WO2009153626A1

WO2009153626A1 - Energetically self-sufficient building-city

Info

Publication number: WO2009153626A1
Application number: PCT/IB2008/052999
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ridas Matonis
Original assignee: Ridas Matonis
Priority date: 2008-06-19
Filing date: 2008-07-25
Publication date: 2009-12-23
Also published as: LT2008048A

Abstract

This invention seeks to create infrastructure of an energetically self-sufficient city-building, particularly for horizontally and vertically oversized buildings allowing generation of all necessary energy from renewable energy sources and its efficient utilization in the main systems of ventilation/conditioning, water supply, interior lighting, and internal transportation. When city-building is a high-rise building or a group thereof, air temperature and air pressure difference at the base and at the top of the building is utilized for energy generation and conservation. Energy is conserved by efficient ventilation/conditioning system tapping air from the top of the building where it is cooler; vehicles descending in 3-dimentional transportation system generate electric energy and send it to the general power grid of the building; water is elevated to the top of the building in the form of vapor; internal lighting system utilizes concentrated daylight transmitted via optical fibers; electricity is generated in hermetic tubes spanning the whole height of the building, inside of which pressure difference produces air flow that is powering turbines.

Description

ENERGETICALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT BUILDING-CITY

Technical Field

[1] This invention concerns buildings, more specifically city -buildings, that essentially could be independent from engineering systems such as electricity, water and natural gas supply, etc. - i.e. energetically self-sufficient city-buildings that can accommodate all infrastructure of a city and in which people can live and work, practically without leaving the building. Background Art

[2] Several inventions describe energetically self-sufficient buildings, where electricity is generated by wind generators, solar cells, combustion generators, geothermal generators, etc. In order to eliminate disruptions of electricity supply energy accumulation systems are employed, such as compressed air or vacuum tanks, equipment for hydrogen generation and storage, pumped- storage hydroelectricity power plants, etc.

[3] In most cases small energetically self-sufficient buildings are constructed to accommodate a single family. However, when constructing buildings for larger number of residents these resources become insufficient. Familiar wind and solar power elements are not perfect either, since large number wind generators would disfigure the exterior of such buildings, while solar cells would have to cover considerable portion of the building surface and are effective only during certain hours of a day.

[4] Construction of energetically self-sufficient super high-rise buildings that at the same time have considerable horizontal dimensions come up against several problems related to internal transportation systems and energy consumption thereof. The main energy consuming systems are transportation, water elevation, ventilation/conditioning and interior lighting systems.

[5] When building dimensions are in the order of hundreds of meters, transportation inside the building by conventional elevators, escalators, and moving walkways becomes complicated and economically ineffective. It becomes necessary to use energetically efficient transportation systems moving passengers and loads according to single boarding transportation principle.

[6] High elevation of buildings complicates water supply to the upper levels, because utilization of traditional water elevation and supply methods leads to enormous pressures in the pipelines and the process itself requires large amounts of energy.

[7] In cases when such oversized city-buildings are constructed in hot and temperate climate areas, air conditioning and ventilation consumes considerable amounts of energy. Seeking to achieve power independence it is imperative to reduce energy con- sumption for ventilation and conditioning.

[8] International patent application No. WO2007036587 published on April 5, 2007 describes an energy system of a building that generates, distributes and accumulates energy without necessity to receive additional energy from general utility networks. The building draws sufficient energy from the environment (fresh air, ambient humidity). The system initially aggregates necessary energy for heating/conditioning from ambient air, accessing through windows and openings in the ground, and accumulates it by the method of change of physical state. Later the system reverses conversion and releases the energy to the desired processes.

[9] The American patent No. US2003102752 published on June 3, 2003 describes an autonomous electricity generation and distribution system, powered by a combustion generator. Surplus energy is accumulated in batteries and is used for periods of peak demand.

[10] The German patent No. DE4310843 describes a device for accumulation of surplus energy (preferably electric energy generated by solar cells) by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. During periods of insufficient power supply the hydrogen and oxygen is chemically combined again and the released heat is used to generate electricity.

[11] The Chinese patent No. CN 1796780 published on July 5, 2006 describes a conduit, in which the generator is driven by a difference of atmospheric pressure between the intake (bottom) and the exhaust (top) openings. Such a conduit should be installed in a way that its one end is considerably higher than the other and high-rise buildings suit well for this purpose.

[12] The international patent application WO2006107224 published on October 12, 2006 describes a transportation system that utilizes automatically controlled cabins for transportation of passengers from departure to destination. Transportation system consists of self-contained network of passageways. The system is designated for transportation in a city.

[13] The American patent No. US5952626 published on September 14, 1999 describes a personal device of remote control, based on electromagnetic radiation, for routing control in a transport system (elevator system), in which the transport system user designates the destination of his journey and the system performs all the operations of transportation. The user may cancel or change the destination at any moment. The remote control device is recognized by the system according to its unified identification. User commands may be entered by mechanical means, verbal identification and other means of selection.

