Our wave powered generator project

1. Our wave powered generator project • By Olnafirth primary school

2. We worked together to design a wave powered generator, below is an illustration of our teamwork to choose an idea

3. The Device • This design will be mostly under water except for the paddle at the near surface. This design will be suspended from the surface by tethers attached to a beam. The structure is made of metal bars which are rigid, keeping everything in its place and not falling to pieces. The paddle design may be modified after testing to improve efficiency. This is a sketch of our device viewed from above and viewed from the side

4. our idea • Our wave device is a good idea because it is original and it’s quiet for sea life, dolphins, whales and everything else. Our wave device has a low impact on marine users as it will only take up very small area of a very large sea .It has a small physical footprint and it is very environmentally friendly because it won’t put oil into the sea and it will not hurt wildlife. The electricity it produces is “clean, renewable energy” with a low carbon footprint.

5. This is how we think the device will look in the tank

6. And this is roughly how we think it will look from above

7. materials • Steel is available as a scrap material locally, no part of this design requires a float. Therefore steel seems to be suited for the prototype model. Other materials may be considered for a working model. • The coils will need to be sealed to avoid earth leakage and so may be plastic coated. The coils themselves will be made of copper because it is a good conductor. The magnets will be insulated from the main structure.

8. Consultation • Our device could impact a large number of marine users and wildlife, to try and get an initial idea of who we might need to consult we phoned the coastguard, the fisheries college and Scottish natural heritage, this is what we learned…

9. From the coastguard • We spoke to John Webster at the Coastguard, he told us that: • The device should be made to stand out, and be clearly visible to shipping • The device would need to be constantly lit, with a static light that could be seen from all directions, the light would need to be battery powered with solar charging for reliability • Before building the device we would need to speak to: • SIC planning dept, • The UK Hydrographic office in London • The Northern lighthouse board • Scottish Natural heritage

10. from SNH • We spoke to Juan Brown at SNH, he told us that: • The device could affect birds, though the effects would be less than windmills or tidal turbines because there are no rotating parts which can confuse birds and cause them to collide • The device would need to be installed away from feeding grounds or protected areas • They would be concerned about disturbance during construction • It could provide a safe-haven for wildlife as there could be no fishing in the area • We would need an environmental impact assessment • Positioning is critical

11. from the nafc • We spoke to Richard Shelmerdine from the NAFC and he told us that: • We would need to do a seabed survey to check for protected species such as horse mussels • The device could affect sharks, which navigate using the earths magnetic field, the device could cause sharks to get lost • We would need to do a survey for Otters, seals, whales and Dolphins in the area

12. Here are some of our thoughts on who our device might affect The surfers, wind surfers and water skiers might get upset. We would have to make sure it wasn’t near a recreational beach. Boats may be mad because they can’t fish there or the boat might have to change course so we would need to check it wasn’t near to the shipping lanes. We would make sure it had navigation signal on it.

13. Where we think the device would go • The device would be near the shore because the waves only move in one direction. This could help reduce coastal erosion as energy absorbed from the waves would not ‘hit’ the shore.

14. Mainenance and servicing • A REMOTE CONTROLED submersible would check the wave powered generator and if there is something wrong with it they will get a boat with a crane to lift it out of the water and then when it is fixed they will put it back in. • The hinges will have to be checked the most because they could get rusty and they will stop working properly. Here is an example of a wave powered generator getting lifted out of the water for servicing! 

15. Maintenence Our device will be lowered with compressed air cylinders and air bags that can be remotely deployed, this means that a relatively small maintenance team can raise the device from the seabed for maintenance, and would avoid the need to hire an expensive crane and transport it to the worksite. This is also a carbon saving because the device can be serviced with smaller machinery. It is also safer because diving is dangerous. We may need to modify the design to lower the centre of gravity to make this work

17. We hope you like our idea, we have enjoyed the project so far, and really look forward to building a working model We are going to get help building the device We are excited to find out if our device can work, and what we might need to change We hope you like our idea