ENERGY FROM TIDES

7th Sem. 2018

 Energy from ocean
• Waves-caused by the transfer of energy from surface
winds to the sea

• Tides – periodic rise and fall of the water level of the

sea
• by the gravitational attraction of the moon and the
sun on the water
• About 70% of the tide producing force is due to the
moon and 30% to the sun
• Moon is thus the major factor in the tide formation
 Tidal Energy
• The periodic rise and fall of water level of sea which are
carried by the action of the sun and moon on water of the
earth is called “tide”.
• The large scale up and down movement of sea water
represents an unlimited source of energy.

• The main feature of the tidal cycle is the difference in water

surface elevations at the high tide and at the low tide.
• If the differential head could be utilized in operating a
hydraulic turbine, the tidal energy could be converted into
electrical energy by means of an attached generator.
 Energy from the moon
• Tides generated by the
combination of the moon and
sun’s gravitational forces
• Greatest affect in spring when
moon and sun combine forces
• Bays and inlets amplify the height
of the tide
• In order to be practical for energy
production, the height difference
needs to be at least 5 meters
• Only 40 sites around the world of
this magnitude
• Overall potential of 3000
gigawatts from movement of
tides
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• Surface water is pulled away from the earth
on the side facing the moon, and at the same
time the solid earth is pulled away from the
water on the opposite side
• Thus high tides occur in these two areas with
low tides at intermediate points
• As the earth rotates, the position of a given
area relative to the moon changes, and so do
the tides
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• Although there are exceptions, two tidal cycles (i.e
two high tides and two low tides) occur during a
lunar day of 24 hours and 48 minutes
• So, the time between high tides and low tide at any
given location is a little over 6 hours
• A high tide will be experienced at a point which is
directly under the moon.
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• At the same time, a diametrically opposite point on
the earth’s surface also experiences a high tide due
to dynamic balancing
• Thus a full moon as well as a no moon produce a
high tide
• two tidal cycles (i.e two high tides and two low tides)
occur during a lunar day of 24 hours and 48 minutes
• These are called semi-diurnal tides
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• The difference between high and low water levels is
called the tidal range
• At times near full or new moon, when sun, moon
and earth are approximately in a line, the
gravitational forces of sun and moon enhance each
other
• The tidal range is then exceptionally large, the high
tides are higher and low tides are lower than the
average
• These high tides are called spring tides
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• Near the first and third quarters of the moon, when
the sun and moon are at right angles with respect to
the earth, neap tides occur
 Basic principle of Tidal power
• The tides are a periodical phenomenon but no
two tides in any cycle are alike
• The mean tidal range varies from place to
place
 Components of Tidal power plant

