CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the US national phase filing of, and claims the priority benefit of, PCT application PCT/US2017/060715, filed Nov. 8, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention is in the field of electrical energy storage and generation devices.

Description of the Related Art

Buildings and other facilities require substantial amounts of electrical power, often at least 50 kilowatts, 100 kilowatts, or more. Although traditionally, such buildings are often supplied by commercial power plants through the standard electrical grid, such power is not always consistent. Electrical power from the grid is typically subjected to non-uniform pricing, where some hours of the day or days of the week are subjected to extra charges. Additionally, transient interruptions can occur. Thus there is a high interest in systems that can provide more uniform electrical power at lower costs.

Although alternative energy sources, such as photovoltaic solar cells, storage batteries, and the like are commonly used, such systems are not without their own problems. Solar cells, of course, can rapidly lose power in the presence of clouds and rain, and are of course useless at night. Storage batteries, although improved in recent years, still suffer from a limited number of charge and discharge cycles, as well as a limited ability to provide very high amounts of power. Thus improved methods to manage electrical energy are desirable.

Flywheel energy storage methods are known in the art. However due to various limitations, such flywheel energy storage systems have not become popular.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based, in part, on the insight that further improvements in the art of flywheel design for electrical energy storage and generation could help overcome some of the limitations of present designs. In particular, improved methods of managing how power is applied to such flywheels, how power is tapped from such flywheels, and alternative flywheel designs are disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the invention may be an energy (e.g. electrical energy) management device. This will in turn be comprised of at least one rotary flywheel electric energy management device comprising two shafts that are connected together to form a single composite shaft. Each individual shaft will typically comprise a smaller circumference end and a larger circumference end. The smaller circumference ends of these shafts are typically suspended on low friction bearings, preferably magnetic bearings. These two individual shafts are configured to join together at their larger circumference ends to form at least one cavity that encases a flywheel mass. This flywheel mass will typically be of substantial weight, usually in excess of 100 pounds, such as 400 pounds or more, and the radius of the flywheel will often be on the order of a foot or more, such that at high rotational speeds, the flywheel can store a substantial amount of rotational kinetic energy.

This flywheel mass will typically comprise a plurality of permanent magnets arranged so that the magnetic poles of these magnets are either disposed along the axis of rotation of the flywheel (axial configuration) or are disposed along the radius of the flywheel (radial configuration).

These shafts are typically further surrounded by or are in contact with at least one stator. This at least one stator will typically comprise a plurality of magnetic pickup coils arranged and electrically connected in a stator configuration, and configured so the shafts and the corresponding flywheel mass can rotate freely within or next to each at least one stator. The various magnetic pickup coils and the at least one stator are typically further configured so that when the flywheel mass rotates, changing magnetic fields from the high speed movement of the plurality of permanent magnets causes electrical current to flow within the various magnetic pickup coils and thus through the at least one stator as well. The invention will typically also comprise at least one electric motor (which in some configurations may also function as an electrical generator) that is configured to apply torque, often via magnetic coupling, to at least one smaller circumference end of at least one said shaft. This torque is used to spin the shaft and the flywheel mass to high rotational speeds, often thousands of rotations per minute (RPM) or more.

Each of the one or more rotary flywheel electric energy management devices used in the invention may be further configured to store input electrical energy as flywheel rotational kinetic energy, and to convert said flywheel rotational kinetic energy into output electrical energy, according to the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, the invention (system) may be used in a smart-grid interactive kinetic energy generator and storage device, system and method. More specifically, in some embodiments, the invention may be a device, system and method for maximizing the efficiency and operations of electric motors of various kinds, connected both in series and in parallel. Although not intended to be limiting, as a specific example of how the invention may be used, various building (facility) electrical power management examples will often be used.

The system may further employ interleaved motor and generator combinations that may use magnetic bearings, multifilar windings, and back EMF collection systems to efficiently provide electrical power under a variety of rapidly changing power supply and demand conditions.

In some embodiments, the system may also use microprocessors, custom software algorithms, and programmable electronic control systems to monitor and command all aspects of power supply, duration and timing between multiple stators on multiple motors, as well as between multiple stators on multiple generators.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention's software algorithms work with the invention's hardware to adjust supply to demand in real time wherever the load is located, or wherever generators are located. The system can also rapidly adjust demand loads to supply availability if conditions warrant such actions.

The invention described herein can further comprise a single motor powering a device, a generator supplying electricity, or it can also comprise multiples of such motors and generators. The combination of motor and generator, as described herein, is occasionally termed a “genset”.

In some embodiments, the invention's gensets can be connected together (in series, parallel or series-parallel) to supply sufficient electricity to power an entire facility's varying electrical load. In some embodiments, a number of gensets can be configured in numerous ways to provide redundancy, capacity and availability while ensuring maximum overall system efficiency is achieved.

Additional types of optional associated infrastructure, such as energy storage systems, tracking systems for solar photovoltaic, panels, cooling pumps, heat-exchangers and devices can also be monitored and controlled using the systems and methods described herein.

