Abstract

Development of Renewable Energy should be based on friendly sources of Nature without burning of fossil like oil, gas and coal. That’s why the forces of wind, waves and tidal, Sun radiation energy are involved intensively in the recent time for powering of “green technologies” in practice.

The gravity is absolutely universal and super reliable source of force on our planet, it does exist everywhere and all the time, and is very attractive for converting into mechanical and electrical power. The combination of gravity with water (as working medium) and water wheel (as prime mover) has become the paradigm of hydropower.

However another flowing masses can be used as carriers of kinetic energy for doing of useful works by gravity powered new original prime movers. This paper presents a new approach to converting a gravity force into mechanical power in non-traditional manner different from rotational output motion. A new prime mover as Discrete Power Converter (DPC or Kornich machine) has been invented, designed and tested.

As result the feasibility of new concept was proved for further development and full scale prototyping. DPC is a symmetrical compound machine which combines in vertical plane the upper rocking feeder (as channel of working medium) and lower rocking lever-beam with two self-emptied buckets on the its opposite ends.

Having their pivots on the same vertical axis both rocking levers are connected by two mechanical cross-type feedbacks allowing their automatic and periodical up-and-down motion (as mechanical relaxation oscillator). The working medium (any free-flowing mass, including water) is moved by gravity through machine from top to bottom and provides the switching of rocking lever-beam between high and low position.

Thus DPC generates of periodical reciprocating strokes of lever-beam in vertical plane and reversible rotation of its horizontal shaft. Both lever-beam and central shaft can be loaded mechanically at the same time. This principle of automatic operation of DPC can be used in design of innovative machinery powered directly by flows of alternative working medium (as slurry, gravel, brine, sand, etc) without any fuel or electricity.

Thanking to simplicity of construction and low cost of materials the DPC can be manufactured easy in regular mechanical shop in remote area by local manpower. Therefore this concept may be attractive enough for Renewable Energy projects (in agriculture and crop processing machinery, irrigation and pump storage, mechanical desalination and water filtering) in less developed countries.

Key Words: Renewable Energy, gravity force, prime mover, mechanical feedback, relaxation oscillator, compound machine, rocking lever, Discrete Power Converter, working medium, mechanical self-oscillator.