AFTER MANY YEARS OF GOVERNMENT RESEARCH FUNDING INTO KINETIC TIDAL STREAM DEVICES SUCH AS THE STANDARD HAWT PROPELLER LIFT FORM OF TURBINE, ALSO THE DARIUS AND GORLOV FOIL TYPE TURBINES, IN BOTH THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL AXIS FORMS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOW PROVIDED 200K GBP, THROUGH THE ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL ( EPSRC) TO THE SOUTH WALES UNIVERSITY, SUPPORTED BY SOUTHAMPTON AND STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITIES.
THIS FUNDING IS TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF EXTRACTING MEANINGFUL AMOUNTS OF ENERGY FROM LOW VELOCITY TIDAL FLOWS, IN THE RANGE OF 1.0 M/S -2.0 M/S, SOMETHING HALES ENERGY LTD AND HALES WATER TURBINES LTD HAS BEEN DOING FOR SEVERAL YEARS. TIDAL FLOWS IN THESE RANGES PRODUCE BETWEEN 0.5 KWs AND 4.00 KWs IN EVERY SQUARE METRE OF THE WATER COLUMN WHICH COVERS ALMOST 80 PERCENT OF UK WATERS, GREATLY EXPANDING THE POSSIBLE TIDAL TURBINE DEPLOYMENT SITES.
SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY HAS ALREADY DONE RESEARCH WITH A PONTOON SUPPORTED WATER WHEEL DEVICE.
THE WATER WALL TURBINE DEVICE SUPPORTED BY CANADIAN GOVERNMENT IS SIMILAR BUT IS TARGETED FOR SHELTERED ESTUARY DEPLOYMENT.
HALES TURBINES LIMITED HAS CONTACTED THE PRINCIPLES OF THIS NEW RESEARCH PROGRAMME AND OFFERED ACCESS TO INFORMATION GATHERED ON OPERATION OF REACTION TYPE TIDAL TURBINES WHICH INCLUDES THE VERTICAL AXIS DUCTED HALES TURBINE SEEN BELOW.
(VIDEO CLIP SHOWING PRIMARY FLOW TANK TESTING OF HALES TURBINE WITHOUT DUCTING AT UCL, LONDON.)
HALES WATER TURBINES LTD IS IN TALKS WITH THIS PROJECT TEAM ABOUT OFFERING A 1MX!M PROTOTYPE MODULAR UNIT HELD IN STORE TO DISPLAY/OPERATE TOGETHER WITH SOME TEST EQUIPMENT, TO HELP THIS PROVE THE POTENTIAL OF TIDAL STREAM ENERGY AT THIS FLOW RANGE.
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