Kinetic Energy From Water Movement

Canadian company Go With The Flow Technologies (GWTF) is focused on capturing the kinetic energy embodied in the movement of water.

The company has fabricated its first ocean ready prototype and completed initial tests confirming proof of concept, sea worthiness, expectations, and feasibility.  

Image source: GWFT

The Tidal Current Surface Crawler (TCSC) is a floating surface device with no requirement for specialized vessels or ocean foundations, making heavy lift equipment unnecessary, save and except the placement of an inert anchor.  

SIFET Technologies are licensed to the recently incorporated tidal energy company GWFT Go With the Flow Technologies Inc. An over-riding focus of their attention is the simultaneous application of both the TCSC and the WSS on the ocean's surface, in a synergistic manner, while allowing singular terrestrial application of the WSS renewable energy source in a myriad of configurations.  

The Wind Stream Sails (WSS) harnesses the kinetic energy of wind streams. This technology is introduced as an alternative to today's wind turbine technology. This technology is designed to be synergistically deployed with the Tidal Current Surface Crawler in a marine application or deployed terrestrially as a low profile installation on new or retrofit to industrial buildings.

The marine applications can be deployed anywhere on the ocean's surface or in rivers and river estuaries where there is measurable current velocity. Such locations are also invariably blessed with significant wind velocities, and hence the desire to simultaneously harness the energy of the prevalent wind stream to drive a common generator. Doing so automatically enhances the utilization factor.  

The terrestrial applications can be sited anywhere, because of their low profile, with a special emphasis on roof-tops of industrial buildings.

Advantages of the system:

• High sensitivity to current flow with only minor friction losses, and as such can engage the small velocities of ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream.
• Requires less fabricated material/kW, is much more efficient in energy capture, is totally environmentally benign, and is relatively inexpensive.
• Directly suitable to river currents without negatively affecting fish habitat.
• Can capture upwards of 40 % of the kinetic energy of a moving volume of water.
• Energy capture is totally linear and energy farms are capable of supplying hundreds of MW into the grid. Has no impact on Marine life, and deployment areas become sheltered fish habitat.
• Power takeoff is direct mechanical, with the drive train being above the water line. Anchoring is slack moored, fore and aft, allowing tidal flow energy capture bi-directionally.
• It has a very low profile, and does not present visual pollution.

Read full article: Energy Harvesting Journal

Find out more: GWFT

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Taxonomy

• Technology
• Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Wave Energy
• Green Technology
• Wave & Tidal Energy
• Ocean engineering