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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 0:39:22 GMT 1
Try that... Attachments:
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 0:44:25 GMT 1
Took a couple of trys but there you go. I've sent that to the Scottish Government and asked them to have it checked but only received the standard political waffle in reply.
Some of the more technically competent among the readers might like to check it but it's apparrently accurate to within 5% or so.
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 0:46:34 GMT 1
Dammit, there's bits missing...I'll try again.
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 0:51:34 GMT 1
There seems to be a mix up over tidal power and wave power. [perhaps by me]
wave power relies on the use of the wave to power a device. ie. the wave plops up and down, and that movement is used to provide the power.
tidal power relies on the use of the tide height change, to power the device.
Imagine me, a non-sailor, tying a buoy a low tide tightly to a mooring fixed firmly to the sea bed. Tide comes in, the chain tightens to its fullest extent, eventually the buoy disappears under the sea. the buoy will exert a force upwards towards the surface. That's the force to harness, as going back to my previous point, it can be predicted quite reliably by how much the tide will rise and when. That's the 'predictability' that's needed to make a business case and in turn for a businessman to calculate his overheads for power required to make his widgets or boil the water for his lobsters.
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 0:55:58 GMT 1
It's coming out really HUGE. what browser do You use?
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 1:14:14 GMT 1
Explorer.
The original is 2.3MB and this board will only allow 1.1MB. I had a smaller one which i sent but it's not complete although all the figures are visible I think.
Yep, the tide is very predictable both stream and range. It's just surprisingly un-energetic as the study shows.
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 1:17:37 GMT 1
Think about changing to firefox, it's so much better. Let me know if, and before You change, if You do. www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/------------------------------------------------------------------- Can You see the difference between tide height and wave? |
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 6:45:30 GMT 1
There's lots of energy in the waves - ocean swell more accurately - but the engineering constraints haven't been overcome, despite 60 years of trying. They cannot make a machine that will generate in moderate conditions and hold together in extreme conditions.
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 10:03:30 GMT 1
I've found something that supports my idea of the superiority of tidal energy over others, and that is 'predictability'. "tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design (e.g. dynamic tidal power, tidal lagoons) and turbine technology (e.g. new axial turbines, crossflow turbines), are suggesting that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and that economic and environmental costs may be brought down to competitive levels." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power |
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 10:32:32 GMT 1
"A major drawback of tidal power stations is that they can only generate when the tide is flowing in or out - in other words, only for 10 hours each day. However, tides are totally predictable" www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm |
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 10:51:00 GMT 1
Hi stuart,
Tides are predictable but the cost of extaction is prohibitive. There's not enough energy there to make it worthwhile.
My engineer friend did a desk-top calculation where he reduced the cost of the Orkney tide turbine by a factor of 100 and increased the efficiency to 100% but it was still utterly un-economic.
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Post by marchesarosa on Sept 12, 2010 11:05:14 GMT 1
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Post by StuartG on Sept 12, 2010 11:29:12 GMT 1
That's using the power of 'current flow' to extract power. What I mean is using the change in height of water of the tide. You're right on the sea? How far does the water rise up the side of the quay at high tide? 18"/500..36"/1m
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 11:42:27 GMT 1
Readable? Attachments:
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Post by rsmith7 on Sept 12, 2010 11:57:46 GMT 1
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