Aquantis C-Plane Ocean Current Turbine Project

Modelling the impact of flow-driven turbine power plants on great wind-driven ocean currents and the assessment of their energy potential

“…Using a reference value L = 10 4 m, which is close to the model grid cell at the equator, and a value of Δz = 26 m, which represents the slice of ocean in the depth range from 20-46 m where the virtual turbines are operating, yields a farm of nearly 500 rotors. A conceptual TPP consistent with the calculations above, and thus consistent with our model set-up, could be achieved with approximately 315 C-plane turbines 7,13 (each with two rotors of 23 m in diameter) as described in Supplementary Note 5. Such a number of devices is quite consistent with previous conceptual studies 6,13,47 .…”

“…These currents are relatively persistent in intensity and direction, which suggests that turbine power plants (TPPs) immersed into these currents could have a higher capacity of utilization than those exploiting tidal or wind energies 2,3 . With the advances in the development of power-generating technologies for ocean turbines [2][3][4][5][6][7] , the proper identification of the most favourable locations for TPPs and the accurate assessment of their energy potential are becoming pressing issues [8][9][10] .…”

Modeling and Numerical Simulation of a Buoyancy Controlled Ocean Current Turbine

“…variable buoyancy [11]- [15], lifting surfaces or wings [16]- [20], sub-sea winches [21], and surface buoys [22], [23]. In this article, we will focus on simulating a variable buoyancy solution, as this design type was the first to be deployed in an open ocean current while moored directly to the sea floor [11].…”

“…This OCT was successfully tested from an anchored vessel in the Gulf Stream during a one-day mission in April, 1985. Aquantis spent nearly a decade developing variants of its 2.5 MW C-plane, dual-rotor turbine designed to extract energy from the Gulf Stream [16], with two separate moored prototype tests conducted in towing tanks [26], [27]. Anadarko successfully tested their OCT system in the Gulf of Mexico, producing approximately 12 kW of shaft power with a 1/5th scale system [28].…”