[14] Japanese invention patent No. JP2000264210 published on September 26, 2000 describes a transport system in which trolleys move along circular path in one direction. It foresees trolley stop locations, where trolleys leave the circular path and enter a stop loop, in which people and loads are loaded / unloaded. In this system trolleys can move horizontally and vertically.

[15] There are several proposed solutions for energy saving. One of them is an indoor illumination system described in the Japanese patent No. JP59111604. The system utilizes Fresnel lenses on the building exterior to concentrate and transmit light via optical fibers inside the building where it is dispersed again. It eliminates the need to use artificial light sources during sunny days.

[16] The Chinese patent No. CN 1971039 published on May 30, 2007 describes an energy system for a single-family residential house that is essentially made of solar and wind power generating elements, batteries and generators inside exercise equipment. When solar or wind energy is insufficient, energy could be generated by exercising on the special exercise equipment, converting muscle energy into electricity.

[17] The international patent application No. PCT/IB2008/052143 submitted on June 2,

2008 describes hybrid air ventilation and conditioning system for high-rise and super high-rise buildings, in which all fresh air intake is made at the highest elevation possible according to the construction of the building. The air at the top of the building is cooler by a few degrees making ventilation and conditioning more effective.

[18] The international patent application No. PCT/IB2008/052142 submitted on June 2,

2008 describes a water elevation system, in which the water is elevated to the upper levels in a physical state of vapor, preferably employing solar power for evaporation.

[19] The Lithuanian patent application No. 2008-031 submitted on April 7 2008 describes a transportation system for high-rise and horizontally oversized buildings , factories, and complexes of buildings. In this transportation system self-propelled vehicles move in desired directions, optimally coinciding with axes of Descartes coordination system. The self-propelled vehicles are driven by pinion-rack drive construction, powered via local contact power grid.

[20] The German patent No. DE 19919622 published on December 7, 2000 describes a residential house with an autonomous energy system consisting of energy generation, accumulation and regeneration equipment. Previous state of the art inventions propose many methods of energy generation, accumulation and saving, yet no solutions have been proposed for integrated infrastructure of vertically and horizontally oversized city-buildings accommodating large numbers of people and generating sufficient amount of energy for usual activities of people living and/or working therein. Disclosure of Invention Summary of the Invention

[21] This invention seeks to create an infrastructure of a city-building that utilizes energy from renewable sources and exploits advantages of building dimensions, especially of the height of the construction. Such buildings should be environmentally neutral. Seeking to make such city-building energetically self-sufficient, it is imperative to reduce energy consumption in the main internal infrastructure systems - the systems of internal transportation, water supply and lighting. This infrastructure would utilize water supply system capable of elevating water to high elevations and internal 3-dimentional transportation network, allowing movement of self-propelled vehicles in all desired directions and consuming energy only for horizontal and ascending vertical movement of the vehicles, the descending vehicles being used to generate energy and to return it to the power grid of the city-building. Such infrastructure would utilize efficient air conditioning system tapping cooler air at the top of the building. The building would be equipped with systems for accumulation of surplus energy, such as thermal energy storage, water electrolysis system for generation and storage of hydrogen, conventional batteries, pumped-storage hydroelectricity power plants , etc. Description of the Preferred Embodiment

[22] The most preferred embodiment of the invention is a self-sufficient city-building having an independent energy system powered from renewable energy sources. The building could consist of a single building or a group of buildings connected together by function and design and having a single infrastructure.

[23] Besides conventional energy generating methods, such as conversion of solar radiation into electricity by means of semiconductor solar cells, conversion of wind energy into electricity by means of wind turbines, conversion of geothermal energy into electricity by means of steam turbines, and water heating by means of geothermal water or solar collectors, new methods of energy generation are employed that are feasible only when height of a building structure is in the order of hundreds or even thousands of meters. The main two factors allowing utilization of oversized height of the building for energy generation are the differences of air temperature and air pressure at the ground level and at the top of the building. The higher the building, the differences become more prominent allowing for more effective energy systems. For example, at the elevation of 1 kilometer above the ground level air is on average by 10 0C cooler than at the ground level. Air pressure is respectively lower too.

[24] One of the methods to utilize the difference of temperature is an efficient internal conditioning system that taps cool air at the top of the building for internal cooling. If the intake air is too warm, it could be cooled down by external heat pumps powered by photovoltaic elements or other sources of energy. Utilization of solar energy for running of the heat pumps is expedient, since it makes the intensity of air conditioning directly proportional to intensity of solar radiation. Since the cooler intake air at the top of the building has to be cooled only slightly, the whole air conditioning system becomes much more efficient.

