I guess that's what I'm interested in understanding. How much energy does it take to compress the air ... 360 cu. ft. of air into a 1.76 cu. ft. tank? ... that's at 3000 psi.
That's enough to cycle the system 25 times (360 cu.ft./14.66 cu.ft.), exerting 6,898,300 ft-lb of total work, according...
In the sense that it would require energy to construct the whole system, yes, raising the water would require energy, as would filling the water column. But, like the construction of anything, that would be a one time energy investment.
Think of the water column as a very large glass of water...
Russ -- Thanks for taking the time to consider this idea.
You had mentioned in your previous post that there would be energy required to expel the water at 300 ft., and Brewnog mentioned something about energy required to pump the air. Perhaps I need to better explain the system.
The columns...
Is it plausible to use the buoyancy of air in a controlled column of water to turn a drive shaft and, by extension, generate electricity through a low RPM/high torque turbine? See attached PDF for possible configuration. Only energy input would be to compress air tanks located below the water...