Giant Rubber Snake 'Anaconda' Could Bring Cost of Wave Power Down
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 07. 3.08
Wave Power Technology
Most wave power devices so far, like those from Ocean Power Delivery, are made of metal and contain many hydraulic rams, hinges and articulated joints. This makes them expensive, and the more things there are to break, the higher maintenance costs will be.
Introducing the Anaconda
Francis Farley, an experimental physicist, and Rod Rainey of Atkins Oil and Gas, have invented a new device that could help bring the cost of wave power down. They call it the 'Anaconda' after the species of aquatic boas (and a cheesy movie). It's basically "a large distensible rubber tube that is closed at both ends and filled completely with water [...] designed to be anchored just below the sea’s surface, with one end facing the oncoming waves." It is meant to be cheap to produce and maintain.
Inside the tube, the bulge waves are accompanied by a periodically reversing flow. One way of extracting power from the Anaconda is to use a pair of duck-bill valves to convert this into a rectified flow past a turbine between high and low pressure reservoirs.
R&D, Prototype, Future
The University of Southampton (UK) is starting a program of "large-scale laboratory experiments and mathematical studies" to make full-size Anacondas a reality. They are getting funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and are collaborating with the inventors.
So far the device has only been proven at very small scale in the laboratory (hence the bathtub look of the picture above), so the next step will be to use rubber tubes that are bigger: 0.25 meters and 0.5 meters in diameter. You can see a video of it in action in a pool on the official Anaconda website.
A full-scale Anaconda would be huge. 200 meters long (656 feet), 7 meters in diameter (23 feet), and it would be deployed in the ocean at water depths of 40 to 100 meters (130 to 330 feet). Electricity production for one unit is estimated at 1 megawatt, enough to power 2,000 UK houses. The cost of that electricity is estimated at US$0.12 per kWh or less. That's still more than coal, but much better than other wave-power projects so far (though they are also improving). The first full-scale Anaconda could be tested in about 5 years.
Wave Power
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Anaconda Official Site
Okay, a big rubber tube filled with water...
How exactly does it generate power?
That's pretty cool! Fresh thinking on wave power is exactly what we need. Simplify!
It's an improvement over previous models. But why does it have to look like a gigantic sea penis? This looks looks like something out of Ron Jeremy's nightmares!
This is very interesting. I'm not a hundred percent sure I understand all the logistics of it, but it is exciting to see so much innovation coming about to find a greener source of energy.
-Paige
I didn't understand how a big rubber tube full of seawater generates power either. Fortunately there is a short film on the website of the company that is building it:
http://www.checkmateuk.com/seaenergy/links.html
Basically, as waves push against the tube, a bulge of water forms and is pushed all the way to the back of the tube. At the back of the tube there is a device with a turbine that converts the bulge of water into circular motion and generates power. It's a very interesting idea.
All attempts at green power appear to me to be rather puerile so far. What we need is lots of engineers on brain-stormiing sessions in the hope that a brilliant idea (or improvement) may emerge.
I am sure we will get there eventually but it's getting very urgent now.
"Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?"
i am a senior here in the philippines and our group is planning to make this our investigatory project. building a rubber tube as big as 7m in diameter and 200m in length seems like too much for a group of 6 high school seniors studying in a public school. can you please suggest a smaller scale of the rubber snake which we could afford to make? this will just be a prototype that we will apply our modification to. we are aiming to at least make a small light bulb light. your help would be much of great help. thank you. and we would also like to ask for suggestions on how to make the rubber snake. and what other materials we would likely need. thank you.
i am a senior here in the philippines and our group is planning to make this our investigatory project. building a rubber tube as big as 7m in diameter and 200m in length seems like too much for a group of 6 high school seniors studying in a public school. can you please suggest a smaller scale of the rubber snake which we could afford to make? this will just be a prototype that we will apply our modification to. we are aiming to at least make a small light bulb light. your help would be much of great help. thank you. and we would also like to ask for suggestions on how to make the rubber snake. and what other materials we would likely need. thank you.