Landon Harris
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Michael Bernitsas
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering / Engineering
Program: UROP
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors:
Abstract
Despite the effect it has on each and every one of us, sustainability and clean energy is the biggest and most ignored problem worldwide. The clean and renewable energy available in horizontal Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) energy in rivers, ocean currents and tides exceeds the world’s annual electricity consumption. Flow-induced oscillation (FIO) is a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomenon in which the body motion and the excitation from the fluid couple together to affect each other. Bodies with bluff cross sections develop periodic vortical wakes. Although FIO is generally considered catastrophic, it can be controlled to harness clean hydrokinetic energy. The research we are conducting on the Vortex Induced Vibration Aquatic Clean Energy (VIVACE) Converter aims to optimize the power harnessed by a VIVACE model using three horizontal cylinders in tandem with their axes perpendicular to the flow direction. The VIVACE technology enhances FIOs and controls them to convert MHK energy to mechanical in the oscillators and subsequently to electrical. This leads to fish -human, mutually beneficial, hydrokinetic energy harvesting to power the blue economy. Our job, as student researchers, is to help simulate the current motion of the device and ultimately determine the parameters to create the perfect running conditions for the device. The target of these simulations is to provide animations of the flow vorticity to enable explanation of the observed phenomena. Once these optimal conditions are discovered, the device will run at peak efficiency and yield the most energy output possible. This is extremely important, in the quest to develop a technology that can be part of a sustainable energy future for communities worldwide.
