GB2514340A

GB2514340A - An unmanned aerial power plant drone

Info

Publication number: GB2514340A
Application number: GB1309002.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Lee Burdett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-05-20
Filing date: 2013-05-20
Publication date: 2014-11-26
Also published as: GB201309002D0

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle power plant drone includes a central body 1 with tiltrotors 2 attached in a quad, tri or octagonal formation. Each tiltrotor has a propulsion methodology and a rotatable shaft to allow for variable angles or forward/upward/angular thrust 3. The power plant comprises one or more onboard energy generation technologies 4. All of these technologies can be altered/changed in a plug and play manner. The vehicle also houses safety features 5 in the event of a plant failure. The apparatus uses wireless power transmission 6 to transmit energy to a distribution grid and/or other power plants. Any form of wind generation 7 can be included on the propulsion shafts or elsewhere on the device 8.

Description

An Unmanned Aerial Power Plant Drone This invention relates to an unmanned aerial power plant drone. This is a solution which can be integrated into existing energy generation I distribution systems with minimal fuss and work alongside one or more forms of renewable energy generation.

This aircraft works as a specialised dedicated plant for long term aerial energy production at high altitudes, without the use of blimps or lighter-then-aircraft. In essence the invention is a specialised unmanned aerial vehicle (or UAV) for long term energy generation using multiple forms of energy production at high altitudes.

Current forms of renewable energy production are highly limited with large amounts of downtime preventing on-demand supply from tidal, wind or solar energy. The land requirements when weighed against the output are also a large restriction with such sources usually requiring vast amounts of land for small outputs of energy.

The only forms of more reliable renewable generation are offshore wind and tidal energy which while they do utilise less land, do require offshore drilling and large wired connections (usually measure in hundreds of kilometres of cabling).

While there is a much greater potential for wind offshore, there exists no current solution to increase solar potential in this manner. With increased wind potential offshore, there also exists multiple opportunities for high altitude generation for both solar and wind.

With higher altitudes comes greater solar production due to less interference and a closer proximity to the sun compared to land based installations. The same is true for wind where above 30,000ft there is far greater and more sustainable wind production.

Both of these aspects call for such a power plant as that contained within this patent.

The drone itself is tailored for producing the greatest volume of energy possible. This is done by firstly removing the need for an on-board pilot, an action which relieves some weight requirements to allow more generators to be installed.

Other aspects for optimising the electrical output are to firstly create a drone which can endure a long flight time. For this case the aerial power plant is designed to remain aloft for many years in order to continuously produce energy.

As a system it is beneficial to utilise lightweight energy generation technology, namely that of thin-film solar, thermoelectric and rectenna generation. Solar technology has many forms ranging from silicone photovoltaic systems, to organic solar, concentrated solar, thin-film solar, solar balloons, photogalvanic solar and other emerging forms.

The drone is not exclusive to one single form of energy generation and can be adaptable to operate with many existing and upcoming forms of electrical generation. Two of these are thermoelectric and rectenna technologies.

Thermoelectric generation has been produced in order to generate energy from the differences in heat around the device itself. The technology was developed by many bodies and has yielded a new technology which can either cool a device or generate energy from the surrounding heat. Such technologies for this include those developed in patents US4363927 A, US4276441 A, US4363928 A, US5288336 A and US4276441 A. Rectenna technology is a newly based concept which has been researched over many years as welL As a new emerging form of energy production it will allow for usable energy to be produced from energy waves in the electromagnetic spectrum (ranging from Gamma, UV, infra-red radiation to microwave and radio wave energy).

As an application a rectenna device works by collecting electromagnetic waves using an antenna and converting it into usable energy using a rectifying circuit. It is from these two vital components the name was derived.

Rectenna technology has the potential to produce energy at extremely high efficiencies while also being constructed in a thin-film form or on multiple substrates. Rectenna technology can be used for both energy production as well as wireless power transmission.

Multiple bodies have produced rectenna technologies to operate in different wavelengths ranging across the spectrum, with some cited in the patents GB2484526A and U 52007/0240757 Al.

