CA2681089A1

CA2681089A1 - Method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system

Info

Publication number: CA2681089A1
Application number: CA002681089A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Giuseppe Masciarelli
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-10-20
Filing date: 2009-10-20
Publication date: 2009-12-29

Abstract

An eco-friendly method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that utilizes atmospheric pressure to facilitate the efficient, systematic transport of water vertically from a source to its designated highest point through a series of elevated, vertically stacked, airtight tanks utilizing: atmospheric pressure and vacuum pumps. The water is dropped in freefall (waterfall), through gravitational force, from its highest point onto at least one electric generator coupled to the turbines positioned at the base of the power station to produce safe, clean, renewable electric energy.

Description

NAME OF INVENTION: Method and Apparatus for a Vacuum Hydroelectric Power Generation Station System Technical Field The present invention concerns energy technology and in particular it refers to a device that facilitates and allows the production of safe, clean, cost-effective, renewable, efficient hydroelectric energy.

State of the Art The world's appetite for energy continues to grow. There is a tremendous energy resource in the earth's atmosphere to take advantage of. A method and apparatus has been developed for an eco-friendly hydroelectric power generation station system that utilizes atmospheric pressure to facilitate the efficient, systematic transport of water vertically from a source to its designated highest point through a series of elevated, vertically stacked, airtight tanks. The water is released and dropped in freefall (waterfall), through use of the gravitational force, from its highest point onto a turbine generator at the base to produce clean, safe, renewable, efficient hydroelectric energy.
Once the vacuum hydroelectric power generation station is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and will have a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (C02) relative fossil fuel powered energy plants.
To avoid all the existing economical, environmental and aesthetic inconveniences on the electric energy field a method and apparatus for a system has been founded that creates safe, clean, renewable, efficient hydroelectric energy. The system produces electrical energy utilizing water, atmospheric pressure, gravitational force, air suction pumps, switches, valves, airtight water tanks and turbine generators.
The function of this system is to create and convey electrical, from the vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system energy efficiently and effectively and dispatch the electricity through i) an existing grid to the consumer ii) dedicated freestanding hydroelectric projects to provide substantial amounts of electricity iii) electronic storage devices such as ultracapacitors to generate electrical power when needed. The apparatus consists of pipes, valves, switches, sensors, meters, vertically stacked, airtight reservoirs tanks, turbine generators and air suction pumps.

Current Methods of Power Generation Advantages of Hydroelectricity Economics The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel.
The cost of operating a hydroelectric plant is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed.
Hydroelectric plants also tend to have longer economic lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in service that were built 50 to 100 years ago. Operating labor cost is also usually low, as plants are automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not directly produce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). While some carbon dioxide is produced during manufacture and construction of the project, this is a tiny fraction of the operating emissions of equivalent fossil-fuel electricity generation. One measurement of greenhouse gas related and the Paul Scherrer Institute and the University of Stuttgart, which was funded by the European Commission, can find other externality comparison between energy sources in the Extern Eproject. According to this project, hydroelectricity produces the least amount of greenhouse gases and externality of any energy source. Coming in second place was wind, third was nuclear energy, and fourth was solar photovoltaic. The extremely positive greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is found especially in temperate climates. The above study was for local energy in Europe;
presumably similar conditions prevail in North America and Northern Asia, which all see a regular, natural freeze/thaw cycle (with associated seasonal plant decay and re-growth).

Disadvantages of Hydroelectric Dams Very Hazardous Dam failures have been some of the largest man-made disasters in history.
Also, good design and construction are not an adequate guarantee of safety. Dams are tempting industrial targets for wartime attack, sabotage and terrorism.
For example, the Banqiao Dam failure in Southern China resulted in the deaths of 171,000 people and left millions homeless. Also, the creation of a dam in a geologically inappropriate location may cause disasters like the one of the Vajont Dam in Italy, where almost 2000 people died, in 1963.

Smaller dams and micro hydro facilities create less risk, but can form continuing hazards even after they have been decommissioned. For example, the Kelly Barnes small hydroelectric dam failed in 1967, causing 39 deaths with the Toccoa Flood, ten years after its power plant was decommissioned in 1957.
Recreational users must exercise extreme care when near hydroelectric dams, power plant intakes and spillways.

Limited Service Life Almost all rivers convey silt. Dams on those rivers will retain silt in their catchments, because by slowing the water, and reducing turbulence, the silt will fall to the bottom.
Siltation reduces a dam's water storage so that water from a wet season cannot be stored for use in a dry season. Often at or slightly after that point, the dam becomes uneconomic. Near the end of the siltation, the basins of dams fill to the top of the lowest spillway, and even storage from a storm to the end of dry weather will fail. Some especially poor dams can fail from siltation in as little as 20 years. Larger dams are not immune. For example, the Three Gorges Dam in China has an estimated life that may be as short as 70 years. Dams' useful lives can be extended with sediment bypassing, special weirs, and forestation projects to reduce a watershed's silt production, but at some point most dams become uneconomical to operate.

Environmental Damage Current hydroelectric projects are disruptive to surrounding aquatic ecosystems both upstream and downstream of the plant site. For instance, studies have shown that dams along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America have reduced salmon populations by preventing access to spawning grounds upstream, even though most dams in salmon habitat have fish ladders installed. Salmon spawn are also harmed on their migration to most dams in salmon habitat have fish ladders installed.
Salmon spawn is also harmed on their migration to sea when they must pass through turbines. This has led to some areas transporting smelt downstream by barge during parts of the year. In some cases dams have been demolished (for example the Marmot Dam demolished in 2007) because of impact on fish. Turbine and power plant designs that are easier on aquatic life are an active area of research. Mitigation measures such as fish ladders may be required at new projects or as a condition of re-licensing of existing projects.
Generation of hydroelectric power changes the downstream river environment.
Water exiting a turbine usually contains very little suspended sediment, which can lead to scouring of riverbeds and loss of riverbanks.
Depending on the location, water exiting from turbines is typically much warmer than the pre-dam water, which can change aquatic faunal populations, including endangered species, and prevent 5 natural freezing processes from occurring.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Lower positive impacts are found in the tropical regions, as it has been noted that the reservoirs of present day hydroelectric power plants in tropical regions may produce substantial amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. This is due to plant material in flooded areas decaying in a more anaerobic environment, and forming methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
According to the World Commission on Dams report, where the reservoir is large compared to the generating capacity (less than 100 watts per square meter of surface area) and no clearing of the forests in the area was undertaken prior to impoundment of the reservoir, greenhouse gas emissions from the reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional oil-fired thermal generation plant. Although these emissions represent carbon already in the biosphere, not fossil deposits that had been sequestered from the carbon cycle, there is a greater amount of methane due to anaerobic decay, causing greater damage than would otherwise have occurred had the forest decayed naturally.

Population Relocation Another disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the need to relocate the people living where the reservoirs are planned. In February 2008, it was estimated that 40-80 million people worldwide had been physically displaced as a direct result of dam construction. In many cases, no amount of compensation can replace ancestral and cultural attachments to places that have spiritual and financial value to the displaced population. Additionally, historically and culturally important sites can be flooded and lost. Such problems have arisen at the Three Gorges Dam project in China, the Clyde Dam in New Zealand and the Ilisu Dam in Southeastern Turkey.

Affected by flow shortage Changes in the amount of river flow will correlate with the amount of energy produced by a dam.
Because of global warming, the volume of some rivers, lakes and glaciers has decreased, such as the North Cascades glaciers, which have lost a third of their volume since 1950, resulting in stream flows that have decreased by as much as 34%. The result of diminished river flow can be power shortages in areas that depend heavily on hydroelectric power.

Comparison with other methods of power generation Hydroelectricity eliminates the fuel gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, including pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, dust, and mercury in coal. Hydroelectricity also avoids the hazards of coal mining and the indirect health effects of coal emissions. Compared to nuclear power, hydroelectricity generates no nuclear waste, has none of the dangers associated with uranium mining, nor nuclear leaks. Unlike uranium, hydroelectricity is also a renewable energy source, and in comparison vacuum hydroelectric allows non site-specific construction (i.e. can be where rivers or large bodies of water naturally do not occur).

Compared to wind farms, hydroelectricity power plants have a more predictable load factor. If the project has a storage reservoir, it can be dispatched to release power when needed. Hydroelectric plants can be easily regulated to follow variations in power demand.

Unlike fossil-fueled combustion turbines, construction of a hydroelectric plant requires a long lead-time for site studies, hydrological studies, and environmental impact assessment. Hydrological data up to 50 years or more is usually required to determine the best sites and operating regimes for a large hydroelectric plant. Unlike plants operated by fuel, such as fossil or nuclear energy, the number of sites that can be economically developed for hydroelectric production is limited; in many areas the most cost effective sites have already been exploited. New hydro sites tend to be far from population centers and require extensive transmission lines. Hydroelectric generation depends on rainfall in the watershed, and may be significantly reduced in years of low rainfall or snowmelt.
Long-term energy yield may be affected by climate change. Utilities that primarily use hydroelectric power may spend additional capital to build extra capacity to ensure sufficient power is available in low water years.

The method and apparatus for the vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system described herein turns the force of a man-made waterfall into clean, renewable electricity available to and feasible for construction to any designated area on the planet earth.

Scientific and Mechanical Principles Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric pressure acts uniformly on the surface of any open body of water just as on the other parts of the earth's surface. If this atmospheric pressure is reduced from above, a portion of the water, (in other words - of a vacuum that is formed) then the surface of the water is subject to unequal pressure and the water being resistant to compression but not to change of shape. That part of the surface that is relatively free from pressure is called a vacuum.
Absolute zero pressure is called a perfect vacuum.
The formation of a vacuum in this way is of fundamental importance in suction lift since it is the basis for the process of transporting water upwards in a vertical container.
Therefore, when the system becomes unbalanced water will flow up a tube or vertical container until the pressure exerted at the base of the column of water in the tube is equal to the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere.

Suction Lift Theoretically, if an absolute vacuum could be formed in the tube (i.e. if the air could be completely exhausted) it would be found that the water would rise a vertical distance of approximately 10.3 meters (m.) because a column of water 10.3 m. high is equivalent to a pressure of 1.013 bar acting on each square meter of the exposed surface of the water (i.e. 0.0981 x H =
10.33 = 1.01325). No amount of further effort whether by trying to increase the vacuum (which is impossible) or by lengthening the tube, will induce the water to rise higher than 10.3m.
However, if the air is not completely exhausted from the tube, then the water will only rise to a height to balance the pressure difference existing between the inside and the outside of the tube. Therefore, if there remains in the tube, air equivalent to a column of water 3.3m. high, then the water will only rise 7m. . It will be seen therefore that, when a vacuum is formed in a long tube, the water is not sucked up by the formation of the vacuum, but is driven up by the external pressure of the air acting on the exposed surface of the water.
This is precisely what happens when a pump is primed. The suction hose takes the place of the vertical tube and the primer is the device for exhausting or removing the air from the vertical tube.
As the pressure inside the tube is reduced, the excess pressure of the air on the exposed surface of the water forces the water up the tube until it reaches the inlet of the pump.
It follows therefore, that even theoretically, when under perfect working conditions, a pump cannot under any circumstances lift water from a greater depth than 10.3m. from the surface of the water to the center of the pump inlet.
A pump is said to lift water when the water is taken from the open source below the inlet of the pump. Water has no intrinsic strength and cannot therefore be plugged upward and it is the atmospheric pressure only that raises the water.
The work performed by an air pump when water is being lifted on the suction side is to create a partial vacuum within the pump chamber. As the impeller revolves while pumping with a centrifugal pump or a piston in a piston pump, a partial vacuum is created at the impeller or piston inlet and in the suction hose. The atmospheric pressure exerts pressure on the surface of the water and so forces the water through the suction hose and into the pump.
Practical Lift and Theoretical Lift It has been shown that water cannot rise to a vertical height greater than approximately 10 m. in a completely evacuated tube and that water rises because it is forced up by the atmospheric pressure outside. When a pump is put to work from open water, the factors to content with are:
i. Raising the water from its existing level to the level of the intake ii. Overcoming frictional resistance to the water both on entering and on passing through strainers and suction hose.
iii. Turbulence as the water enters the pump impeller (this is known as entry loss) iv. Creating flow - a certain portion of the available atmospheric pressure is used in creating a flow in the water. This varies according to the velocity in the suction hose, but in all cases, represents a relatively small portion of the available pressure.

