Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Wind-solar desilter with autonomous renewable energy supply
Submission Author:
Gabriel Kimito Kiyohara , SP
Co-Authors:
Gabriel Kimito Kiyohara, Demetrio Cornilios Zachariadis, Mauro Tuyoshi Imamura Junior
Presenter: Gabriel Kimito Kiyohara
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0278
Abstract
Siltation or silting describes the accumulation of solid sediments in water courses, usually caused by natural soil erosion and intensified by human intervention. It is a phenomenon which affects all bodies of water both natural and artificial, degrading and reducing their working volume. The current techniques employed in its mitigation follow a corrective and intensive method, burning fuels whose costs tend to grow annually. In such a context, this paper presents the viability analysis of a desilting system for water reservoirs whose energy supply is obtained from wind turbines and solar panels. In doing so, the desilter aims for continual operation and preventive maintenance, instead of performing sporadic emergency reservoir cleansing. This change should decrease the negative effects of volume losses. It may also reduce costs with fuel logistics, enable a more well-planned sediment destination, and lower environmental impacts. The seasonal nature of such energy sources may not provide a constant power supply, but the usage of battery banks grants a stable feed for the pumps during the operation periods; and the relatively slow rates of volume loss allow a work planning aiming at an annual average silting mitigation. Information from Basic Sanitation Company of the State of Sao Paulo (Sabesp), about dredging operations, and data from pumping equipment manufacturers were used to create a mathematical model to estimate the flow performed by different arrangements of the system. Based on data on the wind and solar regimen informed by the Reference Center of Solar and Wind Energy Sérgio Brito (CRESESB) database, the annual performances for each arrangement were estimated. By comparing them with the average needs of some known reservoirs, from stabilization ponds (a type of passive sewage treatment station) to large dams, it was possible to dimension the number of units needed to prevent the working volume losses due to silting. The preliminary results show that a small wind-solar desilter equipped with a 1 hp pump could mitigate the siltation from up to four stabilization ponds with about 50 m³ of solid intake per year; about ten bigger units, each using a 10 hp pump, may be needed to keep a medium dam free from a 32.4 thousand m³ per year of solid particles intake. This innovative concept resulted in a patent application (BR 10 2020 016941 6) currently under examination by Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
Keywords
silting, desilting, windpower, photovoltaic
