The Background
A New York based A Marine Energy Company, Verdant Power, has been developing Hydro-kinetic Underwater Turbines. These particular Turbines are tidal turbines that are “Free yawing” and are able to orientate themselves with the Ebb and Flow tides to produce energy from the Tidal currents. The Turbines require support to the river bottom through a Pylon capable of withstanding the high tidal current loads and able to provide the Free-yawing capability of the Turbine.
The Engineering
- Materials Engineering for Extreme Marine Environment
- Familiarize and decipher Engineering Tidal data and project Pylon Loads
- Perform Structural Finite Element Analysis
- Large Journal and Thrust Bearing Analysis
- Design for Assembly and Manufacture
- Preparation of Manufacture Ready Data set and Drawings
The Results
The Pylon design has been utilized for several test deployments of the Tidal Turbines and has now been adopted for Verdant Powers Gen5 Turbine presently installed in the East River in New York City.