COOLING COASTAL WATERS

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for transporting cool water from the deep regions of the oceans to the shallow waters of the shoreline by a network of, for example, onsite manufactured FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) pipes and pumps. This water displacement lowers the temperature of the shallow water region to a desired level. To implement this method, a long pipe is laid over the seabed, extending from the shallow regions to a desired depth of the ocean where the water is cooler and cleaner than the shallow waters. A mechanical and/or an electrical water pump is then attached to either end of the pipe. The water pump, preferably energized by the water surface waves, will constantly pump the cooler and cleaner water from the depth of the ocean to the shallow waters, reducing the temperature and contamination of shallow waters.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This Non-Provisional Patent Application is related to the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/355,505, entitled “3D PRINTED PIPE,” filed on 28 Jun. 2016 and the U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 15/684,928, entitled “ONSITE REAL-TIME MANUFACTURING OF LONG CONTINUOUS JOINTLESS PIPES,” filed on 23 Aug. 2017, the disclosures of both of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. This application also claims the benefit of the priority date of the U.S. Provisional Patent Applications No. 62/544,424, entitled “INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGING ENGINEERING PROBLEMS,” filed on 11 Aug. 2017.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates generally to altering the temperature of large volumes of water in oceans. More specifically, this application relates to a method for decreasing the temperature of the coastal waters and preventing the extinction of coral reefs.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, many changes in the environment have been attributed to global warming. News of rise in sea water elevation due to melting of glaciers, excessive rain, snow or draught and abnormally hot or cold days have been attributed to this phenomenon. One of the major negative impacts of global warming is the bleaching of corals. In particular, the coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a site that has been designated as a UNESCO Heritage Site, have been bleaching at an alarming rate. Scientists have determined that the main cause of this death of corals is a 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit rise in the water temperature in the shallow reef regions. Another factor cited is the acidification of water which is caused by high CO₂ levels in the atmosphere. The CO₂ gas also mixes with the water and changes the water chemistry such that it is harmful for the survival of the coral.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings, when considered in connection with the following description, are presented for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected.

FIG. 1 illustrates laying of an infinite-pipe on the seabed, according to one embodiment of the disclosed methods;

FIG. 2 shows an example method of constructing an infinite-pipe;

FIG. 3 shows an example system of transporting water from the depth of the ocean to its shallow regions; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example mechanical pump that is powered by the rise and fall of the surface water of the ocean.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present disclosure is described with reference to several illustrative embodiments described herein, it should be clear that the present disclosure should not be limited to such embodiments. Therefore, the description of the embodiments provided herein is illustrative of the present disclosure and should not limit the scope of the disclosure as claimed. In addition, while the following description references specific method of manufacturing an infinite pipe and a specific method of pumping the water, it will be appreciated that the disclosure may include other methods of manufacturing an infinite pipe and other means and methods for pumping the water to which the disclosed methods also apply.

Briefly described, the disclosed method is a unique economical and sustainable way to stop and reverse the bleaching process. It is well known that there is an abundance of cooler water at deeper depths of ocean near the reefs. These deep waters are not only cooler in temperature, but also have not been subject to the acidification that has affected the shallow waters in the reef regions. The present method transports the cool water from the nearby deep regions of oceans with a network of, for example, onsite manufactured FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) pipes and pumps this water through the shallower reef zones, thereby lowering the temperature of the reef region to a level that is no longer harmful to the corals.

To implement this method, a long pipe is laid over the seabed, extending from the shallow regions to a desired depth of the ocean where the water is cooler and cleaner than the shallow waters. A mechanical or an electrical water pump is then attached to the pipe in the depth of the ocean or in the shallow waters or in between. The water pump will constantly pump the cooler and cleaner water from the depth of the ocean to the shallow waters, reducing the temperature and contamination of shallow waters.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a continuous pipe 130 is constructed on a barge, boat, ship 110, etc. and as it is being manufactured, it is laid on the seabed. During the manufacturing and laying of pipe 130, barge 110 moves in the direction 120, substantially at the same rate as the pipe 130 is being made. In various embodiments a cantilevered mandrel 100 of desired diameter, as shown in detail in FIG. 2, is used to build the pipe 130. It is anticipated that such undertaking may require pipes that can be as large as 8 to 20 feet in diameter, making it impractical and cost-prohibitive to use the traditional short segments of off-site manufactured pipes for this application.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, various layers of resin-saturated fabrics of glass, carbon, basalt, Kevlar, etc. are wrapped around the mandrel. These products are commonly referred to as Fiber Reinforced Polymer or FRP products. In some embodiments, one or more layers of a spacer material such as foam, honeycomb plastic sheets or 3D fabric or Coremat® (supplied by the Dutch company Lantor) may also be used in the construction of the pipe. Different layers of the continuous pipe may be wrapped using, for example, different kinds of robots and/or rotating arms. The layers of FRP can be applied in a continuous helical manner or as individual circular overlapping rings around the mandrel.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method and apparatus 200 for real-time manufacturing of an infinite-length pipe 222. FIG. 2 shows a mold or mandrel 202 that represents the desired size and shape of the pipe being manufactured and that is attached to a base 204 to form a cantilever. The base 204 itself is fixed to a barge. In another embodiment, the base may be supported on wheels or rollers to allow small movement of the cantilever and base assembly relative to the barge. Such combination can accommodate both large movements (by the barge) and smaller fine-tune movements (by the wheels or rollers). Those skilled in the art will realize that the cross-section of the mandrels and manufactured pipes need not be circular and can have any desired geometric shape, such as oval, square or polygon.