• The three main components of a tidal power

plant
• i) The power house
• ii) the dam or barrage to form pool or basin
• iii) sluice-ways/gates from the basins to the
sea and vice versa
 Components of Tidal power plant
• The power house
• The turbines, electric generators and other
auxiliary equipment are the main equipment
of a power house
• Because small heads only are available, large
size turbines are needed; hence, the power
house is also a large structure
 Components of Tidal power plant
• The dam or barrage
• Tidal power barrages have to resist waves
whose shock can be severe and where
pressure changes sides continuously
• Tidal barrages require sites where there is a
sufficiently high tidal range to give a good
head of water-the minimum useful range is
around three meters
• The best sites are bays and estuaries
Components of Tidal power plant
• Gates
• Tidal power basins have to be filled and emptied
• Gates are opened regularly and frequently but heads
vary in height and on the side where they occur, which is
not the case with river projects
• The gates must be opened and closed rapidly and this
operation should use of minimum of power
• Since we are dealing with sea water corrosion problems
are acute, they have been very successfully solved by
cathodic protection and where not possible by paint
Tidal power plant
 Tidal power plant
• Step 1: A location has to be found where there is
sufficient tidal changes to create enough energy to
power the turbines.
• Step 2: A dam or barrage is created.
• Step 3: Sluice gates on the dam allow the tidal basin
to fill on the incoming high tides
• Step 4: The water then exits through the turbine
system of the outgoing tide.
• Step 5: Turbines are turned by the outgoing water
producing energy
Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
Single basin
One basin interacting with the sea. The two are
separated by a barrage and the flow between them
is through sluice ways
• i) Single ebb-cycle system
• ii) Single tide-cycle system
• Iii) Double cycle system
Double Basin
Two separate but adjacent basins
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• Single ebb-cycle system
• When the flood tide comes in, the sluice gates are opened to
permit sea water to enter the basin or reservoir, while the
turbine sets are shut.
• The reservoir thus starts filling while its level rises, till the
maximum tide level is reached
• Then when the sea is ebbing(flowing back of tide), generation
of power takes place as the water from the basin flows over
the turbines into the lower level sea water
• During the next tide, the turbines closed and sluice gates
opened again: to repeat the cycle of operations
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• Single tide-cycle system
• In single tide cycle system, the generation is
affected when the sea is at flood tide.
• The water of the sea is admitted into the basin
over the turbines
• As the flood tide period is over and the sea level
starts falling again, the generation is stopped
• The basin is drained into the sea through the
sluice ways
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• Double-cycle system
• The power generation is during the ebb as
well as in flood tides
• The generation of power is accomplished both
during emptying and filling cycles
• The flow of water in both directions is used to
drive reversible water turbine
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• Double basin Arrangement
• Two separate but adjacent basins
• In one basin called upper basin, the water
level is maintained above the lower basin.
• Because there is always a head between
upper and lower basins, electricity can be
generated continuously, although at a variable
rate
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• The turbines are located in between the two
adjacent basins
• At the beginning of the flood tide, the turbines
are shut down, the gates of upper basin A are
opened and those of the lower basin B is closed.
• The basin A is thus filled up while the basin B
remains empty
• As soon as the rising water level in A provides
sufficient difference of heat between the two
basins, the turbines are started.
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• The water flows from A to B through the turbines, generating
power
• The power generation thus continues simultaneously with the
filling up the basin A
• At the end of the flood tide when A is full and the water level
in it is the maximum, its sluice gates are closed
• When the ebb tide level gets lower than the water level in B,
its sluice gates are opened whereby the water level in B,
which was rising and reducing the operating heads, starts
falling with the ebb
 Operation methods of utilization of
tidal energy
• This continues until the head and water level
in A is sufficient to run the turbines
 Ocean thermal energy
• Tropical oceans absorb an enormous
amount of solar radiation
• The ocean’s surface is warmer than deep
water
– Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC):
• Closed cycle approach = warm surface water
evaporates chemicals (NH3), which spin turbines
• Open cycle approach = warm surface water is
evaporated in a vacuum and its steam turns
turbines
• Hybrid Cycle
– Costs are high and no commercial facility
operational
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
(OTEC)
Open Cycle OTEC (Claude Cycle)
 Open Cycle OTEC (Claude Cycle)
• Open-cycle OTEC uses the tropical oceans' warm surface
water to make electricity.
• When warm seawater is placed in a low-pressure container, it
boils.
• The expanding steam drives a low-pressure turbine attached
to an electrical generator.
• The steam, which has left its salt behind in the low- pressure
container, is almost pure fresh water. It is condensed back into
a liquid by exposure to cold temperatures from deep-ocean
water.
Closed or Rankine /Anderson, OTEC Cycle
 Closed or Rankine /Anderson, OTEC Cycle

• Closed-cycle systems(Rankine) use fluid with a low-

boiling point, such as ammonia, to rotate a turbine to
generate electricity.
• • Warm surface seawater is pumped through a heat
exchanger where the low-boiling-point fluid is
vaporized. The expanding vapor turns the turbo-
generator.
• Then, cold deep seawater is pumped through a
second heat exchanger which condenses the vapor
back into liquid, which is then recycled through the
system.
Hybrid cycle
Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC)
 Advantages
• No pollution
• Renewable resource
• More efficient than wind because of the density of
water
• Predictable source of energy vs. wind and solar
• Do not demand large surface area of valuable land
 Disadvantages
• Presently costly
– Expensive to build and maintain
– A 1085MW facility could cost as much as 1.2 billion dollars to
construct and run
• Tidal range is highly variable
• Technology is not fully developed
• Sea water is corrosive
• Construction in the sea is difficult
• Variability in the output due to variations in tidal range
• Barrage style has environmental affects
– Such as fish and plant migration
– Silt deposits
– Local tides change- affects still under study
Wave Power
 Wave Facts:

• Waves are caused by a number of forces, i.e. wind, gravitational pull from the sun and moon,
changes in atmospheric pressure, earthquakes etc. Waves created by wind are the most common
waves. Unequal heating of the Earth’s surface generates wind, and wind blowing over water
generates waves.
• This energy transfer results in a concentration of the energy involved: the initial solar power level of
about 1 kW/m2 is concentrated to an average wave power level of 70kW/m of crest length. This
figure rises to an average of 170 kW/m of crest length during the winter, and to more than 1 MW/m
during storms.
• Wave energy performance measures are characterized by diffuse energy, enormous forces during
storms, and variation over wide range in wave size, length, period, and direction.
• Wave energy is an irregular and oscillating low-frequency energy source that must be converted to
a 60-Hertz frequency before it can be added to the electric utility grid.
 World Wave Power Resources

• World Energy Council 2001 Survey stated the "potential exploitable wave energy" resources worldwide
to be 2 TW. For European waters the resource was estimated to be able to cover more than 50% of the
total power consumption.
• The wave market is estimated at $32 billion in the United Kingdom and $800 billion worldwide.
• The United States has exhibited weak effort compared to overseas projects in Norway, Denmark, Japan
and the United Kingdom.
• As of 1995, 685 kilowatts (kW) of grid-connected wave generating capacity was operating worldwide.
This capacity comes from eight demonstration plants ranging in size from 350 kW to 20 kW.
• Until recently the commercial use of wave power has been limited to small systems of tens to hundreds
of watts aboard generate power
 Wave Power Designs
Although many wave energy devices have been invented, only a small proportion have been tested
and evaluated. Only a few of these have been tested at sea, in ocean waves, rather than in artificial
wave tanks. Large scale offshore devices and small scale shoreline devices have been ocean tested.
The total power of waves breaking on the world's coastlines is estimated at 2 to 3 million
megawatts. In favorable locations, wave energy density can average 65 megawatts per mile of
coastline.

• Oscillating Water Columns (OWC)

These devices generate electricity from the wave-driven rise and fall of water in a cylindrical
shaft. The rising and falling water column drives air into and out of the top of the shaft,
powering an air-driven turbine.
• Floats or Pitching Devices
These devices generate electricity from the bobbing or pitching action of a floating object. The
object can be mounted to a floating raft or to a device fixed on the ocean floor.
• Wave Surge or Focusing Devices
These shoreline devices, also called "tapered channel" systems, rely on a shore-mounted
structure to channel and concentrate the waves, driving them into an elevated reservoir. These
focusing surge devices are sizable barriers that channel large waves to increase wave height for
redirection into elevated reservoirs.
 Oscillating Water Columns
• The Nearshore OWC rests directly on the seabed and is
designed to operate in the near-shore environment in a
nominal mean water depth of 15m.
• Nearshore OWC units also act like artificial reefs,
improving environments for fishing while calming the
water for a harbor.
• OWC designs typically require high maintenance, costly,
taut moorings or foundations for operation while only
using the extreme upper strata of an ocean site for energy
conversion. While focusing devices are less susceptible
to storm damage, massive structuring renders them most
costly among wave power plant types.
• Since 1965, Japan has installed hundreds of OWC-
powered navigational buoys and is currently operating
two small demonstration OWC power plants. China
constructed a 3 kW OWC and India has a 150 kW OWC
caisson breakwater device.
• A 75 kW shore-based demonstration plant by Queens
University, Belfast, using the OWC process described
above has operated on the Scottish island of Islay for 10
years
 Wave Energy Conversion Machines