Because of the factors (ii) and (iii), it is obvious that a static suction lift of 10 m cannot be obtained in practice and whilst suction lifts of 8.5 m are sometimes obtained under very good conditions, 8.5 m can be considered the maximum practical lift.

Disclosure of Invention Thus, it is the aim of the present invention to design a method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that allows the production of clean safe efficient hydroelectric energy.
It is also the aim of this present invention to design a method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that is variable in size and power output to accommodate electric energy as required.

It is also the aim of this present invention to design a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that can be manufactured using metal alloy, re-enforced concrete, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) other plastics and synthetic materials in combination for tanks, piping and tubing.

It is also the aim of this present invention to design apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system(s) that can be built onsite or prefabricated offsite and transported to and assembled at the designated location(s).

It is also the aim of this present invention to design apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that is variable in size, number of vertically stacked airtight tanks and power output (turbine generator capacity) to accommodate hydroelectric energy generation requirements for the specific location.

These and other aims are obtained through this system for the production of clean safe efficient hydroelectric energy. The present system is thus made to be utilized anywhere on the planet earth where clean safe efficient hydroelectric energy is needed and comprises of:
= At least a supporting structure (frame) that can hold up the desired number of vertically stacked airtight tanks, reservoir tanks, pumps, pipes, valves, floats and water.
= At least airtight tanks to hold water, house vacuum pumps, pipes, valves, floats and switches and maintain its structure under weight and pressure.
= At least vacuum pumps connected each of the airtight tanks to suck out air from within the tanks to create a vacuum within the respective tanks.

= At least a siphon pipe for each tank to drawn water from below as the tanks are decompressed from within by their respective vacuum pump.
= At least a valve within each siphon pump to independently open and close as the tanks are decompressed and compressed with air.
5 = At least a float within each tank that trigger timing control switches to manage: valve actuators for air intake, vacuum pumps, siphon pipe valves and drain pipe valve.
= At least timing control switches for valve and vacuum pump control management.
= At least a drain pipe to direct water flow down, due to gravity, onto the electric turbine generator.

10 = At least utilize a normal water pump.
= At least an electric turbine generator.

Characterized by the fact that the system described herein utilizes the basic principle of atmospheric pressure (1 cubic meter of air moves 1 cubic meter of water), moving 1 cubic meter of air will lift 1 cubic meter of water to 7.5 meters height at the same time. This procedure can be repeated multiple times to the desired altitude before releasing or simultaneously releasing for the vertical fall of water to effect a turbine generation of electrical current.

Brief Description of Drawings Further features and advantages of this method and apparatus for a Vacuum Hydroelectric Power Generation Station System, according to the invention, will be clearer with the description of some of its pattern realizations that follow, made to illustrate but limit, with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a prospective view of the apparatus for the Vacuum Hydroelectric Power Generation Station System, utilizing 3 airtight tanks, according to a preferred first configuration.

Figure 2, 3 and 4, in prospective view, show the method: the sequential flow of water up the airtight tanks via siphon pipes and valves, as a result of the air exhausted from the airtight tanks by the vacuum pumps and down onto the electric turbine generator.

For the purposes of this specific design, 3 airtight tanks have been used to illustrate the design application. The apparatus for the Vacuum Hydroelectric Power Station System can utilize one or more vertically stacked airtight tanks, depending on the requirements of the specific purpose.