Photogalvanic solar production is another emerging form of next generation solar production. Typically using liquids to produce energy photogalvanic systems have advantages over solar photovoltaics and other forms in that it can produce energy and store it.

Solar generation typically produces energy while exposed to sunlight and then produces no energy afterwards. The benefit of photogalvanic systems are that once the device is no longer exposed to sunlight it stores the energy produced if it has not been drawn. This allows for the device to be used as a form of solar battery.

Some examples of photogalvanic systems are produced within the patents US4190705 A, US41 17210 A and US41 18547 A as developed by bodies other then myself.

The unmanned aerial power plant drone can be equipped with these technologies in order to produce energy alongside solar power, thermoelectric and wind generation. It is with this new novel form of power station that such new forms of energy production can be implemented on a large scale effectively and quickly.

Rectenna technology is one form of application which can allow for large scale wireless power transmission. This is a technology which can be accomplished using microwave transmission or through the use of laser beams.

Some forms of wireless power transmission are stated in patents GB2059694A, US2007/0021 140 Al, [P0001637 Bl and EP2494666 Al. Wireless power transmission (or WPT) is something which is incorporated within this power plant.

The use of wireless power transmission will effectively eliminate any form of limiting factors in regards to flight path, altitude and solar/wind tracking. The inclusion of this technology will allow for a wireless network to be produced of any given capacity.

This technology utilised by the form of power plant herein will allow for a rapid response wireless grid to be produced and maintained using multiple power plants together in unison. With this capability this form of aerial power plant will create many benefits including increased power production, greater reliability, on-demand renewable energy and a rapid response to any location in the world for energy generation.

The production of energy at high altitudes will require a large amount of reliability and stability within the aircraft. The energy produced to power the drone power plant itself is taken from the energy produced on-board in order to create a completely self contained unit.

The inclusion of on-board energy generation systems for the internal use of the power plants propulsion systems will require a form of redundancy incase of failure. In an event of failure within the energy generation systems for the plant itself, the plant could fall back to the Earths surface and crash.

Such an occurrence would have the potential to cause a lot of damage to buildings, preserved areas, woodland or even human life. In such an event the power plant contained herein solves this as a new novel all-in-one solution to aerial energy production. This is done by the inclusion of four solutions.

The first solution is an on-board storage system such as batteries or compressed air systems. The inclusion or energy storage will allow for the drone to continue operations during low times of energy production. The second and most reliable within a network is the functionality to draw power from connected power plants in order to sustain energy production levels.

These two solutions within the drone allow for energy to be secured for the necessary internal systems in order to continue operations even at low levels of production. The third and fourth options are fail-safes for hardware faults within the propulsion methods operation.

The drone itself contains two fail-safes, one which is a method to remain aloft during flight and one which is for the safe landing of the drone in the event of a crash.

The first of these two systems consists of solar balloons which are to be used when required in order to maintain a sustained flight or to aid in the control of the power plant if it were to crash. These balloons are solar balloons in that they utilise solar energy to heat air inside the balloon.

This allows for the balloon to be stored safely and with a minimal impact to the rest of the drone and its operations. The drone itself uses these forms of balloons in order to sustain flight in times where the rotors are not able to provide lift without affecting the energy production within the plant.

Some examples of solar balloons can be found in patents US4174082, US4174082, US4262864 A and US20080047546 Al. The second fail-safe within the unmanned aerial power plant is that for the safe landing and retrieval of the power plant if it were to fail during operation and crash.

The plant contains additional inflatable balloons which can be inflated to give a buoyancy aid in the event the power plant crashes into the sea. If the drone power plant is equipped with a gas compression form of energy storage, the gas within can be used to aid the inflation of this buoyancy aid.

The benefits of this system are that in using such safeguards installed within the power plant it allows for a rapid response to any form of crisis while also giving more contingency if the system were to become faulty or fail.

The aspects of the device which allow energy generation to be performed at its maximum potential are not exclusive to the energy generation systems themselves. As an aerial system it can track solar sources and wind currents without any restrictions.

