As part of Selkie Project’s work package 7, Swansea University is developing a C-ADCP (converging acoustic doppler current profiler) tool to measure high quality turbulence data in tidal stream energy sites. This aims to reduce costs and increase efficiency for developers which supports the overall aim of the SELKIE project to develop a streamlined commercialisation pathway for the marine renewable energy industry.
The open-source C-ADCP tool captures high resolution 3D flow velocity allowing the measurement of turbulence at all flow conditions and provides much higher quality data than a traditional (diverging) ADCP. This data will be beneficial in growing our scientific understanding and characterisation of the fluid dynamics of tidal stream sites. The tool has been designed to be easy to deploy and recover through the use of a deployment raft and self-recovery acoustic release system and so greatly reduces the traditional deployment costs of expensive vessel hire.
A quarter-scale model of this tool has been deployed at one of META’s Phase 1 Quayside sites, Criterion Jetty, to test the deployment and retrieval methodology as well as some sensor testing. META’s quayside sites provide an unparalleled easy access and low risk area for testing marine energy equipment. The full-scale unit will be deployed at META’s Phase 2 open-water tidal test site, Warrior Way, in the Autumn for full operational testing of the sensors.
Read more about the initial quarter scale testing here.