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Anaconda Wave Energy Tests

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 8 months ago

Rubber 'Snake' Could Help Wave Power Get A Bite Of The Energy Market

ScienceDaily (July 7, 2008) — A device consisting of a giant rubber

tube may hold the key to producing affordable electricity from the

energy in sea waves. Invented in the UK, the 'Anaconda' is a totally

innovative wave energy concept. Its ultra-simple design means it

would be cheap to manufacture and maintain, enabling it to produce

clean electricity at lower cost than other types of wave energy

converter. Cost has been a key barrier to deployment of such

converters to date.

 

Named after the snake of the same name because of its long thin

shape, the Anaconda is closed at both ends and filled completely with

water. It is designed to be anchored just below the sea's surface,

with one end facing the oncoming waves.

 

A wave hitting the end squeezes it and causes a 'bulge wave'* to form

inside the tube. As the bulge wave runs through the tube, the initial

sea wave that caused it runs along the outside of the tube at the

same speed, squeezing the tube more and more and causing the bulge

wave to get bigger and bigger. The bulge wave then turns a turbine

fitted at the far end of the device and the power produced is fed to

shore via a cable.

 

Because it is made of rubber, the Anaconda is much lighter than other

wave energy devices (which are primarily made of metal) and dispenses

with the need for hydraulic rams, hinges and articulated joints. This

reduces capital and maintenance costs and scope for breakdowns.

 

The Anaconda is, however, still at an early stage of development. The

concept has only been proven at very small laboratory-scale, so

important questions about its potential performance still need to be

answered. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research

Council (EPSRC), and in collaboration with the Anaconda's inventors

and with its developer (Checkmate SeaEnergy), engineers at the

University of Southampton are now embarking on a programme of larger-

scale laboratory experiments and novel mathematical studies designed

to do just that.

 

Using tubes with diameters of 0.25 and 0.5 metres, the experiments

will assess the Anaconda's behaviour in regular, irregular and

extreme waves. Parameters measured will include internal pressures,

changes in tube shape and the forces that mooring cables would be

subjected to. As well as providing insights into the device's

hydrodynamic behaviour, the data will form the basis of a

mathematical model that can estimate exactly how much power a full-

scale Anaconda would produce.

 

When built, each full-scale Anaconda device would be 200 metres long

and 7 metres in diameter, and deployed in water depths of between 40

and 100 metres. Initial assessments indicate that the Anaconda would

be rated at a power output of 1MW (roughly the electricity

consumption of 2000 houses) and might be able to generate power at a

cost of 6p per kWh or less. Although around twice as much as the cost

of electricity generated from traditional coal-fired power stations,

this compares very favourably with generation costs for other leading

wave energy concepts.

 

"The Anaconda could make a valuable contribution to environmental

protection by encouraging the use of wave power," says Professor John

Chaplin, who is leading the EPSRC-funded project. "A one-third scale

model of the Anaconda could be built next year for sea testing and we

could see the first full-size device deployed off the UK coast in

around five years' time."

 

The Anaconda was invented by Francis Farley (an experimental

physicist) and Rod Rainey (of Atkins Oil and Gas). There may be

advantages in making part of the tube inelastic, but this is still

under assessment.

 

Wave-generated electricity is carbon-free and so can help the fight

against global warming. Together with tidal energy, it is estimated

that wave power could supply up to 20% of the UK's current

electricity demand.

 

The two-year project 'The Hydrodynamics of a Distensible Wave Energy

Converter' is receiving EPSRC funding of just over £430,000.

 

*A bulge wave is a wave of pressure produced when a fluid oscillates

forwards and backwards inside a tube.

 

posted to ClimateConcern by Lily Anselm

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