FLASH--May 18, 2008--2 whales with cuts "apparently caused by a boat propeller" headed upriver from San Francisco !
NEWS ITEMS elsewhere--swimmers cut/gashed/killed by boat propellers. Accidents happen. But,
Wouldn't have happened if boats had used Ribbon Drive propulsors with their motors-- a shrouded, double vane of helical coils, NOT multiple blades flailing away at the water [and at marine life or swimmers ].
SCIENCE SUMMARY: Since 1999 the Ribbon Drive propulsor--a shrouded, stretched series of coils--has been corkscrewing into the forward wall of water, BORING into it, PULLING ahead. The outer cylinder PREVENTS high energy water from mixing with low energy water until the exit. More ENERGY is added at each coil, increasing exit THRUST out the back. The changing coil angles and continuous vane MINIMIZE cavitation.
RIBBON DRIVE includes:
SAFER, QUIETER MARINE PROPULSION DRIVE
Industrial SCRUBBER, Pump that separates contaminants, including ECO-friendly "Fish Ladder"
Stainless steel prototype, operational, central design, 2nd generation
Stainless steel, entry end, central design; auxiliary flow side inlet ducts visible.
Ribbon Drive Propulsor in nacelle [George Retseck illustration]
Typical installation under or behind hull of watercraft or ship. Cylinder focuses the water energy. Water entering at left is speeded up more by each coil further out. Ducts [wheel and hollow spoke appearance] channel extra water from outer slipstream into inner thrust stream near the exit end. This increases exit stream volume and thrust like a turbofan on a jet engine, and reduces cavitation to near zero.
How is this technology special?
INCREASED THRUST / EXIT PRESSURE / VELOCITY -- without requiring high RPM's for propulsion or pumping. Functions not unlike the Turbofan of some jet fighters, where ambient air is ducted into the jet engine toward the exit end.
ATTACK THE FRONT WALL OF WATER with a corkscrew action. Multiple, sequential planes keep "grabbing" at the water in front, not just one level of plane with the 3 or 4 blades all on that same plane which the blades slice into.
MINIMIZES CAVITATION -- less noise, less corrosion
CONSERVES ENERGY--attention, boat and ship owners:
the same velocity with less fuel, or higher velocity from the usual amount of fuel.
lightweight materials
varying coil angles-->
add incremental force for propulsion or pumping
side ducts:
for adding liquid inside to increase exit thrust/ volume in propulsion
for pumping, add chemicals used in scrubbing exhaust gases / mixing in from the side/ manufacturing
outer containment cylinder:
to separate external low-energy water from inner high-energy water during acceleration
The inventions herein are protected under patents registered USPTO #6,431,926; 6,357,998; 6,527,520; 6.592,335; and patents registered or pending abroad.
< [website revised January 2010 ] >
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Click on this link to go to the Popular Mechanics article on the stealth drive by Fluidmotive in the June 2003 issue.
