Friday, March 6, 2009

URI, Electro Standards Laboratories target waves for power

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

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Cranston, R.I.-based engineering firm Electro Standards Laboratories Inc. has teamed with the University of Rhode Island’s Ocean Engineering Department to help develop a new type of ocean drive mechanism, aimed at harvesting wave power.

The project recently received a $200,000 collaborative research grant from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Council and will build on a previous collaboration between the two organizations that built the basic platform of the unit for the U.S. Navy through a Phase 1 SBIR grant.

The funding will be used to develop and test the units, after which a prototype will be built and undergo field tests in Narragansett Bay. Electro Standards Laboratories will provide the electronics and generator portion of the system, while URI’s expertise will be used in the hydrodynamics and physical engineering of the units, which are expected to measure about three feet long and one foot wide.

Unlike some other wave energy systems aimed at providing grid-connected power, such as the one proposed by Australia-based Oceanlinx Ltd. for insertion into Narragansett Bay, the Electro Standards Laboratories unit is aimed at smaller power systems for individual applications, such as emergency beacons or coastal surveillance systems.

“We’re trying to start with something that is small and easy to manage, so people can use it as an individual power platform,” said Raymond Sepe, vice president of research and development for Electro Standards Laboratories.

The group is currently looking at market possibilities in other applications  as well, including aquaculture operations and port underwater security systems, according to Malcolm Spaulding, a professor of ocean engineering at URI and the director of the school’s Center of Excellence in Undersea Technology.

Rhode Island has been an active player in the growing wave and tidal power cluster in New England. State officials have been working with Oceanlinx to develop two sites off the Rhode Island coast, with the state agreeing to provide up to $4 million in funding for the project in 2007. In addition, Rhode Island is home to wave energy technology developer Ocean Wave Energy Co. in Bristol.

Last September the Department of Energy dipped its toe into the movement, offering $7.3 million in a series of grants for the advancement of hydrokinetic programs.