Tidal Energy produced by expansionary system

Prepared for
Maam Wajiha Arif Khan
Instructor
Technical Report Writing Course
Electrical Engineering Department
FAST-National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Main Campus, Karachi

Submitted by
Abdul Rehman Arif K11 2100
Tahira Ali Rana

K11 2326

Ali Qasim

K11 2268

Sundus Khan

K13 2479

FAST-National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences

Main Campus, Karachi

May14, 2014

Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Abstract3
Letter of transmittal..4
Acknowledgement5
Executive Summary..6-7
Introduction...8
Literature Review..9-10
Working and Methodology...11-14
7.1.
Tower..11
7.2.
Expansionary System..11
Sprocket...11
Chain...12
Shaft12
Gears........................................................................................12
Pinion and Rack..13
Spring..13
Generator ....13
7.3.
Smart Grid...14
8. Interview/Survey Summary...15
9. Economical and social effects and its solution..15
10. Conclusion.16
11. Recommendation16
12. Bibliography17
13. References17
14. Appendix A.18
A.1Interview with Dr. Shamshad Akhter in Geography Department, Karachi
University, Karachi..18
A.2 Interview with local Machara in Clifton sea view, Karachi...18
B. Table of figures
B.1Figure 1 (Power buoy)9
B.2Figure 2 (Sprockets)11
B.3Figure 3 (Shaft)...12
B.4Figure 4 (Gear)12
B.5Figure 5 (Pinion).13
B.6Figure 6 (Springs)...13
B.7Figure 7 (Generator)13
B.8Figure 8 (Smart Grid)..14

1.Abstract
The objective of this Research Report is to propose a new idea to generate Electricity by
Expansionary system which produces clean and renewable energy. This was implemented by us on
small scale in one of our previous projects. The mechanics of expansionary system is explained in this
report and how it is implemented practically on large scale. This project would produce Tidal Energy
using the Expansionary system built in sea with Towers. This report estimates the budget of this
Project and discusses its feasibility and benefits.

May 2, 2014
3

Miss Wajiha Arif Khan, Instructor

Technical Report Writing Course
Electrical Engineering Department
FAST-Main Campus
Karachi.
Respected Instructor:
In compliance with your request for a full research report on Energy production by Expansionary
System as the semester project, this report is submitted.
This report provides a renewable solution to the energy crisis in our country and its effects on the
economy, it involves a survey and an interview with a source, develops the method for power
generation by expansionary system, and its utilization by using smart grid technology. It also
discusses the results and conclusions of the findings.
I hope you find this report satisfactory.
Sincerely yours,
Abdul RehmanArif
Tahira Ali
Ali Qasim
Sundas khan

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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We would like to appreciate the course instructor of Technical Report Writing, Miss Wajiha
Arif Khan for her valuable guidance during the planning and development of this research
project and for being the primary motivation behind it.

Special thanks go to all members of this research project who worked really hard and
contributed to this Research report.

Last but not the least, all thanks goes to Allah Almighty for all the divine help, known and
unknown, that He provided to get the objective of this project to its completion.

4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Tidal energy is a renewable energy in which tidal action in the ocean is converted to electrical
energy. Tidal energy contributes a very low fraction of global energy today because many
tidal energy are not available at commercial and industrial scale. (1)Although there is a large
potential for its use, because a lot of energy is contained in water currents. The estimated
energy contained in water tides is 3000 gaga watts. So, we are introducing a new and
effective method to produce electricity from tidal energy using expansionary systems.
The expansionary system is installed between the huge towers into Sea. The expansionary
system contains sprockets, rack, pinion, gears, shafts, and a generator. The mechanics of this
system is that when the tides hit the basement surface, It pushes the rack which moves the
pinion, the pinion further rotates the large sprocket and it moves the small sprockets via
chain. This in turns moves the large gear and it moves the small gear attached with the
generator which produces electricity.
The system is designed in such a way that once the tide hits the basement surface,it rotates
the generator five times and it is because the ratio between the large and small gear is 1:5.The
advantage of this is that it produces electrical energy using less mechanical energy and there
would be continuous supply of energy.
The whole system used is controlled by smart grid technology. Smart grid technology is an
intelligent and real time base technology and have two way communication in which both
consumer and supplier can get real based time information. The attributes of smart grid
system are that it is reliable, secure, self healing, dynamically controllable, flexible and cost
effective. Smart grid system consists of smart intelligent sensors such as solar irradiance,
pressure sensor, wind sensor, moisturizer sensor and other to improve the predictability of
renewable energy. It also consists of AMI (Advance metering interference) and PMU(phasor
monitoring unit).AMI provides us the real time base information regarding the load and PMU
tells us the physical health of the system and detects the faults.
This project is unique from others in a way that the energy generated would be utilized by the
Parks, cinemas and restaurants built on the Towers. This would be a place of entertainment
for people and a tourist Resort. People would come to this place via the ferry service
provided. The extra electricity produced would be sold to the power energy companies on
low rates.
It would have a positive impact on the already energy starved economy of Pakistan. There
would be no fuel cost as it would be a renewable energy. There would be no pollution as it is
a clean energy source. There would be only one time investment and it would utilize the tidal
energy in a very effective way. Economically it is very viable Project and it would support the
energy sector. This project would also promote tourism.

