Low-Speed Universal Dynamometer to Accelerate Marine Energy Research
Abstract
Approved for Public ReleaseThe ocean, where the US Navy and Marine Corps mainly operate, contains a tremendous amount of energy that, will significantly benefit the Navy?s missions and operations. Ocean wave, ocean current, tidal current, and riverine current, coll,ectively named Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) energy, all have over 5-10 times more power density than wind or solar energy. To reali,ze this MHK potential in DOD?s energy portfolio and missions, substantial test and validation are needed for the power take-off syst,em (PTO), the machinery that converts hydrokinetic energy into electricity, which is recognized as the ?single most important elemen,t? in MHK energy technology. Therefore, a dynamometer is essential to establish high-fidelity dynamic models of PTOs, to evaluate pe,rformance of advanced materials, to identify potential design and manufacturing flaws, and to test prototype reliability on componen,t, sub-system, or even system level. Additional effort is needed to train the next-generation of workforce and warfighters to work w,ith, and continue to advance these technologies to new applications. Unlike the normal dynamometers used in auto industry, the MHK d,ynamometer must be active and must have the capacity of operating at low speed and high power. In the country, very few dynamometers, are available for MHK tests.The PI Lei Zuo at University of Michigan has pioneered the PTO research on the MHK energy in the past d,ecade under various funding supports from ONR, DOE, NSF, EPA, USAID, national labs, and industry. In this proposal we are seeking th,e acquisition of a low-speed universal dynamometer to significantly accelerate the MHK PTO research, testing service, and workforce,development across the entire marine energy research community. Such an acquisition would immediately contribute to 6 existing resea,rch programs and 7 new research initiatives. Specifically, the proposed dynamometer system will be used in projects covering topics,related to (1) providing electricity need for the naval bases and vessels, and or directly power high-pressure water for seawater de,salination (2-200KW); (2) providing portable power during the mission (300W-1KW); (3) supplying sustainable power for the charging o,f autonomous underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles, and ocean graphing and mapping (100-300W); (4) providing sustainable el,ectricity needed for maritime communication, ocean observing, sensing and monitoring (1-100W); (5) exploring power supply for unexpl,ored, strategically important regions such as Arctic and ocean of things (0.1-1W).In addition, the team will integrate the dynamomet,er into their existing energy harvesting curriculum, K12 STEM outreach, and professional short courses for industrial partners and f,ederal research laboratories.The proposed dynamometer will add new capacity for modelling, testing, and validation of PTOs in MHK en,ergy converters. This capacity will accelerate the design and iteration of advanced MHK technology for both civilian and defense app,lication. The system will contribute to University of Michigan?s continued long-term service to the DoD mission and exert a leverage,d impact on the MHK R&D community along the east coast and across the country through DOE?s TEAMER facility sharing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 08, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212760
Entities
People
- Lei Zuo
Organizations
- Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy