Power generation depends on waves! Have you ever seen wave power generation?

Wave energy is a type of ocean energy that appears in the form of kinetic energy. Waves are formed by the wind on the sea surface blowing the sea water. The size of the waves depends on the strength, speed, duration and area of ​​the wind on the sea surface. The surging waves contain great energy, which enables the surface seawater molecules to obtain a certain amount of energy, and also contains kinetic energy and potential energy.

It is calculated that the waves moving on every square kilometer of the sea surface contain about 300,000 kilowatts of energy. The impact of waves on the coast can reach 20 to 30 tons per square meter. At present, scientists have not yet reached a recognized quantitative figure for the specific amount of wave energy stored in the world. In 1977, someone estimated that the global wave energy power was 70 billion kilowatts based on the average wave height of 1 meter and the period of 1 second in the world's oceans. Of this, about 2 to 3 billion kilowatts can be developed and utilized. In addition, Japanese experts estimated that Japan, which has a coastline of 13,000 kilometers, has 1.4 billion kilowatts of wave energy.

There is undoubtedly a huge amount of energy hidden in the waves, and all countries attach great importance to using this energy as a driving force for power generation. At present, the wave power generation devices that have been used can be roughly divided into three types in terms of working principles: one is to use the up and down movement of sea waves to generate air flow or water flow to rotate the turbine; one is to use the wave device to swing or rotate back and forth with the waves to generate air flow or water flow to rotate the turbine; and another is to turn low-pressure large waves into a small volume of high-pressure water, and then accumulate the water tide into a high-level water pool to form a water head, which is then used to stimulate the turbine to rotate.

Wave power generation devices are divided into two categories according to the location of use and installation: "ocean wave power generation devices" and "coastal wave power generation devices". The most common type of ocean wave power generation device is the buoy wave power generation device floating on the sea surface. This buoy wave power machine has a simple structure and relatively high efficiency, so current wave power generation devices are basically designed and manufactured based on this principle. At the same time, large-scale coastal fixed wave power stations can also be built on the coast based on this principle.

Wave energy is a huge energy existing in nature. The development of wave power generation technology requires little investment, has quick results, is pollution-free, and does not require raw material input. Therefore, it has attracted the attention of various countries, and it is unanimously believed that the rational development and utilization of wave energy has great practical value. At present, most countries are developing small wave power generation devices for use as power sources for navigation lights, buoys, etc. There are more than 1,500 in use in Japan alone. According to statistics, there are nearly 10,000 in operation around the world. Some countries have begun to develop medium and large wave power generation devices.

Author: Wang Min