Wave Energy Generator

Kymogen1

Hello,
My name is Jason Ballash. I am one of the co-founders of a newly formed company named KymoGen. We have recently designed a unique style of wave energy generator. We are very excited about how this system will provide clean, renewable energy to homes and communities that are near water. I am posting on these forums to gain awareness of our project, and to discuss any thoughts or suggestions on this project as we move forward.

We are now entering the early prototype phase, and will possibly be using crowd funding to make this project a reality. We are very interested in your feedback throughout this project. If you would like to know more about the KymoGen, you can check out our initial press release below to learn more. Thank you all for your support.

http://www.prlog.org/12405424-company-formed-to-generate-power-from-waves.html

Cariboocoot

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Welcome to the forum Jason.

I have moved this post to the "General" section as the "Marine" part of the section you posted in refers to RE power systems on boats.

Having looked at the link I can only say it is woefully short on the kind of technical details that will capture peoples' interest around here. Beyond that I will leave it to forum members to view and comment.

Kymogen1

Re: Wave Energy Generator

We're working on getting the technical specs together as i am writing this reply Thank you for the input. We really appreciate it. Stuff like that will help us get this project rolling.

waynefromnscanada

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Had a look at the link and have to agree with Cariboocoot. All I see is a drawing one might expect of a school kid and some talk of what amounts to remote possibilities.
I don't intend this to be an insult, rather it's the reality of the situation as I see it. And yes, being born and brought up by the ocean, I have some understanding of it's character.

solarvic

Re: Wave Energy Generator

I think the year was 2006 when the AWEA had their convention in Pittsburg, pa. There was a company there that had a booth on something similar that was supposed to generate power from waves. It had tanks that were connected in a string that generated power by something sliding ahead and back something in the tank. About all I remember about it. Solarvic

westbranch

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Here it is, I like to call it a Sea Snake

http://www.pelamiswave.com/

solarvic

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Yes Westbranch, I think that was the wave generator I saw at the AWEA convention in Pittsburg, at the David Lawrence Convention Center. I worked at a foundry (Hodge Foundry) that was making Hubs for General Electric and Clipper wind turbines. The foundry had a booth at the convention and chartered a bus for any of the foundry workers that were interested in attending. Solar vic

Blackcherry04

Re: Wave Energy Generator

This sounds like a rewind from the 1972 oil embargo. Google Terms : electrical power from ocean waves 1972 : only 21,000,000 hits.

Kymogen1

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Thank you all for your input. We really appreciate it. I agree that the idea of capturing energy from waves is nothing new, and the idea of a floating object tethered to the seabed is also nothing new, it is the mechanism and the process to harness the energy that is unique in our generator, by using an onboard flywheel. If anyone has found anything similar to that, please link, as I would be greatly interested.

Graham Parkinson

Re: Wave Energy Generator

Hi Kymogen

Wave energy has always seemed to be like fusion, the energy source of the future. As you know the difficulties are mostly the relentless attack of the sea on anything moored in it (freak wave forces, wear, corrosion, fouling, tides, currents, floating debris etc. make the ocean a very poorly controlled place to conduct experiments on energy harvesting).

As a result of growing up on a wave pounded shoreline, I'm also interested in harvesting wave energy on a small scale. There is definitive book titled "Ocean Wave Energy Conversion" edited by Michael McCormick, Dover Publications, 1981. This text sets out relevant wave theory, retrievable energy for various schemes, outlines prior art (the patents as of 1981) and steps through many of the variants of how to couple electrical generation to waves, including the efficiencies of moored float systems like the concept that you propose. It goes on to cover experiences with each type, issues of power transmission and mooring and ends with a listing of relevant patents.

A flywheel, generator and controls are expensive pieces of mechanical-electrical engineering to keep running inside of a heaving and pitching, wet, damp and hard to access location like a moored float. There will be gyroscopic forces to deal with as the float gets tossed around. The mooring will be problematic as energy harvesting relies on a taught mooring line which will require some sort of constant tension active control mechanism. The size of the float required to accommodate all this gear will mean that it will couple mainly only with large long period waves, i.e. those found in offshore environments.

All doable but I like the pneumatic and hydraulic systems cavity resonator systems which allow moving the electro mechanical bits onto dry land or at least up and away from water level.

Having some experience in engineering physics and the ups and downs of R+D I'd advise researching previous wave energy ventures thoroughly before committing steel and copper to the high seas!

Looking forward to seeing what your team has come up with.

Cheers, Graham

Kymogen1

Thank you all for the awesome feedback. Just wanted to give you guys an update as we progress with our KymoGen project. We have been working non stop to get this project to the fabrication stage. We are looking to start the fabrication of the prototype in the spring. We will be looking to crowdfunding on Kickstarter so we can use the best components and materials possible on the prototype. We will be launching the kickstarter in a few days. You can check out our most recent press release here: http://www.prlog.org/12431296-kymoge...g-forward.html which includes our video for the project. Let me know what you think, as the feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again.
Jay Ballash

Kymogen1

Hello everyone,
Jason from KymoGen here. I wanted to come on and give you an update on our project. This morning, we launched our KymoGen Kickstarter! This is a very exciting step in the process for us, as it means we are a month away from starting the construction of the prototype. I also wanted to thank you all again for the feedback and support you have given. It fuels us to push harder to make this project happen. I will continue to update as we progress on the project. Thanks again!

KymoGen Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295155243/kymogen-wave-energy-generator

Kickstarter press release:
http://www.prlog.org/12439264-kymogen-launches-kickstarter-campaign.html