A new snake-like device could hold the key to producing affordable renewable electricity from the energy of the oceans, according to its developers.
The ‘Anaconda’ is an innovative wave energy converter consisting of a giant rubber tube anchored to the sea bed and is to undergo a programme of large-scale laboratory testing to assess its potential.
The device is still at an early stage of development but its developer, Checkmate SeaEnergy, believes that its simple design will make it cheap to manufacture and maintain and will therefore help to overcome the cost barriers associated with wave energy.
Because it is made of rubber, the Anaconda is much lighter than other wave energy devices and dispenses with the need for hydraulic rams, hinges and articulated joints. This reduces capital and maintenance costs and scope for breakdowns.
So far the concept has only been proven in small-scale laboratory tests but Checkmate SeaEnergy and engineers at the University of Southampton in the UK are to assess its potential with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The Anaconda device 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 oncoming waves.
A wave hitting the end of the tube squeezes it and causes a bulge wave to form and run through the tube. The sea wave running along the Anaconda magnifies the bulge wave, which turns a turbine fitted at the end of the tube.
Using tubes with diameters of 0.25 and 0.5 m, 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.
“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 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.”
When built, each full-scale Anaconda device would be 200 m long and 7 m in diameter, and deployed in water depths of between 40 and 100 m. Initial assessments indicate that the Anaconda would be rated at a power output of 1 MW and might be able to generate power at a cost of 6p per kWh or less.
Linkedin
