Projects

Completed

Applied Research and Development

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Mr B Johnston
Scotrenewables (Marine Power) Ltd

Standard

DTI

31 March 2004

31 March 2005

12 months

£90,000

Power

Scotland

TIDAL

Mr B Johnston, Scotrenewables (Marine Power) Ltd

To design and construct a 5th scale engineering model of a free-floating tidal turbine.To test the system under both real and controlled conditions.To develop a numerical model of the system and calibrate from physical model test results.The overall objective is to acquire sufficient information to allow the development of a full scale demonstrator system. Total project cost = 120000, DTI grant = 90000

This project aims to design and construct a 5th scale engineering model of a tidal turbine system. The system will be tested under controlled and actual conditions and in doing so a numerical model will be developed. Ultimately enough information will be acquired to allow the future development of a full scale demonstrator system.The SRTT is a surface-piercing free-floating tidal current energy converter primarily designed for survivability and cost effective maintenance.The system is designedfor maximum energy capture, low mooring loads and is structurally efficient in extreme hydrodynamic conditions. The design s inherent scalability and ease of mobility mean that the SRTT can be effectively installed and maintained on a wide range of sites.The system makes use of existing technology transferred from the offshore oil and gas industry and from the wind turbine industry. This combined with its simplicity means the development time to commercial status will be relatively short and hence will accelerate the development of large-scale tidal farms in order to achieve developments targets for the renewable energy market.

01/01/07