It consists of pressure amplifier which sends high pressure water

to a high level reservoir on a shore line. The potential energy of
water in the reservoir is used to run a water turbine coupled to
an electrical generator.
 Wave Energy Conversion Machines

• The major components of the system are a dolphin, a float, a connecting rod
and two electrical generators
• The float has two motions. The rolling motion about its own fulcrum with the
connecting rod is amplified and converted into continuous rotary motion with
the help of gears.
• The electrical generator is driven. The other vertical motion is also amplified
and converted into rotary motion to drive the gears.
Floating Devices

• The Salter Duck, Clam, Archimedes wave swing, and

other floating wave energy devices generate
electricity through the harmonic motion of the
floating part of the device. In these systems, the
devices rise and fall according to the motion of the
wave and electricity is generated through their
motion.
• The Salter Duck is able to produce energy very
efficiently, however its development was stalled
during the 1980s due to a miscalculation in the cost
of energy production by a factor of 10 and it has
only been in recent years when the technology was
reassessed and the error identified.
Tapered Channel Wave Power

These shoreline systems consist of a tapered channel which feeds into a reservoir
constructed on a cliff. The narrowing of the channel causes the waves to increase
their amplitude (wave height) as they move towards the cliff face which eventually
spills over the walls of the channel and into the reservoir which is positioned
several meters above mean sea level. The kinetic energy of the moving wave is
converted into potential energy as the water is stored in the reservoir. The water
then passes through hydroelectric turbines on the way back to sea level thus
generating electricity.
Wave Energy
 Environmental Impacts

• Wave energy converters (WEC’s) have effects on the

adjacent coastline even though they are out at sea
• a)Wave Distortion
• WEC’s have the effect of significantly lengthening the
wavelength and reducing the height of the waves, which
pass through them.
• In fact, calculations taken in force seven storm conditions
showed wave heights reduced from 5.9m to 4.6m while the
wavelength increased from 8.4s to 9.0s.
• This results in coastlines being less affected by the erosion,
typical of short, steep waves, and more affected by the
buildingup of debris caused by long, shallow waves.
 Environmental Impacts

• This ‘side effect’is seen as beneficial in some

areas, for example North and South Uist and
Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
• This is because the increased amount of sediment
on the beaches reduces the impact of storm
waves on the shore, and the communities near
the shore.
• However this effect may not be seen as beneficial
to other coastlines, and so must be considered
carefully
 Environmental Impacts

The eyesore factor:

• Although WEC’s are typically large and can be unsightly,
• It is unlikely that they will be visible from the shore, as
theyare usually far enough out at sea to be invisible to the
naked eye.
• The only ‘eyesores’created would be the reception terminal
(but if managed correctly could be made to be aesthetically
pleasing through landscaping) and the overhead power
lines which would be required to transport the power.
• In the case of Scotland these cables would have to be
routed through areas of considerable scenic beauty.
 Environmental Impacts

• Effects on the Ecology of the area:

• As well as affecting the waves, WEC’s can alter ocean surface
currents.
• This will have no effect on benthic dwelling fish, but the many
species of fish in the surface waters (e.g. salmon) which depend on
currents to navigate between spawning and feeding grounds, could
experience difficulties completing their life cycles which could not
only affect the ecosystem but the fishing industry as well.
• This could be minimized by ensuring that WEC’s are positioned in
places in which the sea life in the ocean surface is well researched
and understood, and that WEC numbers or size do not adversely
contribute to the distortion of surface currents
 Environmental Impacts

• Effects on shipping and navigation:

• The risk of collision with WEC’s is the primary hazard to shipping
due to their design making them difficult to detect by both eye and
by radar.
• For this reason warning lights and clearly marked channels to
ensure the safe navigation around converters are essential.
• To a great extent all shipping would have to be excluded from the
immediate vicinity of the devices.
• This will have varying levels of interference depending on the
location of a WEC.
• These effects on shipping will have consequences for the fishing
industry as boats may by excluded from prime fishing grounds.
 Wave Energy
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