Design of subsea energy storage chamber

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Greenlee, Alison S
Other Authors: Alexander Slocum.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54471
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author Greenlee, Alison S
author2 Alexander Slocum.
author_facet Alexander Slocum.
Greenlee, Alison S
author_sort Greenlee, Alison S
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description Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.
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spelling mit-1721.1/544712019-04-12T10:05:28Z Design of subsea energy storage chamber Greenlee, Alison S Alexander Slocum. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25). Energy generated from offshore resources is not reliable over short periods of time. Although wind and wave energy is fairly consistent in the long run, their short term capacity fluctuations prohibit these resources from replacing dependable fossil-fuel based energy systems. This limitation could be overcome if the energy harvested from these resources could be stored temporarily and then released when needed. The large hydrostatic head at the ocean floor provides a unique opportunity for storing energy offshore. Similar to hydroelectric dams storing water at a high potential, energy could be stored offshore by displacing water from a subsea chamber. This chamber could be incorporated into the mooring system of present offshore harvesting devices to yield more favorable economics. This report establishes the baseline assumptions for designing this energy storage device and proposes a methodology for constructing a beta level prototype. In addition to discerning the tradeoffs between different design options with respect to the marine environment, this study analyzes the cost of this structure per unit energy stored. The contents of this report comprise of the following. First, the hazards inherent to the marine environment are explored qualitatively, and methods to address these issues are proposed. Second, the chamber shape, mooring type, and amount of material are determined based on their respective costs. Finally, this report concludes with the final dimensions of a proposed beta prototype and a list of recommendations for future work. by Alison S. Greenlee. S.B. 2010-04-28T15:37:21Z 2010-04-28T15:37:21Z 2009 2009 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54471 556005899 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 25 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Greenlee, Alison S
Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title_full Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title_fullStr Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title_full_unstemmed Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title_short Design of subsea energy storage chamber
title_sort design of subsea energy storage chamber
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54471
work_keys_str_mv AT greenleealisons designofsubseaenergystoragechamber