The feasibility of this Project was conducted by us and we came to the conclusion that this
Project is quite feasible but there are some Problems which can be overcome.This project
needs a place where Tides are continuous and constant throughout the year. After Survey and
interviews from Geographical Department of Karachi University and local macharas at sea
we found out that Clifton Sea View is the perfect to set up this project because the tides are
constants and this area is visited by my people throughout the year. It is commercially very
viable. It is also not far away from the main city. The energy produced is estimated around
250 MW and it would cost around $250 million, so it would need Government support and
investments from investors. Environmentally the Project is also feasible as near the sea there
would be no pollution and the energy is generated using tidal energy which is a renewable
source.
We can implement our expansionary system hardware in other places too like Jumping castles
and seesaw in the parks. It can also be placed as speed breakers on the roads. It can be placed
between the bogies of train. In such a way we can produce electricity by utilizing the energy
which is wasted.

5. Introduction
The purpose of this Report is to generate electricity by using expansionary system. The
energy converted to electrical energy is tidal energy. Although it is not widely used, but Tidal
power has the potential for future electricity generation. Tides are a better Renewable option
to generate electricity than wind energy and solar power because it is more predictable.
As Pakistan has a long 1046-kilometer coastline along the Arabian Sea, so we have a
advantage of making electricity through tidal energy. Pakistan is facing energy crisis for a
decade, so tidal energy is one of the solutions to this Problem. Here in this report we have
given a new method to generate electricity from tidal energy using expansionary system.
In our project we would also use Smart Grid technology which would control all the things
intelligently. It would also give us real time data and is a two way communication technology.
When environmental conditions are not suitable for the system it would inform us and would
automatically manage the system according to the present condition.

6. Literature Review
(2)Tidal energy is a renewable energy which is produced by the rise and fall of tides. During
20th century, engineers developed different ways to use tidal movement to generate electricity
in areas where there is a difference in area between high and low tides. Electricity is produced
by special generators in all the methods. The production of electricity by tidal energy is still
in its initial stages. The amount of power which is produced by it is still very small. There are
very few commercial based tidal plants operating in the world. The first tidal power plant was
made in La Rance, France and it was built in 1966 and is still in operation.

(3)Sihwa lake Tidal power station which is located in south Korea is the largest tidal power
station , generating 254megawatt, which surpassed the 240mwRance tidal power station that
was the world's largest for 45 years before 2011.The cost of this project was met by south
Korean government, $US293 million which is roughly $1m per MW.
The USA has no tidal plants and there are only few sites where tidal energy could be
produced at low rates. Countries such as China, England, France, Russia and Canada have
much more potential to use Tidal Energy. Engineers are working to improve the technology
related to tidal energy generators to increase the amount of energy they produce, and to
decrease their negative impacts on the environment.
Near the North Korean Border, at the Yalu River China is constructing a tidal lagoon power
plant. A private company is also planning a small tidal lagoon power plant in Swansea Bay,
Wales.
(4)At 9 locations around the world, primarily within Australia and United States there is a
power station for generating electrical energy from wave power. This point absorber or buoy
is called Powerbuoy.Powerbuoy is shown below in fig1:

Fig 1
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Powerbuoy uses hydroelectric turbine to generate power. Powerbuoys, can operate

autonomously in a deep water environment and can be connected to the electrical grid by
power transmission cables. They are manufactured by Ocean Power Technologies (OPT)
in Pennington, New Jersey. As the wave rises and falls it causes the buoy to move freely up
and down. The mechanical stroking drives an electrical generator. This generated wave power
is transmitted through an underwater power cable. Sensors on the PowerBuoy constantly
monitor the surrounding ocean environment and the performance of the various subsystems.
Data is transmitted real time. When large waves are coming, the system automatically locks
up and stops power production. When the height of wave returns to normal, the system
unlocks and it recommences energy conversion and transmission of the electrical power
ashore.

