Design of a Self-Sustainable Affordable Mass-Scale Open-Water Energy Harvester Capability For Naval Operations
Abstract
The Navy is always in need of reliable energy. Acquiring energy and transporting it to widely distributed naval ships and systems is a logistical and costly burden. This thesis explored the combined use of wave energy and kelp farming as a means of harnessing energy from the ocean. The thesis designed a concept for a capability called the Kelp Ocean Farm Energy (KOFE) Wave Energy Collector (WEC) Prototype I. The thesis applied a systems analysis using digital systems engineering methods to develop the conceptual design of this novel wave energy collector. The future capability has the potential to provide energy to support long term operations around the world while reducing life cycle costs and the Navy's overall carbon footprint. This novel KOFE WECs architecture leverages the biological advantages of naturally regenerating kelp resources as the major kinetic energy collector subsystem to deliver locally harvested energy to naval ships and systems. The design is based on simple commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices combined with Navy-developed hybrid energy storage (ES) systems to reduce life cycle cost and streamline future system integration. The thesis analyzed the conceptual system using linear wave theory calculations and identified future development and experimentation plans. The KOFE WEC Prototype I is a first-of-a-kind innovative technology concept intended to produce local sustainable power for future Navy systems
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1224703
Entities
People
- Thomas L. Jiang
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School