Description of Pattern Realizations Figure 1 describes the pattern realization according to the invention. In particular the method and apparatus for the Vacuum Hydroelectric Power Generation Station System embraces a frame #1 supporting vertically stack the airtight TANKS 2A, 2B, 2C. As stated all tanks are airtight, all of the connecting equipment (pipes, valves, switches and pumps) are hermetically joined to the tanks, and in some cases to each other, so as to ensure minimum pressure within the tanks and achieve maximum vacuum.

The water supply can originate from the ocean, sea, lake, pond, river, quarry or other ground storage water reserve and for practical purposes can be considered largely as recycled or reused.

To each airtight tank connects a vacuum pump #9A, #9B, #9C that suck and exhaust the air out of the said tanks in timed succession.

To each tank is connected a siphon pipe #3A, #3B, #3C. Siphon pipe #3A draws water up into tank #2A as air is exhausted out of it by vacuum pump #9A. Siphon pipe #3B connects tank #2A and tank #2B and siphons water from tank #2A up into tank #2B.

Siphon pipe #3C connects tank #2B and tank #2C and direct water from tank #2B
up into tank #2C.
Siphon pumps #3B and #3C, each have a valve, #10A and #10B respectively that open automatically as air is drawn out of the airtight tanks by the vacuum pumps (to allow water to flow up into the tank above) and close when the vacuum pumps are shut off, air is reintroduced through air intake valves to restore atmospheric pressure.
Each tank is fitted with an air intake #5A valve actuator, #5B valve actuator, #5C valve actuator that allow air back into their respective tanks, once the tank has reached its designated water capacity.
As air flows into the tanks, normal atmospheric pressure within the tanks is restored.

Floatation sensors #7A, #7B, and #7C attached to the inside of each tank, independently monitor the designated water capacity for each tank. These floats elevate as the water levels rise in each tank accordingly. Once the designated water level is reached corresponding switches, #11A, #11B, #11C, #8A, #8B, #8C control the synchronized vacuum pump and valve operations.

The last/highest airtight tank, in this series, #2C has an additional valve actuator #12 that opens valve #13 once the tank has reached its water limit; the vacuum pump #9C is turned off, air is reintroduced back in to stabilize atmospheric pressure within via air intake #6C. The water escapes (pushed down by gravity) through #13 valve downward through #4 drainpipe onto #14 turbine generator to produce clean, safe, renewable efficient hydroelectric energy.
The water recycles back into the water supply for reprocess.

Figure 2 illustrates the method realization according to the invention. In particular it shows tank #2A
with water at maximum capacity. The float #7A has triggered switch #8A to i) deactivate vacuum pump #9A ii) trigger valve actuator #5A to open the air intake valve #6A
allowing air to enter the tank and stabilize the atmospheric pressure within and iii) start removing the air from tank #2B by activating vacuum pump #9B.

Figure 3 illustrates the method realization according to the invention. In particular it shows tank #2B
with water at maximum capacity. The float #7B has engaged switch #8B to i) deactivate vacuum pump #9B to stop ii) trigger valve actuator #5B to open the air intake valve #6B allowing air to enter the tank and stabilize the atmospheric pressure within and iii) start removing air in tank #2C by activating vacuum pump #9C.

Figure 4 describes the pattern realization according to the invention. In particular it shows tank #2C
with water at maximum capacity. The float #7C has triggered switch #8C to i) deactivate vacuum pump #9C ii) trigger valve actuator #5C open the air intake valve #6C #6C
allowing air to enter the tank and stabilize the atmospheric pressure within and iii) start exhausting air from tank #2B by activating vacuum pump #9B. iv) trigger valve actuator #12 to open #13 valve, allowing water to flow down into #4 drainpipe and drop onto the #14 turbine generator.

The process will continue in cycled fashion as described in the preceding pattern realizations. With this system we can lift predetermined quantities of water to predetermined heights.