A rotating member 206 spins around the mandrel 202 only in one direction. In some embodiments the rotating member 206 may be replaced by manual labor. In the example depicted in FIG. 2, the rotating member 206 revolves counter-clockwise around the mandrel 202 and is free to move towards both ends of the mandrel 202. In some embodiments the rotating member 206 may rotate clockwise and in other embodiments one or more rotating members 206 may revolve both clockwise and counter-clockwise. In various embodiments the rotating member 206 may not move in the direction of the axis of the mandrel 202. The rotating member 206 is attached to one or more arm 208, each of which carries a spool 210 of FRP and/or 3D fabric strips 214 and 216, for example. As schematically illustrated, the fabric strips 214 and 216 are impregnated by resin while passing by brushes 218 and 220, respectively. Those skilled in the art recognize that the impregnation of the strips 214 and 216 may be achieved by several other means such as soaking the strips with resin after the strips 214 and 216 are wound around the mandrel 202 or while still on the spools 210, or spraying the strips with resin while being wound. Another method commonly referred to as “prepreg” is to saturate the strips 214 and 216 with a resin prior to winding them around the spools 210.

The windings over the mandrel are helical and each turn may overlap a previous one. In practice, for example, the strips may be 2 foot wide and have 6 inch overlap. In various examples only the overlapping part of the strips 214 and 216 may be impregnated by resin so that the resin is not smeared on the mandrel or be wasted. In some embodiments one layer of fabric may have overlapped strip turns while another layer may not have any overlaps. In other embodiments both layers may not have any overlap. For example in FIG. 2, the turns of strip 214 may be overlapped while the turns of strip 216 may lay adjacent to each other without any overlap.

In some embodiments the angular speed of the rotating member 206 is automatically controlled to be a function of the barge's linear speed such that the speed of the discharged pipe 222 with respect to the barge is substantially the same as the speed of the barge with respect to the surface on which the pipe is laid. While the rotating member cannot go back and forth over the wound strips and can only wind in one direction, it is free to move along the axis of the mandrel 202 to compensate for the sudden changes of the speed of the barge, if needed. However, assuming that the speed of the barge is constant or gradually changing, the rotating member 206 will be rotating at the same location over the mandrel 202. In those embodiment in which the rotating member 206 does not have any linear motion over the mandrel 202, a closed-loop control system with more complicated feedback and more complicated control signal may be needed to keep the winding uniform throughout the pipe.

Another example control system is controlling the angular speed of the rotating member 206 in a negative feedback loop wherein the input is a desired location of the rotating member 206 on the mandrel 202 and, for example, the linear speed of the pipe 222 with respect to the mandrel 202 is fed back. Such control systems are known to those skilled in the art. Other control systems may also be envisioned to at least keep the rate of fabricating a pipe 222 the same as the rate of discharging of the pipe from the mandrel 202.

The rotating member 206 may carry one or several coils or spools 210 of the same or different materials. In the preferred embodiment it carries a single spool of a two or three dimensional fabric. In different embodiments, to speed up the curing process of the resin, the mandrel 202 may be heated, may have perforations on its surface for hot air or gas to be pumped through, may illuminate ultra-violate light, or the like. In other embodiments, not shown in FIG. 2, the heating or light may be provided by an external device positioned around the outside of the mandrel. In other embodiments the resin may be a fast curing resin which cures within a few minutes. One such resin is supplied by QuakeWrap, Inc. (Tucson, Ariz.) and cures fully in 3 minutes if heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In various embodiments the full curing of the pipe may continue for a while after removal from the mandrel.

