By Michael MacMillan
Getting a newly patented invention off the ground is hard work. Even if the idea is sound, there are no guarantees that financial backers will bite.
Few know this better than Joe Sieber, a retired engineer-turned inventor from Ontario now living in the small, picturesque British Columbia town of Qualicum Beach. Sieber spent most of his career in the municipal utility industry, including North York Hydro and Brampton Hydro. He moved to B.C. after retiring in 1994. For years Sieber looked to the world's oceans and saw vast but untapped sources of energy. Frustrated with the lack of alternative energy development in North America, he decided to enlist his own engineering skills for the cause. "I tend to be mechanically inclined, and I enjoy tinkering at things, finding solutions to problems," he said.
By 1992 he completed his first design for a wave-powered generator. And within 18 months he received U.S. patents for his invention. For Sieber, who has always been interested in alternative energy, achieving the patents completed the first part of a lifelong dream. "When I used to visit cottage country in Ontario and I watched the boats go up and down on the waves, it became evident to me how much energy was involved in waves, a lot of buoyant energy," he recalled.
Sieber is hardly the first person to recognize the ocean's potential as an unlimited source of energy. It is an old idea, dating back to the appearance of the first water mill. Today it is possible to generate large amounts of electricity from the seas. Here in Canada, a small portion of the Bay of Fundy is converted daily into commercial electrical energy in the only tidal power plant in the Western Hemisphere just outside of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The peak output of the Annapolis Basin generator is 20 MW, or about one per cent of Nova Scotia's total electrical power capacity. Great leaps in tidal technology have also been made in Europe. In the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, two countries blessed with an abundance of water and coastlines, extensive research is being conducted into the various forms of ocean generation.
Yet, taken as a whole, ocean energy has failed to mimic the inroads made by solar and wind power. Especially in North America, with its abundant and inexpensive hydro power, the notion of ocean power is still largely foreign. This, combined with high cost, low power yield and still-developing technology, has kept tidal energy at the fringes of alternative generation.
Sieber is only too aware of this stigma. Most potential backers turned him down in large part because they are not accustomed to thinking of the ocean as a possible source of energy. The solution, he said, is making more people aware of how his system works.
Typically, producing ocean energy uses wave action to force air between blades on the perimeter of some sort of floating or grounded structure. This air is then run through air turbines that rotate at a shaft connected to an electrical generator.
What makes his system different from more common wave devices is its fundamental design. His invention consists of a series of connected floating devices designed to capture the energy from the undulating surface, the "buoyant" energy of the ocean, rather than larger tidal motions or surface waves. The stages are also arranged differently. "Most of the stuff I have seen or heard of dealt with parallel devices," he explained. "Unfortunately, when they are parallel, they fight each other. They prevent the others from kicking in." Parallel systems operate together in a single stage, taking in fluid and sending it to the same reservoir. To fix problems related with this method, he designed his system to operate in a "series" design, with a unique means of coupling that allows each stage to operate totally independent of the previous stage or following. The theory is simple; maxium energy should be captured at the first stage. Sieber attains this maximum through several low-pressure increments. Think of it as a sort of assembly line, where each stage increases the air pressure to the point where it can create a worthwhile amount of energy.
"Suppose you have a floating device, which contains a rod and piston," he said. "The water, which rises as the ocean rolls forces the floating device up, thereby forcing the piston to operate and increasing the air pressure. This goes on and eventually the air pressure inside the manifold is 10 lbs. per square inch. Now the air flows onto the next piston, and the 10 lbs. per square inch becomes 20 lbs. per square inch, and so on." Each stage begins at its own ambient pressure, and does not affect any of the other stages.
The focus, then, is on energy rather than achieving maxium perssure in a single stage. "It is like getting 1000 MW from 10 lbs. per square inch, as opposed to 10 MW for 1000 lbs. per square inch," he added.
Each generating unit is made up of three elements. First is a manifold containing a piston and cylinder device (as shown in Figure 3) that is attached to a floating device that also acts a the reservoir for that stage. This in turn is attached to a submerged device in the form of a reaction plate to overcome great anchoring depths and to adapt to tides (unless it sits in relatively shallow seas). A pipe connects the the reaction plate to the piston, which is itself firmly attached to the end of the piston rod.
Highly efficient one-way valves keep the increasingly pressurized air moving, ensuring that each stage operates independently. The air only moves from stage A to stage B when the pressure in cylinder A is equal to that of reservoir B. In this manner, the air travels onward until it achieves the target pressure. Sieber said the final stage could take many forms, once of which could be a large central reservoir where the pressurized air can be stored. Thus, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, maximum air pressure yields maximum energy.
Highly pressurized air is a valuable resource that can serve a wide range of purposes. It can be used to spin air turbines, creating energy for homes and businesses. The turbines could also power a "reverse osmosis" system, the process that transforms saltwater into drinkable water. According to Sieber, the floating generators are not only environmentally neutral, they can even be beneficial.
"I recently attended a seminar at Washington State University where they talked about the development of a car that runs on liquid hydrogen. I thought to myself, 'imagine that, we can take fuel, and make more fuel'," he said. The structure itself could even act as an artificial breakwater, calming harbor waters and slowing the process of beach and coastline erosion.
Sieber's most promising feedback so far came from Washington, D.C.. In 1994, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), operating under the Department of Commerce, took serious interest in Sieber's patents. The NIST reviews new energy generation systems, and studies their feasibility and cleanliness. While his invention did make it to the final testing stage (95 per cent of submissions do not), the Department ultimately decided to pass. A representative wrote Sieber and told him that while the idea was sound, they could not completely grasp his system of "independent stages." Sieber was disappointed.
"They obviously misunderstood," he said. "They said, well, we do not see how each stage can work independently. It is surprising, because that is the most obvious conclusion."
He thought that building a prototype might help his cause. By his own conservative calculations, he would need Cdn. $100,000 to build a proper model. So he did the next best thing; he went about constructing a crude model using forty-five gallon plastic drums. He has only tested it once since building it, but hopes he can make another attempt soon. "I would like to bring it out, but it is heavy, and I am not physically able to do it," he explained.
Response to his system so far has been lukewarm, but he thinks that is mostly due to widespread ignorance of ocean-based generation systems. "Usually they say 'this looks interesting, but we are not really in this business'," he said, referring to the standard response of potential backers and energy industry insiders.
Still, Sieber remains optimistic. Engineers at one utility have taken an interest in his schematics, and may be taking a closer look at it later this year to see if it can be used as a generation option And as conventional generation comes under attack in Ontario and Alberta, attitudes toward new form of generation are changing. He is convinced that it is only a matter of time before he finds the funding he needs.
"I'm confident that when people get a good look at my schematic, they will walk away convinced."
Anyone interested in contacting Mr. Sieber can do so by reaching the Editor at E-mail: hq@electricityforum.com ET