Harnessing Wave Energy

There have been many attempts at harnessing wave energy. Most have failed do to being weakly made and not able to take the worst conditions.

Searches like these

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22wave+energy%22+%2Bmethods+%2Bocean

As you reference cost effectiveness, I'm curious. Rather than temperature/state change devices that have been relegated to novelty as in your salter duck and the stirling engine, I would ask whether it might be more appropriate to utilize local ocean dynamics such as the tide itself -- A short distance from Niagara Falls in New York state there is a power generating plant that allows generators to run as water flows into a tidal basin then reverses as the tide ebbs and flows. Would this not be an application to gain a useable practical power source locally useing proven techniques?

Where are these tidal flows near Niagara Falls? I did not think the great lakes had sufficient tidal energy for this??

Not the lakes, the St Lawrence river has fierce tides.
So does the Bay of Fundie near the same latitude.

Trinidad doesn't, but the flow into & out of the Gulf of Mexico might
offer a possibility. Swimming near gaps in the caribbean reefs when
the tide is running, you can be swept one way or another quite forcefully.

Each WEC, wave energy converter, is wave specific to what is available by location. To date, however, the most efficent is an OWC system, oscillating water column, using a Wells turbine - near shore application. The Salter Duck has never actually been tested even though it is used in theory as a bench mark for efficiency. Oregon State University is becoming a hotbed of research for wave energy converters. You might look at what they are doing.

John

Also, an excellent overview and assessment can be found here:

www.oceanpd.com/PDFS/E21%20EPRI%20Assessment.pdf

John

OK.. Let's be careful now. Think back to your basic physics coarses. You don't get something for nothing. The tide is caused by the moon ... right? If you start drawing energy out of this system you will cause increasing drag on the moon. that will eventually cause the moon to crash into the earth. Maybe hitting Trinidad. Is this what you really want to happen.

But, this will take quite a some time, or will it? and by then the sun may implode and it won't really matter.

I did not run the numbers on this???

As an engineering student you should.. know the out come....

It just might catch on and everyone will want to do it.

This could lead to GREAT speculation such as "GLOBAL WARMING" has done.

More foder for the over stuffed, ignorant politicians.....

HI ALL !

There are TWO FORMER THREADS that were discussed that involved wave power, maybe you should review them there are a number of calculations in them that you can use in your determination of wave power plants. IF you need the names please ask & I will send them.

THANKS

GOLDRUSHNUGGET999

HI ALL !

I LOOKED UP ONE OF THE THREDS & IT'S "FUTURE ENERGY SOURCES 1.3.1 TIDAL POWER" take a look there are a lot of explanations there that could help you get started, log in & let us know how it's going & if you completed your project.

goldrushnugget999

That would be great thanks

"The project I proposed was to determine the feasibilty of harnessing Wave Energy in Trinidad (my country)."

I would start with an intense survey of all of the wave harnessing schemes, devices, etc. before selecting one (opinion) as the best. Then you can construct a prototype,(demonstration model) to collect data and make comparisons.

Others may make additional suggestions.

HI Sterling Stan !

as i picture several wave ducks bobbing up and down as a wave goes by i change the action materials, could oblong tubes bob up & down in a similar fashion ? This would increase the weight ratio and would allow a engine drive possibility. Could they be connected in sequence to a crank generator ? What would happen if i had 100 tubes to bob up & down on a underwater base with connected wheels like on an old steam engine. then as the wave roles by the razing of the wave would move up the wheel and the lowering of the wave would lower the wheel. this would power a generator with many continuous roles over the tubes. this would look like a centipede as it walks but in wave action. do you get the picture ?

thanks for listening

goldrushnugget999

The following is a workshop sponered by DOE, March 24 2006.

Hydrokinetic and wave energy technologies, technical and enviromental issues work shop.

hope it will help.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:D38PEzyaX70J:hydropower.inel.gov/hydrokinetic_wave/pdfs/hydro_workshop_proceedings_13feb06.pdf+hydrokinetic+wave+energy+workshop&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=au

"hope it will help." Sorry to say it is of NO help.

The link from the above leads to a not found on this server error!

Thanks for trying.

Have a care to copy and paste the entire url above as one -- Worked fine when checked from here --

Also apologies to all for my most ill-advised comment at the beginning regarding the Robert Moses power plant north of niagara falls -- they actually divert water from above the falls at night (so as to not disrupt tourism) into the large lagoons behind the dams. They then release it under controlled conditions through the generators. I stand corrected and much embarassed by my assumptions -However, could not this same premise be used by gating the water flow to inland lagoons at high tide then releasing it through generators when the tide is low?

John

"Have a care to copy and paste the entire url above as one -- Worked fine when checked from here --"

Your link posted worked fine to a 2 page URL with another URL

<http://hydropower.inl.gov/hydrokinetic&wave/> resulting in the 404 Not Found.

After finding another link at the very top of page 1 of the first URL downloaded the pdf of the proceedings of the conference consisting of 126 pages.

Thank you for your help.