Aditya Patel
Research Mentor(s): Michael Bernitsas
Mentor Department: Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Authors:
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 60
Abstract
In the recent years, the results of excessive carbon emissions have shown its repercussions in form of rising global temperatures. Consequently, we have witnessed more frequent wildfires, prolonged droughts in some regions, severe rainfalls and floods, and an imbalance of the global weather system. Therefore, it becomes essential to address the excessive greenhouse gases being emitted and find alternative clean energy sources. Currently, various forms of clean energy sources exist, such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy, but they are not as reliable as the conventional energy sources. As a result, many experts suggest that the convergence of few clean energy sources is perhaps the best solution to address the situation. In this project, we aim to use Computational Fluid Dynamics through OpenFOAM to optimize the design of our VIVACE device that runs of the principles of fluid dynamics. More specifically, we aim to use the irregularity in the water flows to gives rise to vortices to induce an oscillatory motion in our cylinders. The energy from the oscillatory motion can be converted into the electrical energy using a generator. We will finally apply the best design on the actual device in the summer and conduct experiments to gather experimental data.We hope to see better efficiency results compared to our previous prototypes. Better results would mean that we are leading our design in the right direction, and it will also provide some guidance into how the subsequent prototypes should be tweaked for even better results. The findings of this experiment can be implemented in remote areas where energy might be scare or non-reliant. Some areas experience more power outages, and a large-scale device like this in a water body can prove to be a boon for the community.
