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Powering the Blue Economy Foundational R&D and Systems of Innovation
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ben Maurer, ben.maurer@nrel.gov
- Senu Sirnivas, senu.sirnivas@nrel.gov
- Jenny Wiegele, jenny.wiegele@nrel.gov
To spur economic growth and revitalize the ocean, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) launched the Powering the Blue EconomyTM (PBE) initiative, which aims to foster long-term, sustainable growth of the blue economy by protecting the ocean and understanding and leveraging its immense power, learning the power needs of emerging coastal and maritime markets, and advancing marine renewable energy technologies. NREL is helping achieve PBE goals through early-stage research and development by investigating power needs for blue economy sectors, such as offshore marine aquaculture, underwater vehicle charging, ocean observation, desalination, and seawater mining. For example, NREL researchers are exploring the feasibility of using marine energy to provide power at sea and build resiliency in coastal communities, with a focus on disaster recovery. To this end, the team is researching designs for small-scale marine energy technologies.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact, Fish and Aquatic Resources, Water Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Marine Energy
Predictive Online Monitoring of Polymer Tendons (PrOMPT)
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Leo Fifield
Wave energy convertors (WECs), such as the Oscilla Triton-C, depend on flexible, polymeric connecting mooring lines, ropes, or tendons, for their energy harvesting mechanism. Operational stresses, such as abrasion, can limit the fatigue life of tendons, leading to early or unexpected failure. Installation, operation, and maintenance (IO&M) costs could be reduced with incorporation of sensing features that indicate tendon degradation to extend inspection intervals and provide forewarning of impending failure. In this work, we demonstrate preliminary abrasion sensing capability of polymer tendons and evaluate opportunities for online monitoring of these and similar polymer ropes used in waterpower technologies.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Wave
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Remote Community Led Test Campaign (ETIPP)
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
The Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI), in partnership with the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), is establishing a new public-private partnership effort to increase the resilience of energy systems in islanded and remote communities. The purpose of the partnership is to support energy system planning and operations that prioritize the resilience of these communities, including through new generation and storage technologies, physical system design and operations, and closer integration of electricity, transport, and industrial energy use. The support will include direct technical assistance to communities and utilities, as well as peer-to-peer information sharing.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Resiliency of Poly-Crystaline Diamond Bearings Exposed to Marine Environments
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Robert Jeters
Marine energy efforts are increasingly focused on remote locations where traditional grid-tied systems are not practical. Seals and bearings in marine energy generators are a common source of failures, accounting for up to a 25\% failure rate per year. Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) bearings are composed of one of the most durable substances known to humankind and have been successfully tested in laboratory conditions for marine use. PCD bearings can be used to construct flooded marine energy generators that do not have seals while providing virtually indestructible bearings to reduce maintenance while increasing reliability for marine energy systems. PNNL built a bearing test stand to mimic conditions found in the cross-flow turbines being built by researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory at University of Washington. We exposed steel and PCD bearings in the bearing test stand to Arctic water temperatures (-2.4°C), fostering ice formation around bearing surfaces while monitoring bearing health for \~1,000 hours. While the steel bearings failed at the 990 hour mark, the PCD bearing show virtually no signs of wear beyond characteristic self-polishing of bearing surfaces. The PCD bearings did not change weight appreciably and while ice formation impacted bearings function while present, the coefficient of friction (CoF) of the bearings was approximately .05 without ice, making these bearings 95\% efficient. PCD bearings present an opportunity for rugged marine power generation in flooded marine energy generators.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Review of WEC-Sim Development and Applications
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- David Ogden
WEC-Sim (Wave Energy Converter Simulator) is an open-source code for simulating wave energy converters that has been actively developed and applied to simulate a wide variety of device archetypes, and has become a popular tool since its release. This paper reviews the development efforts and usage of WEC-Sim. The publications considered in this study have been broken down into six topic areas, namely, feature development, experimental validation, device modelling, control modelling, powertake-off (PTO) and grid modelling, and novel applications, which includes some non-wave energy applications. This review paper also recognizes the contributions of academic researchers and technology developers from around the world toward the broader WEC-Sim development effort. The growing number of external applications of WEC-Sim demonstrates a broader acceptance of the open-source code, and the ways WEC-Sim has been used in certain topic areas also highlight potential future development needs.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2021
- Marine Energy
Scale up, Field Testing, and Optimization of Nontoxic, Durable, Economical Coatings for Control of Biofouling and Corrosion on Marine Energy Devices and Facilities
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Shane Addleman
The objective of this project is to mature and demonstrate durable, economical, and nontoxic coatings that will prevent fouling organisms from growing on MHK structures. A novel foul-release coating recently developed (initial patents filed in 2016 and 2017) at PNNL, Superhydrophobic Lubricant Infused Composite (SLIC) technology, will be adapted to provide the durability necessary for >5 year protection in the marine environment.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Securing our Water Future: NREL’s Research in Desalination of Nontraditional Water Sources
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Scott Jenne, dale.jenne@nrel.gov
Researchers at NREL have completed construction of a hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter (WEC) device. The modular device is compact and portable and can desalinate ocean water using wave energy—without the need for an external fuel supply. The WEC’s modular nature enables the research team to compare the benefits and drawbacks of using the two different configurations— one hydraulic and one electric—to run the reverse osmosis. As NREL’s first marine-powered desalination device to weather real ocean waters, the HERO WEC signals significant advancements for marine renewable energy and desalination technologies. The HERO WEC is undergoing additional testing to evaluate and document its capabilities. The intent is to assist other innovators by pinpointing what does and does not work and provide a basis from which others can build and modify their own designs. Industry can apply lessons learned from this device to produce future technologies that can provide power at sea and build resilient coastal communities, evolve ocean observation, or support post-disaster relief efforts. NREL created the HERO WEC alongside teams competing in the American-Made Waves to Water Prize. While the NREL researchers were not competitors, they did abide by the prize guidelines to better understand what was required of competitors. A trial run at the prize finale site also prepared the crew to help prize finalists safely deploy their own prototypes in the water. desalination system.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Marine Energy
Smart Node – A Highly Adaptable Passive Acoustic Receiver System
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Deng
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org