The aerial capabilities of this power plant do allow for an effective and fast tracking system. With the drone itself being capable of hovering in a single spot. It can also tilt to conform to angular sources and move location in order to track the sun throughout the day.

Such a device can perform effective aerial tracking without any interruption to the electrical output or requiring new wired connections or tethers through the inclusion of wireless power transmission.

With a constant change of flight pathlposition being capable with this power plant it has included within its rotors a tiltrotor functionality. This addition gives a distinct advantage to flight patterns by giving the aerial power plant VTOL (vertical take off and landing) capabilities.

The addition of this functionality within the power plant allows for a smooth implementation into airspace. This also gives the ability to adapt to multiple flight patterns as required during operation.

The long flight durations and increased stability of flight required by long term aerial energy generation will require such a rotor formation. For long term and longer flight paths a forward propulsion method will be required. However to hover effectively and to maintain a stable flight mode an upward thrust will be required.

A tiltrotor to allow for VTOL capabilities within the drone allows this aerial power plant to benefit from both of these functionalities. In effect this will allow the power plant to remain aloft for many years in a single flight.

The advantages within a VTOL aircraft as a drone made to operate within high altitudes for energy generation are vast. The inclusion of wind generation, thermoelectric, rectenna, solar and other methodologies grouped together in a collective using a VTOL formation do allow for a wide range of operational altitudes.

The drone can utilise energy generation across a wide range of available sources at each altitude. The addition to a longer flight time, tiltrotor formation and a wider range of energy generation sources will allow for a wide range of altitudes between 1 0,000ft and 1 00,000ft.

With a tiltrotor formation the drone can still be constructed within multiple formations, such as a trirotor, quadrotor or octorotor. With a VTOL aircraft using a trirotor formation the drone can operate with two front rotors operating as tiltrotors while the third rotor can be a fixed rotor or a tiltrotor.

A quadrotor formation used for this power plant will allow for all four rotors to be installed as tiltrotors. This will give many different forms of rotor formation. With each rotor being capable of angles between Pi /2(1.5707963) radians and 0 radians (Oto 90 degrees) this allows for each rotor to be at different angles throughout the entirety of the drones flight.

With an octorotor formation the drone will require smaller engines for propulsion and will also allow for a far greater level of stability and even more capabilities mid-flight for optimised flight patterns and wind generation (when the wind generators are coupled with the tiltrotors).

As a solution to solving any problems for prolonged flight with the power plant, the inclusion of a tiltrotor is one of many aspects which give additional novel aspects to aerial generation within a single unit. The aspects of VTOL capabilities and the removal of any form of blimp structure propose new solutions when compared to aerial generation technologies such as those mentioned in patents US 2009/0229656 Al, US 200810272233 Al, US200910294576A1 and US 2008/0196410 Al.

The differences between the power plant contained within this patent and that of US 2009/0229656 Al are that the power plant drone herein does not need to suspend the solar (or other) energy generation technologies beneath the aircraft to prevent shading on the panels. The drone also eliminates any need for an airship using gases and only uses gases to remain aloft as a back-up failsafe. The drone does not use power cables for transmission and will be capable of sustaining flight to produce energy during high winds.

Another form of aerial power plant is that mentioned within the patent US 2008/0272233 Al. The advantages to using the unmanned aerial power plant drone compared to this patent are that the power plant herein is not a lighter-then-air craft. It does not need to be disk shaped and instead can use a trirotor, quadrotor or octorotor formation of fixed aircraft and is not a blimp in any form whatsoever. The power plant herein is also capable of operating at altitudes between 1 0,000ft and 1 00,000ft and not just 50,000ft.

Previous proposed forms of aerial generation also include patents US2009/0294576A1 and US 2008/0196410 Al. The advantages and differences to this power station and patent US2009/0294576A1 are that the power plant herein cannot be used as a weapon or to operate energy weapons, making it safer. It also does not require any form of airship or blimp like all the aerial methodologies mentioned in comparison. For the transmission of wireless power the receiving target for energy to be placed onto a distribution network does not need to be mobile and the plant itself does not need to store water or fuel for hydrogen fuel cells.