The above description of a basic design is able to show the invention from the conceptive point of view, in a way that others, by using the art, can easily modify and/or adapt in different applications this specific design without further research and without going apart from the invention concept, and therefore it is intended that these adaptations and transformations will be considered as equivalent to this specific realization. The means and materials to make the many described functions can be various in nature without exiting the area of the invention. It is intended that the expressions or the terminology use have a simple descriptive aim and therefore not limiting.

Claims

1. An eco-friendly method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system that utilizes atmospheric pressure and vacuum pumps to facilitate the efficient, systematic transport of water vertically from a source to its designated highest point through a series of elevated, vertically stacked, airtight tanks. The water is dropped in freefall (waterfall), through use of the gravitational force, from its highest point onto a turbine generator at the base to produce clean, safe, renewable hydroelectric energy. Located at the base of the power station, is at least one electric generator coupled to the turbines.

2. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least an airtight tank #2A is installed.

3. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least a vacuum pump #9A that can empty air from tank #2A.

4. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least a siphon pipe #3A originating from the water supply extends into tank #2A
directs water from the water supply up into tank #2A.

5. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least a float #7A prompts control switches #8A and #11A.

6. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5, wherein at least a control switch #11A activates vacuum pump #9A.

7. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5 wherein at least a control switch #11A triggers air intake valve actuator #5A to close valve #6A.

8. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5 wherein at least a control switch #8A triggers air intake valve actuator #5A to open valve #6A.

9. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5 wherein at least a control switch #8A triggers vacuum pump #9A to stop.

10. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5 wherein at least a control switch #8A triggers vacuum pump #9B to start.

11. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 2, wherein at least a siphon pipe #3B from inside tank #2A extending into tank #2B directs water from tank #2A up into tank #2B.

12. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 11, wherein at least a valve #10A automatically opens as air is sucked out of Tank #2B and closes when air intake valve actuator #5B is open.

13. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least an airtight tank #2B is installed above Tank #2A.

14. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 13, wherein at least a vacuum pump #9B that can empty air from tank #2B.

15. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5, wherein at least a float #7B prompts control switches #8B and #11B.

16. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 6, wherein at least a control switch #11B activates vacuum pump #9B.

17. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 7 wherein at least a control switch #11B triggers air intake valve actuator #5B to close valve #6B.

18. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 8 wherein at least a control switch #8B triggers air intake valve actuator #5B to open valve #6B.

19. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 9 wherein at least a control switch #8B triggers vacuum pump #9B to stop.

20. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 10 wherein at least a control switch #8B triggers vacuum pump #9C to start.

21. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 11, wherein at least a siphon pipe #3C from inside tank #2B extending into tank #2C directs water from tank #2B up into tank #2C.

22. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 12, wherein at least a valve #10C automatically opens as air is sucked out of Tank #2C and closes when air intake valve actuator #5C is open.

23. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 13, wherein at least an airtight tank #2C is installed above Tank #2B.

24. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 3, wherein at least a vacuum pump #9C that can empty air from tank #2C.

25. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 5, wherein at least a float #7C prompts control switches #8C and #11C.

26. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 6, wherein at least a control switch #11C activates vacuum pump #9C.

27. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 8 wherein at least a control switch #11C triggers air intake valve actuator #5C to close valve #6C and trigger valve actuator #12 to open valve #13.

28. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 8 wherein at least a control switch #8C triggers air intake valve actuator #5C to open valve #6C and trigger value actuator #12 to open valve #13.

29. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 9 wherein at least a control switch #8C triggers vacuum pump #9C to stop.

30. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 10 wherein at least a control switch #8C triggers vacuum pump #9A to start.

31. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 11, wherein at least a drain pipe #3 directs water from tank #2C down onto turbine generator #14.

32. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein at least a support structure #1 frame props all tanks, pipes, vacuum pumps and switches.

33. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein this system may be constructed of any of the following:
i. Metal alloy ii. Re-enforced concrete iii. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) iv. Other plastics and synthetic materials

34. A method and apparatus for a vacuum hydroelectric power generation station system according to claim 1, wherein atmospheric pressure and a conventional air or water pump can be utilized.