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Tidal Tank

 Generate power via cyclical tidal water flow into a tank.
 
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Picture a large tank buried in the earth behind a marine bulkhead. The tidal exchange at the bulkhead is zero to ten feet (low to high tide). When the tide comes in, a inlet tube at the bottom of the bulkhead, connected to the tank allows the water to flow in. Opposite happens when tide goes out. Two options for power generation. One, a water turbine in the inlet/outlet pipe spins to create electricity. Two, an air outlet pipe at the top of the tank spins as the volume of the tank is displaced by the water flowing in and out. If the tank is, say, 10,000 gallons and the tidal exchange happens roughly 2x per day you could regulate the flow so that water is always moving through the system. Question is, how much power can be generated by that amount of water or air movement?
—frossi, Mar 07 2007

Tidal power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power
Your description sounds a bit like ebb generation [spiraliii, Mar 08 2007]

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       Widely known to exist. See link.
—nuclear hobo, Mar 07 2007
   

       /Question is, how much power can be generated by that amount of water or air movement?/   

       Far less than would offset the construction, maintenance, and operating costs. On the back of an envelope, your average head is 1.5m and your mass flowrate is about 1000kg/s. Gravity being what it is on earth, you've got about 15kW available. Assuming 100% conversion efficiency, that's a revenue stream of $1.50 per hour.
—Texticle, Mar 07 2007
   

       What link??   

       This tends to be dun on rivers then there more energy but the bay of fundy with 20 to 30 foot tides would work too then again other people have tried to get the government to let them harness tat energy
—dev45, Mar 07 2007
   

       //What link??// - washed out by the incoming tide.....
—xenzag, Mar 07 2007
   


 

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