In regards to the patent US 2008/0196410 Al, the power plant herein does not perform any form of combustible processes. It does not burn gases and does not require an adiabatic system to produce energy or use an adiabatic system to make clean/efficient energy.

Such a system where energy is produced only using clean/renewable sources, with no requirements to store/collect fuel (namely from gas exhausts or vents) the differences and advantages between the proposed power plant herein and those mentioned in the referenced patents above are vast.

More differences for the above forms of aerial generation not mentioned above are aspects which are non-exclusive to either one of these forms and add additional functionality and abilities to aerial generation not present in the referenced patents.

These benefits are the allowance for a wide range of combined energy generation systems from wind to thermoelectrics, microwave/radio wave/UV/lnfra-red/Visible light rectennas, solar PV, concentrated solar PV, Organic PV and Photogalvanic technologies.

With these forms of energy generation being installed within this drone, the actual systems themselves can be adaptable in the sense of a "plug and play" functionality. This ability within the power plant is another novel aspect in comparison to other forms of energy generation.

Typically with energy generation the systems once installed are not easily replaced in the event of required maintenance or for the installation of new more efficient systems. This is usually due to direct connections to transformers to a distribution grid.

The aerial power plant drone herein eliminates this aspect. As an intermittent aerial, wireless platform the system can be removed from a network/connection easily and rapidly. This allows for new on-board energy generation technologies to be installed within the drone itself. This can be done to add more generation systems or replace the existing ones already installed.

As a means of transmitting energy wirelessly after creating an accumulated output from multiple sources, the power plant acts as an intermittent source of energy. Thus this allows the on-board energy generation systems to be replaced/repaired with no alteration to the existing connections along the distribution network itself or the wireless energy receiver.

These are benefits which are a defining functionality within this aerial power plant drone.

All these benefits to a solution for aerial energy generation make the unmanned aerial power plant drone a long term, safe and dependable source of green/sustainable energy.

The nature of a power plant which can be built in this manner and used for a rapid response wireless aerial tracking system will give rise to unprecedented abilities for this power plant.

The power plant drone can be constructed in smaller sizes for optimum impact. As a smaller system it will provide energy in the region of KW (Kilowatts). This will allow for a drone which is faster to produce, allows for many units to be made and flown into higher altitudes rapidly while also giving a greater redundancy when utilised within a network.

The free-flight nature of a wireless aerial drone gives rise to an easily constructed and maintained wireless network for energy generation. It is partly through this that the aerial power plant can create a larger power plant for on-demand green energy throughout the year continuously.

This can be done in many different ways, using wireless networks to manage the energy transmission as a form of wireless distribution grid. This will allow for energy to be managed in the same manner as a computer networic It is this functionality which allows the unmanned aerial power plant drone to create new levels of unprecedented energy generation.

The ability to manage energy transmission in this manner allows for a network (small or large) to be produced which can create a balanced output capacity for longer periods of time. With the ability to transmit energy over many kilometres wirelessly and move the entire power plant with ease comes greater versatility.

The power plant drone itself can utilise this concept in order to maximise energy output.

With a small number of drones, even just two can allow for a longer duration of energy production through solar/wind tracking. With two drones tracking the sun as it traverses the sky, each taking a flight pattern and angle to maximise sun exposure, can track the sun, produce energy and relay it for distribution over many kilometres each.

It is in this manner that as each drone powers itself using its on-board energy generation systems, they can also effectively relay energy across both of the aerial power plant drones, thus tracking the sun for far longer and over greater distances.

It is with this that energy can be produced on a large scale and quickly. With mass production of this device within the desired KW region it can be produced as rapidly and quickly as the solar panels / wind turbines (or other) that it will have installed.

It is with this functionality that the unmanned aerial power plant drone can create energy in multiple formations. Not only can the tiltrotor and tri/quad/octorotor forms of this device allow for greater adaptability for energy generation but a network of such devices takes this to new levels.

As is possible with the wireless power transmission abilities, the aerial and increased versatile nature of this power plant drone does allow for the production of energy to be created in the same manner as an IT (information technology or computer) network.

