WATER BROS DESAL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY IS WORKING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, EASTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY COASTAL STUDIES INSTITUTE, AND THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES ON THE LONG-DURATION TESTING AND SCALABILITY OF A LIGHTWEIGHT, RAPIDLY DEPLOYABLE, WAVE-POWERED REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM. THE OBJECTIVES FOR THIS PROJECT FOCUS ON THE SUCCESSFUL LONG-TERM DEPLOYMENT OF A WAVE-POWERED DESALINATION SYSTEM FOR DISASTER RESPONSE OR REMOTE COMMUNITIES. THIS OVERALL GOAL IS PURSUED THROUGH INTERMEDIATE OBJECTIVES THAT VERIFY THE PERFORMANCE OF KEY DESIGN COMPONENTS AND IMPROVE THE MODELING USED TO PREDICT SYSTEM LOADS AND PERFORMANCE.
THE PURPOSE OF BUDGET PERIOD ONE IS TO MODEL, TANK TEST, LARGE-AMPLITUDE MOTION PLATFORM TEST, AND OCEAN DEPLOY (TEN DAYS A MORE RUGGED VERSION OF THE WATER BROS DESAL (WBD) MK V PROTOTYPE DESIGN. THE MK V PROTOTYPE SUCCESSFULLY DESALINATED WATER IN APRIL 2022 DURING THE WAVES TO WATER DRINK STAGE FINALE; HOWEVER, IT COULD BENEFIT FROM DESIGN CHANGES TO IMPROVE ITS SURVIVABILITY AND PERFORMANCE. THESE ENHANCEMENTS WILL BE INFORMED BY ENHANCED MODELING OF THE WEC PERFORMANCE IN WEC-SIM TO BRING THE MODELING IN LINE WITH STANDARD PRACTICE IN THE WEC COMMUNITY AND PHYSICAL TESTING OF CRITICAL POWER TRAIN COMPONENTS. THE RESULTING DESIGN (MK VI PROTOTYPE) WILL UNDERGO A CRITICAL DESIGN REVIEW (CDR) BEFORE A SHORT TANK TESTING CAMPAIGN TO VERIFY BASIC OPERATIONS AND MODELING BEFORE THE OPEN OCEAN DEPLOYMENT.
BUDGET PERIOD TWO (24 MONTHS) WILL FOCUS ON TWO OCEAN DEPLOYMENTS (ONE MONTH AND 4-6 MONTHS, RESPECTIVELY) WITH UPDATED MODELING AND A CDR PRECEDING EACH DEPLOYMENT. THIS RAMPED UP APPROACH TO DEPLOYMENT DURATION IS INTENDED TO DE-RISK THE LONG-TERM DEPLOYMENT BY ALLOWING TIME FOR LESSONS LEARNED BETWEEN EACH SUCCESSIVE TEST. THE WATER PRODUCED IN EACH OF THE TESTS WILL BE MEASURED FOR VOLUME AND QUALITY (TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS) MEASURED ON THE DEVICE, ADDITIONAL WATER QUALITY MEASUREMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL. AT THE CONCLUSION OF BUDGET PERIOD TWO, THE TEAM WILL HAVE AN UP-TO-DATE MODEL FOR WEC PERFORMANCE THAT CAN BE COMPARED TO DATA FROM THREE OPEN OCEAN DEPLOYMENTS AND AN ACCOUNTING FOR THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH DESIGNING, FABRICATING, DEPLOYING, AND MAINTAINING A SMALL WEC FOR DESALINATION. THESE FACTORS WILL SERVE AS THE INPUTS FOR A TECHNO-ECONOMIC MODEL THAT ESTIMATES THE LEVELIZED COST OF WATER (LCOW) IN VARIED COASTAL REGIONS BASED ON THE AVAILABLE WAVE ENERGY RESOURCE AND THE LOCAL COST VARIATIONS.
THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, WATER BROS DESALINATION AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE WILL ENGAGE STUDENT RESEARCHERS TO MODEL, DESIGN, AND PROTOTYPE THE NEXT GENERATION WAVE ENERGY DEVICE, AND SUPPORTING SYSTEMS INCLUDING THE POWER-TAKE OFFS, WHICH ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONVERTING THE WAVE MOTION TO MECHANICAL ENERGY TO OPERATE THE REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEMS. EASTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY COASTAL STUDIES INSTITUTE WILL COMPLETE PERMITTING AND SITE LOCATION ACCESS, AS WELL AS DEPLOYMENT, RECOVERY, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM WHILE DEPLOYED AT SEA. THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES IS THE HOST FACILITY FOR AT SEA TESTING AT THE JANETTE’S PIER IN NAGS HEAD NORTH CAROLINA AND WILL FACILITATE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION AROUND WAVE ENERGY WHILE THE DEVICE IS DEPLOYED.
THE MODELING GENERATED, DATA COLLECTED, AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TO THE WAVE ENERGY COMMUNITY TO HELP GROW THE WAVE ENERGY ECOSYSTEM AND FACILITATE ADVANCEMENT IN THE FIELD. THE WATER BROS DEVICE IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO PROVIDE AID TO REMOTE COASTAL AND ISLANDED COMMUNITIES SUFFERING FROM WATER INSECURITY, SPECIFICALLY FOLLOWING NATURAL DISASTERS IN WHICH EXISTING POTABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE IS DAMAGED OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE.$1,568,114
· FY2025 · Department of Energy