Energy Self-supporting Performance Research And System Design Of Thermal Energy Profile Float

Buoyancy propulsion vehicle is a kind of underwater vehicle which can adjust net buoyancy to achieve profile motion under water.At present,mature buoyancy propulsion vehicles,such as profile buoys,underwater gliders,mostly use electric energy.Due to limited battery capacity and increasingly complex observation tasks,buoyancy propulsion vehicle has gradually encountered the energy bottleneck,and seeking efficient and reliable energy supply has become an urgent problem to be solved for profiler.The ocean thermal energy is abundant and stable,and its conversion and utilization process is synchronized with the movement of the buoyancy propulsion vehicle.Therefore,utilizing thermal energy is one of the technical approaches to solve the energy supply problem for the buoyancy propulsion vehicle.In view of the energy supply problem encountered by the buoyancy propulsion vehicle,this paper developed a new vehicle which can realize buoyancy driving and power generation by utilizing the thermal energy,namely,the thermal energy profile float,combining with the research status utilizing the thermal energy.An energy balance model was established for the float prototype,and the influence of navigation parameters on its self-supporting performance was analyzed,and relevant experiments were carried out for its power generation system.The main research achievements and innovations of this paper are as follows.1.By combining the phase change driving technology and power generation technology with thermal energy,the thermal energy profile float prototype is developed that can realize buoyancy driving and power generation by ocean thermal energy.The float could collect and utilize the ocean thermal energy and realize energy self-supporting,which provides a new technical scheme for breaking through the energy bottleneck of current buoyancy propulsion vehicles.2.Based on the thermal energy profile float prototype,its system energy flow is analyzed in detail,and its energy balance model are successively established.On the basis of the energy balance model,the energy self-supporting rate is defined to evaluate the float self-supporting performance,and main factors affecting the selfsupporting performance are pointed out.And the influence of key parameters on the self-supporting performance is analyzed emphatically,and the followed adjusting parameter law is summarized.First,the self-supporting rate could be improved by increasing thermal engine number,but the impact on the float structure should be considered.Secondly,the driving pressure needs to be adjusted to ensure that the diving speed is in the appropriate range,and the depth should reach more than 900 m.Besides,its self-supporting rate could be effectively improved by increasing precharge pressure and power generation pressure.3.In the end,a simulated temperature variation platform was set up to simulate the real ocean temperature variation,and the laboratory test of thermal engine was conducted on the platform.The result verified that oil output capacity of the thermal engine already meets the requirement.Besides,a sea trial was carried out on the power generation system prototype to verify its technical reliability and environmental adaptability in the real ocean environment,and these related technologies can provide reliable technical support for the thermal energy profile float.