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7. Working and methodology

Here we would explain the working of each and every part and function of our Project. Every
component of our project is designed in a specific way to perform a specific task.

Tower
The whole power generating system is placed between the towers and the structure is placed
on the tower. For this purpose the tower should be made up of a very strong material. From
our survey we found out that the best material should be concrete and the metal structure
should be wrapped around the concrete. Towers cannot be stand where there is a swamp. So
solution to this problem is that the Sand would be taken out, and large concrete Blocks would
be placed in that area which would provide a strong base for the towers to hold the heavy
structure above them. The top structure where the parks and cinema are built on the towers,
but these two towers cannot support the structure properly, so aluminum wires would be
extended from the tower to support the structure properly and it would keep the structure
rigid and strong.

Expansionary system
The expansionary system is installed between the huge towers into the Sea. The working
principle and methodology of this large system we are using in our project is identical to that
of our project of expansionary system. The only difference is that our project here is used on
large scale. The expansionary system contains sprockets, chain, rack, pinion, gears, shafts,
and a generator.
Sprockets
Sprocket is a wheel with teeth and cogs. Sprockets are used to transmit rotary motion
between two shafts where gears are not suitable. Here we are using two sprockets a large one
with upper shaft and other with lower. They are both in contact with the chain. The sprockets
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are shown below in fig 2.

Fig 2

Chain
A chain is typically made up of metal and it is a series of connected links.The last sprocket
moves the small sprocket on the other shaft by the mean of chain.
Shaft
It is a solid metal object having a cylindrical shape which goes through and hold other
rotating items such as sprockets, gears and chain. Its types are axle, drive shaft, and line shaft.
Two shafts are used in trampoline generator, the top which is rotated by pinion another is
rotated by previous. Shaft is displayed below fig 3a and 3b:

Fig 3a

Fig 3b

Gears
The gear we turn is called a driver which in turn causes the other gear called the follower to
turn. The driver and the follower turn in opposite directions. A gear ratio is a comparison of
the total number of turns of input to the turns of output. e.g. a gear ratio of 1:5, means that
the input shaft must make one revolutions to produce five revolution of the output shaft. This
also means that the output speed is five times slower, but the output force is five times
greater. The advantage of this is that it produces electrical energy using less mechanical
energy and there would be continuous supply of energy. We are using gears mainly for
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rotating the shaft attached with generator and it is shown below in Fig 4.

Fig 4

Pinion and rack

Pinion is a segmented rod placed on the top and it rotates the gear on the upper shaft.

Fig 5

Spring
Springs are used to reposition the pinion to its initial state after being pushed downwards.
There are about 4 springs used in the project which are placed on the top of the Metallic Box.

Fig 6
Generator
The most important part of whole assembly is generator. The motor used in this project is a
permanent magnet DC motor.
The measured rating of this motor is;
24V
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 1200rpm
1.5A
36W

Fig 7

The mechanics and working principle discussed above is of the hardware that we
implemented in our pervious project. The tidal project would have the same expansionary
system the only difference would be that it would be on large scale. The mechanics of this
system is that when the tides hit the basement surface, it pushes the rack which moves the
pinion, the pinion further rotates the large sprocket and it moves the small sprockets via
chain. This in turns moves the large gear and it moves the small gear attached with the
generator which produces electricity.

Smart Grid
The whole system used is controlled by smart grid technology. Smart grid is 21 st century
computer based remote control fully automated technology, it is a intelligent and real time
base technology and have two way communication in which both consumer and supplier can
get real based time information. Smart Grid uses information technology to improve how
electricity travels from power plants to consumers and it also allows consumers to interact
with the gird. It integrates new and advanced technologies into the operation of the gird .The
attributes of smart grid system are that it is reliable, secure, self healing, dynamically
controllable, flexible and cost effective. Smart grid system consists of smart intelligent
sensors such as solar irradiance, pressure sensor, wind sensor, moisturizer sensor and other to
improve the predictability of renewable energy. The expansionary system require a constant
flow of tides, the system predict in such a way that if high tide is coming towards the system,
the smart grid would inform the system before hand and it would close the system. When the
flow of tide becomes constant it would turn the system on automatically. It also consists of
AMI (Advance metering interference) and PMU (Phasor monitoring unit). AMI provides us
the real time base information regarding the load and PMU tells us the physical health of the
system and detects the faults.

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Fig 8

8. Interview/survey Summary
We visited few universities and asked a couple of questions from faculty and students
belonging to this field. Most of our problems were solved but few questions remained
unanswered and were not satisfactory.
We conducted three interviews from Dr.Farkhanda Burke, Dr. Khalida Mahmood and Dr.
Shamshad Akhtar belonging from the department of Geography at Karachi University but
two of them didnt give satisfying answers and one of them was kind enough to help and
share his knowledge regarding this field which was quite helpful to proceed in our research.
we also met some macharas (fisher man) and asked them where do the movement of tides
remain constant throughout the year and they said that Clifton sea is the place where tides
remain constant throughout the year.
*The original interview document is attached in appendix A.

9. Economical and social effects and its solution

As, Pakistan is facing energy crisis, there is a negative impact on the economy of Pakistan.
The industries are closing due to load shedding and the output from industrial sector is
15

getting low day by day. As the industries are closing the unemployment ration is increasing
which is indirectly increasing the crime rate in Pakistan. The export is decreasing and the
import is increasing, and thus the external debt increases.
To support our economy we have provided a energy efficient solution to this problem. These
types of projects which are one time investment provide free and clean renewable energy. As
Pakistan would become energy sufficient country, there would be a growth in industrial
sector which would contribute to the GDP of our country. The employment ratio would
increase which would decrease the crime rate. The exports would increase and the import bill
would decrease as our import bill mainly consist of Oil products.

10. Conclusion
This report concludes that this project in very feasible and beneficial for our Country. As we
have large coastal area which is 1046-kilometer, so we can implement many such projects in
our country and can produce enough energy that can full fill our requirement and support the
economy. This basic theory of this project which is the expansionary system can be
implemented other than coastal areas as well like parks, speed breakers.etc.

11. Recommendation
It is highly recommended that this project should be implemented by the Government of
Pakistan and Investors should also show interest in this project as the investment is only one
time and the returns for the investors are good as they won't have to pay for the fuel as it is a
renewable energy.

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12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/01-02/RE_info/Tidal%20Power.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/tidal_power.htm
http://www.smartgridnews.com/
http://www.tidalenergyltd.com/
http://islayenergytrust.org.uk/tidal-energy-project/

13. References
1. Britannica. [Online] [Cited: April 14, 2014.]
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/595132/tidal-power.
2. education.nationalgeographic. [Online] [Cited: Aprial 14, 2014.]
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/tidal-energy/?
ar_a=1.
3. wikipedia. [Online] [Cited: April 14, 2014.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihwa_Lake_Tidal_Power_Station.
4. Wikipedia. [Online] [Cited: April 14, 2014.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBuoy.

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14. Appendix A
A.1 Interview with Dr. Shamshad Akhter in Geography Department, Karachi University,
Karachi
Dr.shamshad akhter:walikum salam
Me: we are the students of fast and we wanted to talk about one of our research project and
needed some information regarding it.
Dr.shamshad akhter: yeah sure
Me: Can you guide us about something related to tidal energy in Pakistan.
Dr.shamshad akhter: yes,Tidal energy is a renewable and clean energy source.Although in
pakistan you won't find any project related to it due to Government negligence in areas of
renewable energy.
Me: Do you think pakistan is a good place to set up tidal power plant?
Dr.shamshad akhter: Yes,Pakistan is a very good place for energy generation from tidal power
plant due to its large coastal areas.Pakistan has the potential and it is the need of time.
Me: Thankyou sir for your precious time.
Dr.shamshad akhter: You welcome.

A.2 Interview with local Machara in Clifton sea view, Karachi

Me:Assalm o alikum
18

local machara:walikum salam

Me:karachi ma sab se achi jaga konsi ha jaha pe pani ki lehra barabar hoti ha
local machara:hamara khayal se tou clifton ha
me:poora saaal?
local machara:han poora saal,bas pani aga peecha ho jata ha
me:app kab se machliya pakar raha ho
local machara:hamara khandani kam ha ye.

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