
overstate the problem by going with an all or
nothing solution. If you include some fossil fuel or
even on demand biomass plants, the numbers get
a lot better. Load side balancing is also viable,
since there are a number of extremely high
demand industrial and commercial process that can
cut back or turn off for a period without major
problems to cover high demand or low supply. |
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As far as the idea itself, no go. Pumping water into
something floating is not going to be that
efficient. Remember, boats displace their weight
in water, so if you pump more water in, the boat
sinks down. Yes, you do end up with some water
higher than it was (by the buoyancy of the barge),
but it's going to be less efficient than pumping
into a fixed reservoir. |
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Thanks MechE, I hadn't thought of the
"sinking" effect. |
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It seemed all too simple to fill these barges with
enough air to hold the water high. So I pumping
water up to height and watching it sink as I pump
in! |
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Anyways, it seems there is a company that is
(was?) developing, "sea wave concentration" and
using wave power to fill a floating reservoir, and
then converting that back to electric energy! |
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With air underneath water, in the particular barge
design, the word "capsize" seems relevant. |
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Not if you fill it in the middle. |
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