MICRO-HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT PHASE III Design Team

Phase III development of a micro-hydroelectric power generating system is focused on enhancing the system designed by Phases I and II. The previous phases focused on the use of the Gorlov Helical Turbine (GHT) to derive power from a fresh water environment, specifically the Stevens River in Vermont. Phase III exclusively focused on deriving power from an ocean environment and the construction of a fully submersible unit. Due to the lower water velocities present in most ocean environments in comparison to the Stevens River, the efficiency of the system needed to be increased. In order to improve efficiency, Phase III focused on optimizing the seals, bearings, and gearing within the system. During the process of optimizing these components of the system, the overall inertia of the system was decreased by 60%. In addition to the increased efficiency of the system, a housing was constructed that is fully submersible and able to withstand the effects of the salt water environment. Figure 1 Full System The Need for Project There is a need for a device that is fully submersible and is capable of converting low speed ocean water flow into an average of 3-5 W of electrical energy. Figure 2 WHOI Whale Buoy There is a need for a device that is fully submersible and is capable of converting low speed ocean water flow (0.5-1.0 m/s) into an average of 3-5 W of electrical energy. The design idea has gone through two previous phases that focused on deriving power from a fresh water environment in which the unit would not be fully submerged. The system could be mounted to the underside of existing ocean buoys and be used to power the onboard electronics, eliminating the need for continual replacement of batteries. Organizations such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) currently have buoys deployed that could be powered by such a device. The Design Project Objectives and Requirements The objective of this project is to develop a self-contained, fully submersible system which is resistant to the effects of an ocean environment and is capable of generating 3-5 W of average power from ocean flow of 0.5-1.0 m/s. Design Objectives The objective of this project is to construct a fully submersible housing that will survive in an ocean environment, while increasing the efficiency of the overall system through the optimization of the bearings, gearing, and dynamic shaft seal.