Cost Benefit Analysis of the Installation of a Wind Turbine on a Naval Ship
Abstract
In order to reduce environmental pollution, reduce dependability from foreign energy sources, and avoid the uncertainty associated with an unpredictable rise in the price of oil, the use of alternative forms of energy is in worldwide demand. A popular and rapidly developing alternative form of energy is wind energy. The use of wind energy on a naval ship is the subject of this thesis. A preliminary feasibility study has been undertaken in order to evaluate wind energy potential and drawbacks. As expected, installation of a wind turbine on a ship must meet several conflicting requirements and is subject to environmental uncertainties. Such uncertainties are in turn coupled with the geographic area of operations of the ship, which makes the problem highly dependent on the overall operational concept and mission of the ship. A coupled ocean/atmosphere mesoscale prediction software (COAMPS) developed by the Naval Research Laboratory is used in order to obtain realistic wind profiles. During this study, the vital electrical circuit elements of the hybrid system are analyzed along with their performance and restrictions of their use. The operational requirements of the ship are taken into account with regards to tower and turbine sizing and its position on the ship as well as all relevant naval architecture characteristics of the ship after installation. A hybrid system is designed and analyzed to cope with the uncertainty associated with wind power. Finally, an economic evaluation of the hybrid system is performed, in order to evaluate if and under what circumstances the use of the hybrid system is a profitable investment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA531583
Entities
People
- Dimitrios Tsaknias
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School