Vinalhaven Tidal Power WEST CHANNEL Derek Bruno and Nathaniel House

Fall semester accomplishments… Turbine research Devices for measuring fluid velocities Trip to Vinalhaven Solidworks rendering of site Rough estimates of flow rates Tide modeling Design of vane anemometer

Turbine Research- Finding the right turbine for this application Types of turbines Impulse turbine Reaction turbine Tidal turbine

Impulse Style Turbine Designed to extract kinetic energy from the flow Suitable for low flow high head applications Nozzle pointed toward “buckets” to drive rotor

Reaction style turbine Follows Newton’s third law- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction Nozzle is attached to spinning rotor

Tidal Turbine Used in open flow channels Extracts kinetic energy from tides and currents to produce power Designed for all kinetic no head applications

Devices for measuring flow Ultrasonic flow meters Very reliable To expensive for application Pressure differential flow meters Venturi - unsuitable used in pipe flow Orifice plate - unsuitable used in pipe flow Pitot tube - unavailable for water application Vane anemometer Being fabricated

Trip to Vinalhaven A trip to Vinalhaven in October provided key visual information of how the site operates.

Solidworks rendering of site Using the pictures and measurements from our trip in October a computer graphic of the site was created. This graphic provided key information of how the site was constructed and functioned.

Rendering of Vinalhaven Site

Rough Estimates of Flow Rate Estimated carvers pond to be 147 acres= 6403240.37 ft2 A 6 foot drop of carvers pond was estimated from high tide to low tide That makes the volume of the water exiting the pond to be 38,419,442.22 ft3 Estimated that the entire volume of water takes 8 hours to empty

Estimate of flow rate cont. Flow rate Q is calculated Q=1334 ft3/sec Divided into two channels Q=667 ft3/sec These flow rates are a rough estimate and will be compared with the future data from our vane anemometer

Tide Model Tide chart was drawn for the month of October in attempt to get an accurate flow rate.

Break through at meeting Rich Kimball suggests using the other channel eastern channel Much easier to block off cisterns while keeping it a historic site and utilizing other channel with tidal turbine It is decided to build a vane anemometer to determine flow rate in each channel, then do power analysis.

Designing and Building a Vane Anemometer Mostly built for reading air velocities Need to make a custom made anemometer for our salt water application

Goals for Spring Fabricate Vane anemometer Return trip to Vinalhaven Test and Calibrate anemometer in tow tank at university of Maine Return trip to Vinalhaven Collect data using anemometer in both channels Collect visual data of eastern channel Power analysis of both sites Turbine sizing and efficiency for application Feasibility of using either site for power generation