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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TAOIDE (Technology Advancement of Ocean energy devices through Innovative Development of Electrical systems to increase performance and reliability)

Teaser

Summary

The TAOIDE project aims to develop a fully integrated generator-to-grid, marine renewable energy delivery system with a high degree of reliability and availability, suitable for use in multiple architectures of marine energy systems.
The novel aspect of the project will be the development of a â€˜wet-gapâ€™ generator capable of continuous and reliable operation in a marine environment while fully immersed. Other significant developments will be the bearing and seal solution for the generator, active control of the system and predictive maintenance procedures and protocols.

Specific project objectives are:
Objective 1: Develop a â€˜wet-gapâ€™ electrical generator design capable of operating in a fully-seawater flooded condition
Objective 2: Develop bearings and seal designs for hydrokinetic machines
Objective 3: Develop and implement control strategies to maximize power output and power quality for multiple prime mover designs
Objective 4: Develop and implement advanced health monitoring system for the system
Objective 5: Validate the system design work through integrated full scale lab testing of system components
Objective 6: Integrate these components into a baseline ORPC hydrokinetic turbine and assess associated economic improvements
Objective 7: Develop standard operating procedures for marine renewable energy systems maintenance events
Objective 8: Dissemination of Project results and findings

Work performed

The duration of the TAOIDE project is 36 months and the work plan is structured such that the design and decision process for each work package overlap and complement each other in order to reach an optimal final design. Each technical work package has inputs to and from other work packages. The efficient parallel processing of tasks across work packages is imperative for the success and convergence for the final system testing.

During Year 1 the system definitions, preliminary design work, CFD analysis and concept studies have all been completed up to the mid-Project point. An initial iteration of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) has completed but another iteration must complete on the finalization of the bearing and seal design which is nearing completion. From Year 2, critical designs are practically complete and work is ongoing on the simulation modelling and maintenance procedure development. Preparations are underway for the lab testing element of the Project through the decision process on constituent parts to allow procurement to take place. Trade studies by SKF on the bearings and seals are due Year 3 in M28 (Feb-19).

In Year 1 the primary technical focus was on the definition of each of the subsystems while, in parallel the wet-gap generator design and build tender was being conducted by ORPC. The subsystem definition was facilitated through two face-to-face workshops and regular teleconference contributions by all partners. The conclusion of the wet-gap generator tender process took a little longer than originally envisaged to conclude in the signing of contracts (completed in M6, Apr-17). It was projected at proposal stage that the preliminary design of the wet-gap generator would have completed by M6. As a result, the preliminary and final design of all dependencies (seals and bearings, maintenance procedures, control algorithms, test designs) were delayed by approximately four months as preliminary and final data on the generator were required to complete these tasks.

To-date in Year 2, a critical design review of the wet-gap generator has completed and a design freeze implemented in M18 (Apr-18). A design freeze on the generator bearing and seal arrangement was also implemented in M18 allowing SKF to progress towards final detailed design of these elements. Up to M18, the driveline design by ORPC has progressed to an advanced stage and this has allowed the seal and bearing systems for the driveline to be progressed by SKF for finalisation in the coming weeks. Driveline and generator design work has informed the maintenance procedure formulation and this will be further refined at a Condition Monitoring Workshop to be scheduled by M22 (Aug-18).

The work on the driveline design has allowed ORPC to generate a design, and UCC a plan, for the laboratory testing to take place at UCC. Work is ongoing to conclude on the constituent parts to be procured for the test setup. This will facilitate the subsystem testing of the driveline seals, the IEE control algorithm design integrated with UCCâ€™s Power Electronics design and a specific bearing arrangement later in Year 2 and continuing into Year 3.

This subsystem testing will, through lessons learned, help inform requirements for the wet-gap generator testing which is to take place from early in Year 3 to Project end (M28 â€“ M36). In order to recover some of the time lost due to the generator contract process, it is intended that some of the subsystem and generator testing will now overlap to preserve intended test durations for each. The test laboratory layout at UCC can be configured to accommodate this dual testing.

Year 3 will be comprised principally of both subsystem and generator testing and the reporting on this testing. It is envisaged that the methods and outcomes of this testing, and the insights the results provide, will form the thesis of a number of peer reviewed publications from the Project.

Final results

To be able to provide reliable electrical generation within a tidal environment it is crucial to develop a generator that can withstand water intrusion. By designing and developing a â€˜wet-gapâ€™ generator capable of continuous operation in a fully-flooded condition, enhanced generator longevity, decreased repair times and increased system availability should result.