PCCI, Inc. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 14c

Description

This project will test and improve a novel Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composite tube pump that is well-suited to furnish high pressure water for desalination with minimal maintenance. This leveraging of new technology will provide the same functionality as a single- acting hydraulic cylinder, as previously demonstrated in other wave-to-water devices, while avoiding the heavy weight, mechanical complexity, wear and corrosion common to conventional submerged hydraulic cylinders made from steel or fiberglass. A Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composite tube pump is constructed from multiple layers of helically wound, high-modulus fibers embedded within an elastic matrix resin. When an axial pull is applied to a tube, the tensioned fibers produce an internal hoop stress, reducing the tube’s internal volume and pumping water through the ends. With check valves on both ends tubes are expected to produce seawater flows suitable for cost-effective yields of desalinated water. In Phase I, the project will leverage the previous laboratory research conducted by both a Virginia University for its Wave Energy Prize entry, which advanced the tube pump as a wave- actuated pump; and by a European company, which has advanced a similar bladder-in-braided- sleeve concept. Small-scale tube pumps will be mechanically cycled at a university laboratory at the same scale as the commercial company’s previous tests, to provide a basis for predicting performance of both concepts at full-scale tube diameter. Mathematical models of each flexible pump type will be validated by laboratory test results and then applied to numerical simulations of a heaving-body wave energy converter to predict the levelized cost of water in various wave climates. In Phase 1 the project also proposes to leverage a fabric tube high pressure clamp we have developed and tested in conjunction with another company for lightweight hyperbaric chamber applications, as a reliable means for attachment of the check-valves and tube end tension connections. In Phase II, PCCI will design, build and deploy a complete wave-to-water prototype system at 1:16 scale in a sheltered wave environment near the Chesapeake Bay entrance. The Phase II demonstration will allow us to characterize tube pump scalability and refine the Phase I levelized cost of water estimates. Positive results from the Phase II work will attract commercial investment for a larger open ocean prototype.