Analysis of Stand-Alone Photovoltaic—Marine Current Hybrid System and the Influence on Daily and Seasonal Energy Storage

Stand-alone systems in remote regions require the utilization of renewable resources; however, their natural intermittence requires the implementation of energy-storage systems that allow a continuous power supply. More than one renewable source is usually available at the same site. Thus, the choice of a hybrid system seems viable. It is relevant to study hybrid systems as they could reduce energy storage; however, sizing the hybrid system might have several implications, not only for the available daily energy, but also for the required daily energy storage and surplus seasonal energy. In this work, we present a case study of a stand-alone, conventional household powered by photovoltaic and marine-current-energy systems in Cozumel, Mexico. The analysis of different hybridization degrees serves as a guidance tool to decide whether hybrid systems are required for a specific situation; in contrast to previous approaches, where ideal consumption and generation profiles have been utilized, yearlong profiles were utilized here. The renewable potential data were obtained on site at an hourly resolution; requirements such as size of and cycles in the daily and seasonal energy storage were analyzed according to the degree of participation or hybridization of the proposed renewable systems through an algorithm that evaluates power generation and daily consumption throughout the year. A further analysis indicated that marine-current-energy implementation reduces the size of the daily energy-storage system by 79% in comparison to the use of only a photovoltaic system due to the similarity between the energy-demand profile and the marine-current-energy production profile. The results indicate that a greater participation of marine currents can help decrease daily storage while increasing seasonal storage by 16% compared to using only solar energy. On the other hand, hybridization enabled a reduction in the number of daily charge and discharge cycles at 0.2 hybridization degrees. It also allowed us to reduce the seasonal energy storage by 38% at 0.6 hybridization degrees with respect to only using energy from marine currents. Afterwards, energy-storage technologies were evaluated using the TOPSIS Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to validate the best-suited technology for the energy-storage system. The evaluation considered the characteristics of the technology and the periods of energy storage. In this work, hybrid storage systems were mandatory since, for daily storage, lithium-ion batteries are better suited, while for seasonal storage, hydrogen-producing systems are more suitable to manage the amount of energy and the storage duration due to the high seasonal renewable-energy variations.

Influence of Material and Effects of Tidal Turbine Blade: A Review

In the past few years, tidal turbines have been developed to exploit the kinetic energy of seawater currents to generate electrical energy. The blade is the greater essential part of the tidal mills. It is designed in line with hydrodynamic science so that you can seize the most power from marine currents and supposed to face up to the environment marine conditions for long intervals. The cloth choice of the tidal turbine blades in the sort of extreme surroundings performs a essential role inside the efficiency of the tidal turbine. This paper discusses vital factors that affect the overall performance and the sturdiness of the tidal modern turbine together with cavitation, biofouling and corrosion. This paper intends to offer a quick evaluation of the characteristics of available materials for tidal modern turbine blades. Apart from the traditional substances, new alternative materials undertaken are discussed.

Energy Simulation of Marine Currents through Wind Tunnel with use the Haar Wavelet for Electromagnetic Brake Systems

A demand clean and renewable energy through the use of submerged turbines. Using this new source of energy we can grow the production of electrical energy in a sustainable way. This paper presents the simulation of maritime currents using a wind tunnel which allows the comparison of speed variations of water compared to air. It also features a brake system that uses a magnetic sensor in real time using the wavelets. As an example, it can be the ones mentioned concerning the feedback control system applied in a brand WEG motor of 100 hp with 2 poles 3500rpm rotation. Using software tools, the Acquired data are post-processed.

Feasibility Study of a Small Standalone Marine Power Source

This paper presents a preliminary technical feasibility of using marine current as a possible source of renewable energy production in Kuwait substituting fossil fuel based energy production. Kuwait sea water depth and velocity have been studied in order to obtain the most suitable location for such system. Topographical data collected from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research for marine currents and seabed have been used in carrying on a simulation study of the proposed system where the possible power output has been estimated. An economical study comparing the implementation of a small standalone generator and the implementation of a marine current generator for a standalone application was carried out showing the advantages of the latter. This preliminary work will help to show that marine current energy is a viable source of energy.

Revisiting the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Petroleum System in the Rocky Mountain Region