In various embodiments the mandrel can be heated to expedite the curing of the resin and making the pipe solid. Electrical heaters, burning gas, circulating hot oil, steam, UV rays, etc. are some of the means that can be used to heat the mandrel and/or the FRP. The mandrel temperature can be maintained at a fixed high level or it can be raised and lowered on demand to facilitate rapid curing of the FRP and making of the pipe. The mandrel can also include a small taper at the free end, allowing the finished and at least partially-cured portion of the pipe to be slipped off the mandrel and keeping a portion of the pipe on the mandrel while it continues to wrap additional layers of FRP and build a pipe that is as long as it is necessary. It should be noted that because this pipe is submerged in the water there will be substantially equal pressure on both inside and outside of the pipe. Therefore, the pipe can be constructed with a very thin wall perhaps less than half inch in thickness. This makes the pipe very economical and it is yet another reason why conventional pipes that are manufactured offside and have much thicker walls should not be used for this application.

In another embodiment, there may be additional heating elements such as an oven or heaters that are placed beyond the free end of the mandrel. This allows the partially cured pipe that is coming off of the mandrel to be subjected to further heating and cuing before the pipe is fully cured and pushed into water.

As the pipe is constructed and is slipped off the mandrel it is gradually pushed into the water, allowing the end of the pipe to rest in the shallow reef region. At the same time the barge or the ship where the pipe is being made gradually moves away from the reef, allowing the finished pipe to sink in the ocean. As shown in FIG. 3, once the manufacturing of the pipe 310 is completed, there will be a very long piece of large diameter pipe resting at the bottom of the ocean. One end of this pipe will be in the shallow region where the water temperature is high and the other end of the pipe will be in the deeper parts of the ocean where the water temperature is typically much colder. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, a water-pump 320 is attached, for example, to the end of the pipe 310 in deep waters. This pump pushes the deep water upward towards the shoreline shallow waters.

In order to make the proposed system sustainable and energy-efficient, it is best to develop and utilize technologies that do not rely on electricity and electrical power that is generated on land and has to be transferred to points near the deep end of the pipe. Several such concepts are described in the following paragraphs although many other technologies are also available and can be utilized for this application. However, in some embodiments the necessary energy for pumping the water will be supplied from the surrounding land.

To push the water from the deep cold region to the warm shallow portions of the ocean several techniques can be employed. In one of the techniques shown in FIG. 3, Wave Energy Converters (WEC) 330 can be used to generate electricity from the waves in the ocean. This electricity can be used to power the pumps 320 which will be placed inside or near the pipe to push the water through the pipe. In June 2017, the United States Department of Energy announced up to $12 million in new projects to support the development of innovative technologies capable of generating reliable and cost-effective electricity from U.S. water resources. These projects will advance marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy technologies, which can harness energy from the oceans and rivers. These technologies and similar ones that are available worldwide can be used as a renewable and green/sustainable energy sources to provide the power needed to push or pull the water through these pipes. In another embodiment an electrical pump can be used and solar panels placed in close proximity to the pump can produce the electrical power required to operate the pump.

In other embodiments, mechanical pumps and plungers, such as the one depicted in FIG. 4, can be used to take advantage of the surface wave action and mechanically operate plungers to push the water through the pipe 480. Such devices may operate with or without the need for any electrical power. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the water pump 400 is attached by chain 470 to the hollow pontoon 460 which can move up and down as it rides the waves. Upon upward movement of pontoon 460, piston 420 is pulled upward and the water trapped in cylinder 410 exits unidirectional water valve 450 into the pipe 480. Upon downward movement of pontoon 460, piston 420 is pushed downward by the spring 490 and the ocean water, which can enter cylinder 410 through opening 430, will move to the other side of piston 420 through the unidirectional water valve 440. In short, each time the pontoon 460 moves downward, water is trapped in cylinder 410 and each time the pontoon 460 moves upward the trapped water is pushed into pipe 480.

In some embodiments, the difference in the specific weight of the warm and cold water (due to the difference in the temperature) can be used to create a syphon action that will assist with the flow of the water. This system too, may be operated with or without the need for electricity. In various embodiments the transfer of the water from the deep side or cold side to the shallow side or warm side may be achieved by pumping water from either or both ends of the pipe or from anywhere in between using a push or pull (suction) principle.

