MU-EDRIVE
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
This project will use two niche applications to bridge the gap between academic excellence and industrial progress in the development of efficient pure electric power take off in wave energy converters. Compared to electrical machines in other industrial sectors, wave energy converters are slow which has led to a range of novel generators being developed, yet comparatively few have been demonstrated at full scale with developers instead preferring to use conventional generators connected via device specific mechanical linkages. Pure electric drive train concepts are known to be efficient and mechanically simple but must now be proved feasible and advantageous at a meaningful device scale. If the electrical generator is allowed to run flooded with sea water, there will be no requirement for sealing and therefore a much reduced requirement for maintenance. The concept must be demonstrated at sea whilst the performance is monitored. Investor confidence must be gained in the technology by accruing many hours of operational data. Long term operational issues of corrosion, biofouling, reliability and condition monitoring must be tackled.
Newcastle and Edinburgh Universities have been at the forefront of UK academic work in electric drives and wave energy converters for decades, and this collaborative team will now deliver two niche application prototypes to demonstrate all electric drive trains for wave energy converters. The project will design and demonstrate direct drive power take off for subsea communication networks and also powering subsea equipment for the oil and gas industry. A full scale electrical machine will be demonstrated using experience provided by an industrial partner. In addition, submerged electric generators will be demonstrated at sea for 12 months using Newcastle's USMART acoustic network gateway buoy. Corrosion protection and antifouling techniques specifically for the electrical generator will be demonstrated first in the laboratory before being used in the ocean.
Newcastle and Edinburgh Universities have been at the forefront of UK academic work in electric drives and wave energy converters for decades, and this collaborative team will now deliver two niche application prototypes to demonstrate all electric drive trains for wave energy converters. The project will design and demonstrate direct drive power take off for subsea communication networks and also powering subsea equipment for the oil and gas industry. A full scale electrical machine will be demonstrated using experience provided by an industrial partner. In addition, submerged electric generators will be demonstrated at sea for 12 months using Newcastle's USMART acoustic network gateway buoy. Corrosion protection and antifouling techniques specifically for the electrical generator will be demonstrated first in the laboratory before being used in the ocean.
Publications
Baker N
(2023)
Design of an integrated generator and heaving buoy
in Proceedings of the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
Baker N
(2023)
Biofilm prevention in the generator of a direct drive wave energy converter
in Proceedings of the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
Chambers L
(2023)
Designing an Integrated Generator for a Wave Energy Converter
Chambers L
(2022)
Developing a direct drive generator for a heaving IPS buoy
Description | This work has proved that it is possible to develop and deploy electrical machines for power take off in wave energy machines. We have proposed, analysed and designed a direct drive wave energy converter with an integrated electrical machine. In order to protect the electrical machines from the marine environment it is necessary to encapsulate coils and instigate fouling protection. The encapsulation requires a large magnetic gap, which is quite an unusual constraint in the electrical machines community as it reduces the efficiency of the magnetic. We have proved that a particular type of electrical machine, called a flux switching type, is capable of delivering high force despite the large magnetic gap. we have performed multi-objective optimisation to design a machine which is currently (March 2024) being fabricated. We have also demonstrated a number of coil protection techniques and investigated their thermal characteristics in the laboratory. A small lab model of the full electrical machine operating in water has been demonstrated and used to validate the motion characteristics. We have also demonstrated three configurations of UV biofouling protection in a representative environment at the full electrical machine scale. |
Exploitation Route | We have removed some of the key risks of deploying generators at sea. We anticipate this will de-risk investment in the development of bespoke power take off. We also anticipate that the main demonstrator of the project will be used by other research groups to investigate the antifouling techniques and also power take off control. The results are based around renewable energy, but are applicable to the wider marine comunity. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Energy |
Description | MU-EDRIVE - Marinisation and Upscaling of Electric Drive Trains for Marine Energy |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | University of Edinburgh contribution: As part of MU-EDRIVE we are developing a magnetic gear system for the Blue-X wave device, as a follow-on from the EDRIVE project. In this project we will use design tools developed in EDRIVE and new analytical design tools to design, build and test a magnetic gear to replace the mechanical gear in Mocean Energy's Blue-X wave device. Our contribution to the project started in September 2022. Analytical design tools are in the process of being verified using the finite element model based tools developed in EDRIVE. The analytical tools will enable rapid designs to be undertaken for sizing purposes. |
Collaborator Contribution | Mocean Energy is providing engineering data for the design of the magnetic gearbox, and will also take part in design review. Newcastle University is leading the project, under PI Dr. Nick Baker. With his team he is working on marinisation and biofouling of electrical plant in wave energy devices. |
Impact | No outputs yet, but papers are being prepared. |
Start Year | 2022 |