Design, Construction and Testing of an Ocean Renewable Energy
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Design, Construction and Testing of an Ocean Renewable Energy Storage Scaled Prototype MASSACHUSETTS INSTIUTE OF TECHNOLOGY By FEB 16 2012 James D. C. Meredith LIBRARIES B. Eng. Mechanical Engineering, McGill University (2009) ARCHIVES Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology February 2012 0 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Signature of Author: Department of Mechanical Engineering January 6 h2012 Certified by: Alexander H. Slocum Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering Thesis Supervisor Accepted by:. David E. Hardt Professor of Mechanical Engineering Chairman, Committee for Graduate Students Design, Construction and Testing of an Ocean Renewable Energy Storage Scaled Prototype By James D. C. Meredith Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering on January 20th, 2012 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Abstract The concept for a new form of pumped storage hydro is being developed within the Precision Engineering Reseach Group at MIT: the Ocean Renewable Energy Storage (ORES) project. Large, hollow concrete spheres are created, fitted with a reversible pump-turbine and deployed to the sea floor. Water is then allowed to flow through the turbine, into the sphere, to produce power and power is stored back in the device by running the turbine backwards as a pump and evacuating the sphere. The first prototype of that concept is presented here. A land-based system was designed, built and tested to demonstrate its ability to store energy and test the viability of the manufacturing methods planned. The device was successfully built and cycled, storing 2Wh of energy. The round-trip efficiency of the device was severely affected by the low efficiency of the scaled down rotating equipment. It was also found that casting a monolithic sphere is preferable to assembling multiple pieces and that the interior of the sphere should be maintained at atmospheric pressure via a vent line. Thesis Supervisor: Alexander H. Slocum Title: Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering 4 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the following people for their help and support during the preparation of this document: e Alex H. Slocum: His mentorship and continuous support made this work possible. Alex's insight into mechanical design and his dedication to the projects he is involved in are unparalleled and I am grateful for his help, guidance and hospitality. His relentless energy and passion for technology are an inspiration and with him and others like him at MIT, the institute has a bright future ahead of it. 0 Bill Miskoe and Nishan Nahikian: Their services were instrumental in the creation of the prototype documented here. Bill Miskoe's shop was the battleground where the most of the fabrication was done and where the machine finally came together. Bill's experience, patience and creativity got the project over many of the hurdles it encountered. To Bill, I wish many more seasons of Miata racing and many more projects in the back yard. * The team: Bruna Moscol, Greg Fennell, Gokhan Dundar and Brian Hodder. It was a privilege to work with such dedicated and capable people. I hope our paths cross again soon. 0 I would also like to thank my family and friends for their continued support and encouragement. Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. 3 Acknow ledgem ents ........................................................................................... 5 Table of onten ................................................................................................ 6 List of figures ...................................................................................................... 8 List of Tables .................................................................................................. 12 Abbreviations and Acronym s ............................................................................. 13 1 Introduction................................................................................................ 14 1.1 Motivation........................................................................................................................14 1.2 Previous Studies................................................................................................................15 2 Energy storage ............................................................................................ 16 2.1 Grid scale Energy storage...................................................................................................16 2.2 Ocean energy storage........................................................................................................18 2.2 .1 O ce an CA ES ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.2 PSH Ocean Storage..............................................................................................................19 3oncepRne...................................... er ew ....................................... 21 3.1 Prototype Concept Overview......................................................................................... 22 4 Design ......................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Overall system design........................................................................................................23 4.2 Concrete Sphere................................................................................................................24 4.3 Hemisphere Joint .............................................................................................................. 31 4.4 Mold.................................................................................................................................38 4.5 Turbine ............................................................................................................................. 44 4.6 Pump................................................................................................................................54 4.7 Electrical ........................................................................................................................... 56 4 .7.1 T u rbine Circuit ..................................................................................................................... 57 4 .7.2 Pu m p circuit ........................................................................................................................ 5 8 4.8 Data Acquisition and sensors......................................................................................... 59 4.9 Piping ............................................................................................................................... 63 5 Build (Procedure)........................................................................................ 68 5.1 Concrete Hemispheres ...................................................................................................... 68 5.2 Handling ........................................................................................................................... 70 5.3 Core drill........................................................................................................................... 72 5.4 Turbine Installation ........................................................................................................... 73 5.5 Piping installation and manifold support.........................................................................75 5.6 High Reservoir...................................................................................................................77 5.7 Vacuum Sealing ................................................................................................................. 78 5.8 Vents/ports and gas handling ......................................................................................... 79 6 Test............................................................................................................. 80 6.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 80 6.2 Test procedure..................................................................................................................80 6 .2.1 Sta rt-up ............................................................................................................................... 8 0 6 .2 .2 V e nt lin e .............................................................................................................................. 8 1 6 .2.3 No V e nt Line ........................................................................................................................ 8 2 6 .2 .4 Sh ut d o w n ........................................................................................................................... 8 3 6.3 Leak test ........................................................................................................................... 83 6.4 Turbine Tuning..................................................................................................................85 6.5 Results..............................................................................................................................87