US 11,898,530 B2
Reservoir-regulating digital load control
Ivar Lee Thorson, Portland, OR (US); Garth Alexander Sheldon-Coulson, Portland, OR (US); Brian Lee Moffat, Portland, OR (US); and Daniel William Place, Portland, OR (US)
Assigned to LONE GULL HOLDINGS, LTD., Portland, OR (US)
Appl. No. 17/642,214
Filed by LONE GULL HOLDINGS, LTD., Portland, OR (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 6, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/054443
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 10, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/071863, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 15, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/087,387, filed on Oct. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/004,299, filed on Apr. 2, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/911,932, filed on Oct. 7, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0316437 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
Int. Cl. F03B 13/06 (2006.01); H02J 15/00 (2006.01)
CPC F03B 13/06 (2013.01) [F05B 2220/705 (2020.08); F05B 2270/335 (2013.01); H02J 15/003 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A flow regulation system for regulating a flow of a fluid from an intermittently augmented fluid reservoir, comprising:
a fluid reservoir container;
an effluent conduit through which fluid is discharged from the fluid reservoir container;
a fluid turbine disposed in the effluent conduit;
a generator operatively connected to the fluid turbine for converting mechanical energy of the fluid turbine to electrical energy;
a power conditioning module electrically energized by the generator for altering voltage and current characteristics of electricity generated by the generator;
an electrical load electrically energized by the power conditioning module via an electrical load bus, the electrical load mounted to the fluid reservoir container and including digital computing circuits; and
a load manager configured to monitor an operational characteristic of the flow regulation system;
wherein the load manager responds to a change in said operational characteristic by sending a signal to alter one of: (1) a clock frequency of the electrical load, (2) a mean rate of digital switching operations of the electrical load, and (3) a current draw of the electrical load;
wherein an increase in the current draw of the electrical load causes an increase in the resistive torque of the generator, thereby inhibiting the rotation of the fluid turbine, for regulating a flow rate of discharge from the fluid reservoir container;
wherein the flow regulation system is buoyant and floats adjacent to an upper surface of a body of water;
wherein fluid is discharged from the flow regulation system via a first effluent conduit configured to discharge fluid in a first direction approximately parallel to the upper surface of the body of water; and
wherein fluid discharged from the flow regulation system generates thrust to move the system across the upper surface of the body of water.