| CODE | MEC5015 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Offshore Renewables and Water Treatment | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Mechanical Engineering | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will focus on two specific areas of maritime-related technology: (1) offshore renewable energy generation and storage; (2) water treatment. The various technologies for harvesting renewable energy at sea will be reviewed, including offshore wind, wave, marine current and ocean thermal energy. The potential and current status of the various technologies will be discussed. The underlying fluid dynamics theory required for the design and performance prediction of wind, marine current turbines and wave energy convertors will be presented. The unit will later introduce new underwater energy storage technologies currently under development for storing energy at sea. These shall be restricted to pumped-hydro and compressed air energy storage systems. Existing support structure technologies used to support renewable energy convertors in shallow and deep waters will be presented and discussed. This will be followed by an explanation of the theory used for computing induced wave loads and the structural dynamic response for bottom-mounted and floating structures. A brief overview of the relevant design methodologies and standards used for design of structures shall also be presented. Finally this unit will also cover water treatment technologies for desalinating sea water and applicable standards for monitoring water quality. Reverse Osmosis and other technologies will be explained. Study-unit Aims: The main aims of this unit are to give students enough theoretical and practical knowledge to be able to: - evaluate the different technology options available for harvesting and storing renewable energy at sea; - model the performance of different offshore renewable energy systems; - explain the engineering challenges associated with the development and operation of marine-based renewable energy plants; - assess the water treatment technologies available for achieving the desired levels water quality. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - review the different technologies available for harvesting and storing renewable energy at sea and discuss their economic viability; - explain the different support structure technologies available for supporting renewable energy convertors in shallow and deep waters; - describe the novel concepts for underwater pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage systems; - identify the various types of loads acting on renewable energy devices, including offshore wind, marine current and wave energy systems; - explain scaling rules for sizing offshore renewable energy systems; - explain the various project stages and engineering challenges associated with the development of offshore-based projects; - apply the relevant design methodologies and standards used for designing offshore wind turbines and related support structures; - list the parameters that need to be measured to achieve the water quality required for a given application and/or water quality standard; - describe the fundamental scientific principle governing the performance of reverse osmosis plants. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - evaluate the energy yield potential for offshore wind, marine current and wave energy generation at a given site; - apply fundamental theory to model the performance characteristics of rotors used in offshore wind, wave and marine current energy conversion; - model the frequency response characteristics of heaving wave energy point absorbers; - determine the power regulation requirements to optimise the energy yield from offshore wind, wave and marine current energy convertors; - compute the energy storage capacity and overall cycle efficiency of underwater pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage systems; - apply scientific theory to evaluate the loads acting on support structures under different metocean conditions; - recognise a given water quality problem; - apply the fundamental equations for a basic Reverse Osmosis system; - determine the appropriate technology for the given water quality problem. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Text: - Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application, James Manwell, J G Mc Gowan, A Rogers, Wiley-Blackwell; 2nd Revised Edition (18 Dec. 2009), ISBN-13: 978-0470015001. - Renewable Energy, Bent Sorensen, Academic Press; 3rd Edition (Hardcover) (4 Aug. 2004), ISBN-13: 978-0126561531. - Ocean Wave Energy - Current Status and Perspectives, Joao Cruz, Springer; 2008 edition (4 Jan. 2008), ISBN-13: 978-3540748953. - Water Treatment: Principles and Design, John C. Crittenden, R. Rhodes Trussell, David W. Hand, Kerry J. Howe, George Tchobanoglous, Wiley (2012), ISBN-13: 978-0470405390. - Reverse Osmosis: Membrane Technology, Water Chemistry and Industrial Applications, Zahid Amjad, Chapman and Hall (1993), ISBN-13: 978-78044239640. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study and Project | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Michael Borg Daniel Buhagiar Robert N. Farrugia Tonio Sant Robert Schembri |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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