[25] The water supply system for the city-building elevates water to the upper levels in the form of vapor. Water is evaporated from a pool at the base of the building by solar energy or/and additional heating elements and employing the stack effect rises through conduits to the top of the building where it condensates and is collected into distribution reservoirs. Further distribution of the water doesn't require energy, because water pressure naturally builds up in the levels beneath the distribution reservoirs. The temperature of ascending water vapor is sufficient to generate a powerful flux of steam; therefore steam turbines could be installed in the aforementioned vapor ascension conduit for generation of electricity. The elevated surplus water is directed down the pipes and its energy is converted into electricity as well. Optimally the surplus water is channeled into sewage pipes, where cumulative surplus water and sewage water stream is used for electricity generation. An additional function of such system could be utilization of the elevated vapor for formation of artificial clouds and induction of artificial rain, thereby saving energy for watering of plants in parks around the building and on terraces and other horizontal surfaces of the building itself and for air conditioning of the building due to the artificial shadow it produces.

[26] Hermetic tubes would be installed in a city-building with bottom and top ends open and turbines built inside, so that the passing air could generate electricity. Optimally the tubes would be installed vertically or pitched spanning all the height of the building for maximum elevation difference between the lower and the upper ends and thus generating the maximum difference of air pressure. Sufficient air pressure builds steady air flow inside the hermetic tubes powering the aforementioned turbines and generating electricity. This tubing could be installed in direct sun light, additionally heating the inside air and thus increasing the speed and energy of the airflow inside the pipe.

[27] In buildings with oversized vertical and horizontal dimensions huge amount of energy is consumed by transportation of people and loads. Therefore power independent city-building should use efficient transportation system, in which energy is consumed only by horizontally moving and ascending vehicles, the descending vehicles generating energy and returning it into general power grid. The city-building utilizes 3-dimentional transportation system consisting of a network of traffic lines, along which self-propelled preferentially electric vehicles can move in all desired directions. These vehicles are controlled centrally and their routing is optimized by combining passenger destinations with shortest travelling routes for fastest traveling and least amount of energy consumed. The system is much more efficient in comparison to conventional city transportation in respect of travelling time and energy consumption. [28] When vertical and horizontal dimensions of a city-building exceed hundreds of meters, some rooms are left without daylight illumination. In order to eliminate huge energy costs of artificial lighting, light collection devices are installed on the building surface for light concentration, optical fibers, for transmitting the light into interior and light diffusers, for light dispersion in the rooms, which require additional lighting.

[29] Preferably Fresnel lenses are used for light collection, since they are essentially flat and could be installed on the building roof or used as a shade on terraces, etc. This lighting system is effective and cost-efficient compared to mirror systems employed in the past. On a sunny day the building interior will not need artificial lighting, thus saving energy.

[30] Energy storage employs familiar energy storage systems and devices. Electricity can be converted into energy of chemical reactions (batteries, hydrogen accumulation, etc.), into potential energy of water ( pumped- storage hydroelectricity power plants ), or ice or other material, such as paraffin, which could be frozen in thermal energy repositories at lower night temperatures and then used for absorption of heat generated by heat pumps during the day time, thus increasing efficiency of air conditioning system.

[31] City -building with the described infrastructure is energetically independent and generated energy is sufficient for usual activities of people living and/or working therein. To eliminate shortage of power supply during peak demand or in cases of emergency the building is preferably connected to an external grid by at least one power line, energy thereof being used only when energy resource of the building itself fall bellow critical level. If the building generates more energy than it consumes, energy is sent to the general power grid of the city, the country, etc. via the same line.

[32] The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment described above. It also protects various modifications of such city-building infrastructure that retains the main idea of the invention, disclosed by this description.

Claims

[1] Energetically self-sufficient building having an autonomous energy system, capable of producing enough energy for everyday activities of people living and/ or working therein, incorporating equipment of energy generation and/or energy storage and/or energy regeneration, characterized in that the building is high- rise building and utilizes one or more of these methods of energy generation, saving and storage:

- air for interior ventilation and conditioning is tapped at the top of the building, where it is cooler;

- drinking and utility water is lifted up to the upper levels of the building in form of vapor;

- the surplus elevated water together with sewage water is channeled towards turbines installed in sewage pipes, converting kinetic energy of the falling sewage water into electric power, or this surplus vapor is released outside at the top of the building and thus artificial clouds are formed for a natural shade or artificial rain for watering of plants;

- vertical or slanted- vertical hermetic air conduits are installed on the structure of the building and turbines are installed therein converting kinetic energy of air flow into electric energy;

- daylight is concentrated outside the building, transmitted via optical fibers into the building and dispersed inside it for interior lighting.

[2] The building according to claim 1, characterized in that inside the building an internal transportation system is installed, consisting of traffic line network arranged in essentially 3-dimentional space and of self- propelled vehicles moving in any desired direction and consuming energy only for horizontal and ascending vertical movement of the vehicles, while generating and returning energy to the general power grid of the building during vertical descent movement of the vehicles.

[3] A building according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the energy system of the building is connected to the external power grid, from which energy is supplied when internal power resources fall bellow critical level and/or to which generated surplus energy in the building is released.