Biomimicry-based MHK for remote communities
Increased adoption of renewable energy into remote community microgrids is possible through the use of marine and riverine hydrokinetic sources in order to displace costly, carbon-producing diesel generators, while avoiding daily and seasonal fluctuations from solar panels or the variability of wind power. This hydrokinetic energy can be a baseload source to the renewable energy mix in a remote community microgrid, but existing hydrokinetic technologies are capital intensive, bulky and difficult to deploy and decommission, subject to debris and extreme weather and as a result, offer a high levelized cost of energy (LCOE). BladeRunner Energy has taken a unique approach in developing its system to capture the energy from the natural flow of water in rivers to produce clean and affordable electricity. The BladeRunner solution is centered around a novel and nature-inspired biomimetic rotor, that allows for a small-scale system that can be deployed in arrays and is aimed at offering a low capital expenditure and to minimize its environmental footprint. With the ability to deploy in shallow water, the BladeRunner technology can significantly expand the alternatives for deployment and increase the viability for integration with rural and remote microgrids located close to a source of moving water. The technical feasibility of the biomimetic rotor concept and unique direct-driven architecture that uses a highly engineering torque rope as the main power take-off component has already been shown in prior work, as well as in field testing in a stretch of irrigation canal. In its Phase I DOE SBIR project, BladeRunner used modelling and analytical tools to demonstrate the techno-economical feasibility of using its leading rotor designs in selected rural Alaskan communities that were specifically analyzed based on their power demands and available river resources. Phase I also included an analysis of available community microgrids in Alaska according to their existing microgrid configurations, and four use cases in three different scenarios were developed in order to more clearly design the prototype to be used in Phase II. The technical feasibility was further advanced through offline simulations using a series of Matlab/Simulink models developed to simulate the rotor, power take-off, directly-driven permanent magnet generator (PMG), and two forms of power conversion, DC-DC, and AC-DC. These models were utilized to simulate stand-alone unit control, as well as control over an array or cluster of five units. The results indicated promising paths for achieving integration in the microgrids analyzed. The simulation work was supported through a system emulator that the team developed, where a degree of Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) was performed, which included the use of a 0.75kW 3-phase PMG, DC-DC converter and grid-tie inverter. The team is moving forward with the application for a Phase II project that would benefit from extensive HIL testing in specially-designed microgrid evaluation settings, will make use of modelling tools for refinement of the system, and will couple actual open-water testing, to be done at the Tanana River Hydrokinetic Test Site in Alaska that is managed and operated by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), an applied energy research program based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Beyond a Phase II, BladeRunner plans to deploy its minimum viable product in a demonstration project at a selected Alaskan community. When commercialized, the BladeRunner hydrokinetic system will provide clean, affordable power that can easily be deployed in remote communities at a low capital cost. The company will also commercialize systems and services for irrigation districts serving agricultural regions, where a need for off-grid power has also been identified and will harness an existing national resource that is currently large untapped.
- Research Organization:
- Blade Runner, LLC
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
- Contributing Organization:
- University of Alaska Fairbanks - Alaska Center for Energy and Power PAX Scientific, Inc. Sustainable Power Systems, Inc. Navigant Research
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0019994
- OSTI ID:
- 1615897
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-BLADERUNNER-0019994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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