In IT networks data is sent between nodes (computers) as packets of data. To perform this for energy generation can be done using power stations as nodes and wireless energy transmission as packets of data.

It is in this formation which can allow for varying flight patterns and even larger installations. While the power plant drone herein is tailored for energy generation within the kilowatt region, larger output capacities of energy production can be achieved in the region of Megawatts (MW) and Gigawatts (GW).

With many drones operating together in a single network the capacity can be increased greatly and exponentially. One of the best methods of doing this is to encompass a larger network of drones, with each "node" being comprised of a smaller network of power plant drones.

It is with this that one of the greatest formations with this technology is to form a ring around the Earth. This will produce energy at high altitudes, transmitting energy across the globe by relaying it through miniature networks at each stage.

It is in this manner that such a device will be capable of far larger capacities for energy generation and provide a true supply of on-demand green energy across the globe twenty four hours a day, every day of the year.

A major benefit of such a system is that as the energy is relayed, greater capacities of electricity are accumulated by each power plant it passes through.

Figure 1 Shows a perspective view of a quadrotor form of the unmanned aerial power plant drone Figure 2 Shows a birds eye view of a trirotor form of the power plant drone Figure 3 shows a birds eye view of an octorotor form of the unmanned aerial power plant drone 9 Figure 4 shows a wireless network comprised of two small miniature networks of aerial power plant drones Figure 5 shows a global network of miniature networks for energy production.

In figure 1 an aerial unmanned power plant drone comprised of a central body 1, with tiltrotors attached in a quadrotor formation 2. Each with a propulsion methodology and a rotatable shaft to allow for variable angles or forward/upward/angular thrust 3.

The power plant comprises one or more on-board energy generation technologies 4 and safety features 5. The wireless power transmission devices to transmit energy to a distribution grid and/or other power plants 6 are shown on the front of the plant.

In this figure, wind turbines are included on the propulsion shafts 7 or elsewhere on the device 8.

In figure 2 a birds eye view of an aerial unmanned power plant drone with a trirotor formation. The tiltrotors 1 are situated in a trirotor formation throughout the main body 2.

In figure 3 a birds eye view of an octorotor form of the aerial unmanned power plant drone. The tiltrotors 1 are again situated around the main body 2. As with the quadrotor form shown in figure 1, the octorotor form here and the trirotor form (figure 2), all the other components remain in the same place setting.

In figure 4 a diagram depicting a small network utilising two miniature network clusters 1 formed from multiple aerial unmanned power plant drones 2. All of these drones communicate and transfer energy wirelessly 3.

In figure 5 a diagram showing a global network for energy generation. With multiple aerial unmanned power plant drones forming many different clusters 1 around the Earth 2.

Claims

Claims 1. An unmanned aerial power plant drone designed for high altitude energy generation allowing for the use of one or multiple sources of energy generation technologies within a single unit.
2. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the platform allows for interchangeable sources of energy generation technologies to be installed in a "plug and play" functionality.
3. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where a portion of the energy produced within the plant is dedicated to the on-board propulsion technologies and systems
4. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the methods of propulsion are installed on a tiltrotor to allow for VTOL capabilities and propulsion at variable angles.
5. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the rotors can be aligned in a trirotor, quadrotor or octorotor formation.
6. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the power plant contains multiple safety features including solar/inflatable balloons and additional energy storage for times of low power generation
7. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the power plant is piloted remotely.
8. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 4, where wind turbines can be placed on the tiltrotor along with the propulsion methodology and/or on the main body of the power plant.
9. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 1, where the power plant transmits energy wirelessly allowing it to create a fully balanced electrical output at any time of the day.
10.An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 9, where the inclusion of wireless power transmission allows for a wireless network to be established across many kilometres around the Earth
11. An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 10, where the power plant can form one or more clusters or operate independently in order to form a large network for increased output capacity and greater redundancy.
12.An unmanned aerial power plant drone according to claim 11, where the power plant can allow for the creation of a global wireless network for high altitude energy generation.