EMRGY INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 18b

Description

Hydrokinetics (HK) is the conversion of power embodied in moving water into electrical power. Hydrokinetic resources include natural tidal and riverine sites as well as man-made water transport infrastructure. The primary barriers to broad commercialization of HK power generation has been both technical and regulatory. Low-volumes in the HK market space is largely a product of regulatory hurdles that exist for deployment in the natural environment - the typical market space of focus for new businesses in HK. The Vertical Hydrokinetic Turbine design focused on this project offers a low impact, low cost, and high efficiency solution to generating clean energy. However, there exists no technology that allows the HK device to monitor and respond to changes in the water resource flow without adding significant cost to the system. This issue prevents the operator from evaluating product performance, which can indicate maintenance needs and impending failure. Additionally, there is no ability to detect incoming hazards in the flow, such as large debris or wildlife, and respond to mitigate the damage to wildlife or to the HK Turbine from a collision. Both issues could result in premature failure, reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of the HK technology, and potentially impact the local ecosystem which exacerbates regulatory hurdles. In this SBIR Phase I application, the Project Team will validate a design concept for a very low-cost and user-friendly MHK resource monitoring system for characterizing flow and identifying hazardous events. The scope of Phase I will include: (1) evaluation of HK monitoring needs, (2) testing to determine optimal sensor type and position, (3) analysis of signal backscatter to identify hazards, (4) integration of controls functions, and (5) validation of system design concept. Phase II will continue with development of a prototype, integration of cloud-computing, field testing, and identification and mitigation of failure modes. The key Public Benefit in this project is the creation of a low cost water resource monitoring device to prevent failures and ecological impacts of HK Turbines and other water infrastructure. The tool created by the proposed project will accelerate the deployment of renewable hydropower technologies and help them last longer, lowering the cost of clean power generation that can displace existing carbon-based technologies. It can also allow HK technologies to be more ecologically destructive. The proposed monitoring system is easily transferred to adjacent applications, such as characterizing flow in real-time and identifying wildlife in narrow waterways. The overarching impact of this technology being available and affordable is more efficient management of our water resources.