Studies of Niobrara depositional environments done during the 1980s and 1990s relied on what was understood about the processes controlling deposition in ~300 ft (~100 m) water depth at that time. A common idea was that the chalkier beds formed as carbonate-rich marine “snow” settled slowly to the sea floor to form blanket-like deposits that could be easily correlated across tens to hundreds of miles. The dominant control on chalk vs. marl deposition was thought to be relative sea level with highstands favoring chalkier deposition versus lowstands that favored the influx of some clays causing more marly deposition. Relatively recent studies of the deep-sea floor in some settings, however, have dramatically changed insights into deposition of the very fine grained (clay and silt-sized) hemipelagic deposits. Instead of a vertical rain of sediments, dynamic marine currents at depths of hundreds of feet (>100 m) can reign supreme and are now known to form scour and drift features that redistribute the sediments laterally into broadly lenticular sea-floor bars and channels that are themselves tens to hundreds of feet thick. The long (>3000 mi; 5000 km), relatively narrow (<400 mi; 650 km), north-south trend of the Western Interior Seaway between adjacent land masses made it particularly susceptible to a complex set of marine currents during Niobrara deposition that redistributed both the chalky and marly deposits. New evidence for the importance of marine currents in the Seaway during Niobrara deposition versus the traditional idea of fluctuating sea level is six-fold: 1) well-documented interfingering of the chalk and marl facies on a scale of centimeters or less, which is far too thin to be controlled by sea-level fluctuations; 2) a lack of evidence for chalk-related highstands along the seaway’s margins (e.g., in Utah and Kansas); 3) abrupt lateral changes in the thickness of chalkier deposits over distances of a mile (<2 km) or less; 4) thin (<2-inch [5 cm]) organic-rich (>15 weight % TOC) marly “kerogenites” within the clean chalk benches that are too thin to be the product of sea-level changes; 5) color-filled gamma-ray cross sections built with relatively closely spaced wells that clearly show the large-scale scour and drift features; and 6) study of modern ocean current flow patterns on deep-water hemipelagic deposits off New Zealand’s South Island and in the Mediterranean that have yielded bedforms seen on high-resolution seismic lines similar to those seen on color-filled gamma-ray cross sections of the Niobrara in the Denver Basin. Furthermore, subtle topographic features on the sea floor such as the paleo-Hartville Uplift apparently influenced current flow patterns and impacted deposition. The previously underappreciated role of currents must be accounted for when characterizing not only the deeper marine deposits of the Niobrara but also for many other marine deposits in the Western Interior Seaway. The impact of similar currents was probably also significant in other epeiric seaways around the world.

Influence of submarine sewage outfall in the sediment quality of São Sebastião channel (São paulo, br) through foraminiferal assemblages

Benthic foraminifera are used as environmental bio-indicators, especially in polluted environments where their sensitivity to pollutants may be expressed by alterations of the assemblages. Eighty-one sediment samples were collected in nine sampling trips in spring and summer (October/98, January/99, November/00, November/01) and in autumn and winter (May/99, May/00, May/01, August/99 and July/02) in the São Sebastião Channel for the study of foraminiferal assemblages. This work is related to the monitoring of a submarine outfall, considering that it is subjected to oceanographic variations and anthropic influences. We intend to determine the quality of the interface sediment-water in the TEBAR (Almirante Barroso Maritime terminal, PETROBRÁS) through foraminiferal species indicator of vulnerable environments. Results show the large number of living organisms, young and adults reveal that water circulation and dynamics favor the establishment and development of well-oxygenated foraminiferal species explaining the absence of eutrophication caused by TEBAR and the urban sewage of São Sebastião and Ilhabela. However, the low number of species recorded along the São Sebastião channel is not normal for inner shelf. The number of species in the Channel is comparable to estuarine environments where freshwater limits the distribution of organisms. This low number of species could be attributed to some of the condition that results from the effects of various sources of contamination in the Channel, such as sewage from cities, harbor, TEBAR, primary surface runoff, hydrocarbon spills among others dividing the environment in two groups. The opportunist tolerant group: Ammonia spp., Buliminella elegantissima, Bulimina marginata, Bolivina striatula and Fursenkoina pontoni, proliferate where high organic matter indicates terrestrial contribution, anaerobic environments in the central regions of the Channel and should be used as bio-indicator of pollution. The second more oxygenated tolerant group includes Quinqueloculina spp., Elphidium poeyanum, Hanzawaia spp., Discorbis williamsoni, Discorbis floridana, Pyrgo sp., Cassidulina minuta, Cassidulina subglobosa and Pararotalia cananeiaensis, indicative of well-oxygenated environments, high dynamic currents in the region, and penetration of marine currents in the channel.

Assemblages of certain benthic molluscs along the southwestern Atlantic: from subtidal to deep sea

Background We analyse the distribution of Gastropods and Chitons from shallow to deep waters along the southwestern Atlantic Ocean off Argentina and discuss possible factors determining the observed biogeographic patterns. Results Three major biogeographic groups are defined on the basis of Gastropod and Chiton species associations, i.e., continental shelf (< 350 m), upper continental slope (> 350–2000 m) and lower continental slope (2000–3000 m). Bathymetry appears as the main factor modifying large-scale distribution of the fauna at a. In this scenario, species associations are determined by marine currents that clearly occur at a particular and well defined depth. No arrangement of species by geographic location was found in assemblages from the continental shelf and upper continental slope. Conclusions We hypothesize that depth and marine currents are the main factor affecting the distribution of Gastropods and Chitons along the SW Atlantic between 200 and 3000 m depth.

Fish- and Shellmiddens from Galicia (Northwest Spain): Reflections upon a Neglected Coastal Cultural Heritage from the Iberian Peninsula

The physiographical features of the Galician sea, in particular its temperature, marine currents and plankton richness, have turned its waters into one of the most biologically diversified marine regions of the planet. The 1500 km of shorelines from this Northwest Iberian region are dotted with rías (Galician fjords) where settlements devoted to fishing and trade have existed since prehistoric times. These activities left abundant testimonies in terms of archaeological deposits. In recent decades, urban/industrial development, as well as a number of natural agents (e.g., storms, sea level rise, climate change), is rapidly erasing the evidences of this rich cultural heritage. Loss of fish and shellmiddens in particular will hamper our ability to infer traditional lifeways, doing away with evidence that is crucial to monitoring past climatic changes and to inferring those biological conditions under which marine species and coastal populations thrived in the past. This paper surveys some issues dealing with the coastal bio-archaeological heritage of Galicia, and the risks these deposits face. It concludes with a proposal to save this increasingly threatened marine heritage.