Daya Senanayake waits 3 years for a patent that could produce cheap energy from the sea
Many who submit their inventions to the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPOSL), for patent rights complain that they are compelled to wait for more than three years to obtain it.
There are also complaints of leakage of these exclusive formulas despite the exclusive rights and those who obtain these formulas fraudulently manufacture the products. Thus the patent owner loses the market considerably.
Last week, a Business Times (BT) team reached the residence of Daya Senanayake a well-known businessman, at Thurstan Road, Colombo, and the first thing we saw in the room was, on top of a stool, a glass fish tank and decked on it a funnel and a small tube fixed to the funnel underneath. That is the replica of his invention – Sea Solar Dispersion Power Plant.
The fish tank resembles the sea and the funnel on top resembles a vast basin and the power plant is set up in the sea. According to Mr. Senanayake, electricity could be produced ranging from 100 kilowatts to about 1000 megawatts and 1000 megawatts, is about one third of the electricity supply in Sri Lanka. He said that he is waiting for the last three years to patent this innovative product.
“It is a plant that produces electricity making use of the temperature differential at the sea surface level and at a substantial depth below the surface of the sea,” he said.
Heating the water
Water in the sea, in the tropics, Mr. Senanayake said is normally averaging at around 25 degrees Fahrenheit and if one goes down deep in the sea the temperature of the sea water drops to about 10 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a thermal difference of 15 degrees around 500 metres deep in the sea.
The solar radiation heats the water at the surface and increases the temperature to about 60 degrees and then the thermal difference would be around 50 degrees. That is a very high thermal difference and he said the thermal difference is a source of energy. When the heated water at the surface disperses, it becomes energy, he said.
A giant basin measuring about 500 metres diameter is placed on the surface of the sea, where the heated sea water is filled, he said. At the bottom of the basin a proportionately large tube is fixed – about 500 metres long and at the end inside the tube a turbine and a generator is fixed, submerged in the sea. He said that the heated water in the basin is dispersed through the tube across the turbine which could run the generator that would then produce around 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
He said that when the heated water in the basin is released through the tube the same amount of water sucks into the basin again, and the process continues throughout, producing uninterrupted energy.
Other than the basin the other parts are submerged and is anchored with buoys at the surface and anchored at the sea bed to prevent the movement of the plant, he said. Mr. Senanayake told the BT that there is no fossil fuel involved and the capital cost would be so much lower – about half the cost of a normal power plant.
He said that energy from fossil fuel in Sri Lanka costs around Rs. 40 per kilowatt and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is paying about Rs. 22 per kilowatt hour for wind power. This sea thermal solar power would cost Rs. 18 or less depending on mass production. He said that this sea Solar Power also protects Earth because this power production has no greenhouse emissions.
He said that once he obtains the patents, the next step would be planning to build a one megawatt power plant in the Maldives. Maldives has a large number of islands which are hotel resorts and that country is very much concerned about pollution, global warming and climate change, he said and added that they are very keen on renewable energy
He said that he is looking for active partners to promote this technology in China, Vietnam, Maldives and Indonesia as there is huge demand for electricity in those countries. He said that they also have plans to expand worldwide. He said that they have already received many inquiring from some foreign countries.
Lethargy of authorities
Speaking of the lethargic attitude of NIPOSL, Mr. Senanayake said that to await three years to obtain patent rights is ridiculous and he thinks something is drastically wrong or it may not be recruiting competent people to evaluate the patent documents. He said that if the NIPOSL is handicapped they could seek help from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Mr. Senanayake is an old boy of Royal College and began his career as a management trainee at the Ceylon Tobacco Co and moved to Lever Brothers (now Unilever) and specialised in marketing. He joined the Ceylinco Group and was the Deputy Chairman for the entire Ceylinco Group some years before the group collapsed with the disastrous Golden Key scheme.
Nilanga Senevirathne, the young man who produced the first electric car in Sri Lanka, is also waiting for the last three years to get his patent rights. As indicated in the BT article ‘Young Entrepreneur prepares to take on world with unique electric-turbo car’ dated 3/6/2012, he has received inquiries from around 18 different countries and was to put up 5,000 sq.ft. factory in the Kalutara Industrial Estate.
But he told the BT that everything is stalled, as he has not yet received his patent licence.
Further, the BT has given publicity to inventor Lakshman Perera (BT article “Piracy and stealth affect world-class Lankan inventions –says top inventor” on 23/3/2014). As indicated in this article he stated “Espionage in systems and formulas plagues new inventions and adversely affects their commercialisation for public good and this often happens after the patents are obtained”.
Last week he told the BT that because of his formula ‘leaking’ out, he incurs a 40 per cent loss of the turpentine market because many people manufacture turpentine using his patented formula. He said that he has to report these ‘pirates’ to the police and the police have to seize a sample and send them to Government Analyst. He said in one such case even after one year the Government Analyst’s report has not been received.