Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center

In-stream Tidal Energy:NW National Marine Renewable Energy Center

University of Washingtondepts.washington.edu/nnmrec

AMTAS Spring 2009 MeetingApril 23, 2009

Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center

• In-stream Tidal Energy Overview

• NNMREC Structure and Activities

• Integration of Composite Materials

agenda,04-22-09,TID

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Approaches to Tidal EnergyBarrage Hydrokinetic

Comparable to hydroelectricVery high cost and environmental footprint

Comparable to windPotentially lower cost and environmental footprint

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Hydrokinetic DevicesNo dominant design

― Hundreds of concepts― Dozens of lab tests― Several field tests

No commercial projectsVerdant Power

New York, East River5 m, 33 kW

Clean CurrentRace Rocks, BC3.5 m, ~65 kW

Open HydroEMEC, UK

6 m, ~150 kW

MCTStrangford, UK

14x2 m, 1200 kW

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Pile Chain Anchor

Tension Leg

Gravity Base

Gearbox-Generator

Direct Drive Generator

Foundation

Drive Train

Device Parameters

Rotor5-20 m10-20 rpm

20-80 m

2-3 m/s

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Tidal Energy Projects in Puget Sound

Race RocksDemonstration turbine

Marrowstone IslandDemonstration array

Admiralty InletPilot project

~100-200 avg. MW practically recoverable

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Local Drivers

■ I-937 obligations

■ Limited transmission capacity for new wind

■ Tidal energy advantages— Predictable resource— No CO2 emissions— No visual impact— Close to load centers

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Tidal Energy Challenges

■ Engineering

■ Economics

■ Environment

Complicated by broad range of uncertainty

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• Oregon State University– Headquarters and Director (Bob Paasch)– Focus on Wave Energy– College of Engineering, Oceanography, Hatfield Marine

Sciences Center

• University of Washington– Co-Director (Phil Malte)– Focus on Tidal Energy– Mechanical Engineering, Oceanography, Applied Physics

• Partners– NREL, Snohomish PUD, BioSonics, Sound & Sea Technology,

EPRI, Verdant Power, PNWER

Northwest National Marine Center

Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center

■ Environmental Effects (OSU/UW)

■ Site and Device Characterization (OSU/UW)

■ Array Optimization (OSU/UW)

■ Device Survivability/Reliability (OSU/UW)

■ Advanced Wave Forecasting (OSU)

■ Synergies with other Renewables (NREL)

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Center Activities

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M. Kawase (UW-SO), B. Polagye (UW-ME), K. Thyng (UW-ME)

1D Channel Model

M2

ampl

itude

cha

nge

(mm

)

Area 1: Environmental Effects

Tidal range impact of 145 MW plant

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Area 2: Mobile Testing

Field measurements (surveys + stationary) to inform:• Site developers – resource and site characteristics

• Device developers – device performance

• Regulators – near-field effects

R/V Jack Robertson

J. Thomson (UW-APL), B. Polagye (UW-ME)

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Area 2 Detail: Shipboard Surveys

Water Quality

Bottom SamplingROV Survey

High-resolution Velocity Survey

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Area 2 Detail: Stationary Surveys

300 kHz ADCP (velocity)

Lead Weight(600 lbs)

Mini-CTD (salinity and temperature)

Hydrophone (background noise)

Sea Spider (heavy duty fiberglass frame)

Acoustic release (redundant recovery)

Programmed for 4 month deployment

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Area 3: Array Optimization

R/V Jack Robertson

A. Aliseda (UW-ME), J. Riley (UW-ME)

Wave-Current Flume:Experimental studies of device wakes.

Computer Cluster:Parallel simulations of array performance.

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Area 4: Survivability and Reliability

M. Tuttle (UW-ME)

Studies of composite structural design options

Estimation of long-term durability of composites in salt water environment

Identification of composite materials that naturally minimize bio-fouling and corrosion

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Biofouling in the Marine Environment

Clean Current turbine: 6 months deployment

Before After

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Effect on Tidal Energy Devices

Reduced rotor performance― Orme, Masters, and Griffiths

(2001)― Rotors serviced every 2-4

years

Disrupted flow in diffuser― No service over device

lifetime (20+ years)― Very sensitive

hydrodynamics

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Approaches to Minimize Biofouling

Biocide coatings―Effective―Significant toxicity―Tin-based banned, copper-based phased outInert coatings―Effectiveness―CostEngineered materials―Composites―Polymers

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Preliminary Center Activities

Glass fiber in epoxy (uncoated)

Carbon fiber in epoxy (uncoated)

Low-copper coating (glass fiber in epoxy)

High-copper coating (glass fiber in epoxy)

Inert coating (rubber)

Aluminum (uncoated) Stainless steel

(uncoated)

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Questions?

Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Centernnmrec.oregonstate.edu (OSU - Wave)

depts.washington.edu/nnmrec (UW - Tidal)