MWNW Consulting Limited (MWNW) has designed their Mass of Water Turbine (MOWT) (patent pending), a novel hydrokinetic device which will generate power in rivers, estuaries, and tidal flows – both floating at the surface, or fully submerged. MOWT is a simple, robust conveyor like system which has been designed to operate at low flow velocities, and generates power from multiple paddles attached to the conveyor which hang in the water and propel the conveyor around. Approximately half of the paddles are driven by the flowing water at any one time.
From conducting in-river trials, it has become evident that the MOWT system has potential to produce usable energy at relatively low flow speeds. MWNW anticipates that the MOWT paddles are a key factor with a significant impact on the device efficiency. As a result, paddle optimization is the focus of the technical assistance required in order to model the overall forces acting on the paddles and to optimize their size, spacing and design for a given MOWT system.
By utilizing the expertise of Sandia, MWNW will be able to accelerate development of its MOWT technology. This will create a hydrokinetic turbine that can generate energy effectively and efficiently from relatively slow moving water, by harnessing the mass and volume of the water rather than targeting high velocity water. This vastly increases the potential deployment of this type of marine energy generation device and will greatly increase the effectiveness of marine current energy.