In various embodiments attachments can be added to the long piece of the pipe at the shallow end and/or the deep end. For example, at the shallow end of the pipe manifolds that contain many pipes of smaller diameters can be formed to disperse the water from the large pipe into these small pipes and thereby reduce the speed at which the water exists the large pipe. This will certainly be beneficial to the corals and will minimize the disturbance to the coral reef that may be produced by turbulence of a large volume of water being discharged from a large diameter pipe. On the deep side of the pipe, there is a possibility of a large fish, creature or debris entering the pipe; however, various types of screens and meshes can be installed on the deep end of the pipe to make sure that these creatures cannot accidentally enter the pipe.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the proposed system may require a large number of pipes constructed according to this disclosure. These pipes may be spaced several hundred feet apart from one another throughout the region to make sure that sufficient water is introduced in the shallow regions to reduce the temperature of the shallow waters. Based on the difference in the temperature of the water between the cold and the warm region, the volume of the water in the shallow region that has to be displaced, and the frequency of time for replacing the water, engineers can calculate the required diameter of the pipe, the size and speed of operation of the pump, the number of pipes and the spacing between adjacent pipes, the number of hours of operation of the pump in a 24-hour cycle, etc.

In some embodiments it may be required to secure the lightweight pipe along its length at or near the bottom of the ocean to prevent any movement. This can be achieved by many means. In some embodiments, straps made from steel or others nonmetallic materials can be used to go around the pipe and secure the pipe to the ocean floor. In other embodiments, concrete blocks can be used to hold the pipe in place.

In various embodiments, the techniques described here transfer water from the deep end parts of the ocean to the shallow parts. As mentioned before, the water in the deep parts of the ocean is not subject to acidification as is the water in the shallow parts of the ocean. Therefore, the deep waters are much healthier and more beneficial for the growth of corals. Consequently, all methods described here are very effective in eliminating the destruction of the corals that has party resulted from acidification of water in the shallow portions of the ocean.

It is emphasized that while most of the description here is concerned with global warming and bleaching of coral reefs, the disclosed methods have applications in other situations and contexts as well. For example, in some applications in cold regions, the surface of the ocean or lake maybe frozen. It may be beneficial to transfer the water from the bottom of the lake or ocean to the top surface. In these cases, that water at the bottom of the ocean or lake is typically warmer than the frozen water on the top surface, the deep waters can be used to heat the water at or near the top surface of the lake.

Although not described in detail, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the pipes described here must be designed to carry the pressure of the water safely including the effects of the wave action on the pipe. For such purpose the number and orientation of the fibers in the various layers of FRP can be designed to provide the required strength for the pipe in both longitudinal as well as hoop or transverse directions.

Those skilled in the art realize that pipes can have a smooth interior surface to reduce friction losses. The proposed FRP pipe will have a very smooth surface and therefore it will have minimal losses due to friction. Furthermore, the FRP materials used in these pipes are non-corroding. Therefore, the pipe will not corrode and will offer a very long service life with zero or minimal maintenance cost.

Changes can be made to the claimed invention in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the claimed invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the claimed invention disclosed herein.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the claimed invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).

Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A method of transporting water from a deep part of a large body of water to a shallow part of the large body of water, the method comprising:

submerging a long pipe in the large body of water from the shallow water parts to the deep water parts;

connecting at least a water-pump to the pipe at a desired location along the length of the pipe; and

pulling or pushing the water through the pipe from the deep part of the large body of water to the shallow part of the large body of water by the water-pump.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the long pipe is laid over the bottom of the large body of water.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pump is operated by wave energy.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pump is mechanical, electrical or electromechanical.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy for operating the water-pump is not supplied from surrounding land.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pipe is made of FRP products.

7. A method of protecting bleaching of coral reefs due to increase in temperature of shallow waters, the method comprising pumping cold water from cold water regions into shallow waters to decrease the temperature of the shallow waters.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a long pipe is laid from the shallow waters to the cold waters in order to transport water from cold water regions into shallow waters.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein a pump pushes or pulls the cold water from the cold water region to the shallow waters.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the pump is mechanical, electrical or electromechanical.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the pipe is made of FRP products.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein energy for operating the pump is not supplied from surrounding land.

13. A method of transporting water from a first location to a second location, the method comprising: pulling or pushing the water through a pipe laid between the first and the second locations wherein the pipe is manufactured onsite by helically wrapping a strap of resin-impregnated fabric around a cantilevered mandrel and continuously offloading the wrapped pipe from the open end of the mandrel at a same rate as the pipe is formed on the mandrel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the energy for the pulling or pushing the water is obtained from water waves.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the pipe is laid over the bottom of the large body of water.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the pulling or pushing of the water is accomplished by a pump that is operated by wave energy.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the pump is mechanical, electrical or electromechanical.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the pipe is made of FRP products.