ISBN: 978-1-56700-537-0
ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-538-7
ISSN Online: 2377-424X
International Heat Transfer Conference 17
POWER BUOY − AI-BASED APPROACH FOR DETERMINING OPTIMAL POSITIONS
Abstract
Hughe amounts of energy are spend for household heating systems. With our new concept for an urban river heat pump concept energy could be saved. The compressor of the heat pump concept could be driven by an underwater river turbine. A power buoy, also known as a free-flow turbine, is a small, floating current power plant that converts the kinetic energy of a free-flowing river into electrical energy. The concept was
patented by Fritz Mondl in 2005 [1], has been continuously developed since then and is currently being
tested at various locations [2]. The advantage of the electricity buoy compared to other systems for the use
of renewable energies is obvious: it supplies electricity energy day and night, 8.750 hours a year. The power output is hardly subject to daily or seasonal fluctuations.
Since the Strom-Boje or power buoy requires a minimum water depth of three metres and a flow velocity of around two metres per second, it is suitable for use in Europe in medium to large alpine drainages such as the Danube, Inn, Rhine, Rhone, Po or Drava and Sava. The question of suitable locations is derived from the boundary conditions of depth and flow velocity. Without reliable flow data as the basis for an economic efficiency calculation, it is difficult to determine a location for the free-flow turbine and consequently no such hydropower plants are built, or at unfavourable locations. A wind map, as for example for wind turbines, does not yet exist for rivers and their local flow profiles. But not only the positioning and efficiency calculation of individual current buoys have to be planned, also aspects of the interaction of current buoys in the field, so-called current buoy clusters, have to be considered. Here, too, exact planning is necessary, as the position of the current buoy can only be changed with a great deal of effort once it is anchored in the riverbed. Good positioning of the buoy with regard to incident flow significantly improves energy generation. The determination of the location (at which point and how in the cluster) is therefore an essential aspect that is to be implemented cost-effectively and automatically with the AI-based approach presented here.
Since the Strom-Boje or power buoy requires a minimum water depth of three metres and a flow velocity of around two metres per second, it is suitable for use in Europe in medium to large alpine drainages such as the Danube, Inn, Rhine, Rhone, Po or Drava and Sava. The question of suitable locations is derived from the boundary conditions of depth and flow velocity. Without reliable flow data as the basis for an economic efficiency calculation, it is difficult to determine a location for the free-flow turbine and consequently no such hydropower plants are built, or at unfavourable locations. A wind map, as for example for wind turbines, does not yet exist for rivers and their local flow profiles. But not only the positioning and efficiency calculation of individual current buoys have to be planned, also aspects of the interaction of current buoys in the field, so-called current buoy clusters, have to be considered. Here, too, exact planning is necessary, as the position of the current buoy can only be changed with a great deal of effort once it is anchored in the riverbed. Good positioning of the buoy with regard to incident flow significantly improves energy generation. The determination of the location (at which point and how in the cluster) is therefore an essential aspect that is to be implemented cost-effectively and automatically with the AI-based approach presented here.