Hudzik II, Alan Michael
(2009)
Hydrokinetic Oscillators for Energy Harvesting via Coupling Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) and Electromagnetics.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Sustainable energy generation has received a great deal of interest recently because the presence of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is at an unprecedented high. There are multiple existing renewable energy sources but the most abundant of the known is hydro. Most of the hydro-energy is predicted to be present in the oceans but this thesis focuses on harnessing energy through inland river currents (known as hydrokinetic energy) because it has become apparent that there is still plenty of this energy to be extracted. Although an immature field, most of the work done to harness hydrokinetic energy has been through in-stream turbines such as the Derrius and Gorlov helical turbines. There is a concern that these in-stream turbines can have an adverse effect on their local environment cite{Anderson}, therefore, two other methods were investigated in depth: 1) a bender/flapper method and 2) an oscillating foil. The bender/flapper method was built and tested experimentally. A mathematical model was developed to analyze the potential of the oscillatory foil because the bender/flapper method did not meet expectations. Also, because of the advancement of smart materials, these two methods considered harnessing energy simultaneously through an electromagnetic inductor and piezoelectric material transducer.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
25 September 2009 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
16 July 2009 |
| Approval Date: |
25 September 2009 |
| Submission Date: |
27 July 2009 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Swanson School of Engineering > Mechanical Engineering |
| Degree: |
MSME - Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
dynamics; electromagnetic transducer; insensitive to flow; sustainable energy; wingmill |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07272009-144014/, etd-07272009-144014 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:54 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:47 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/8661 |
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