Acity-based ex-merchant navy captain and innovator has designed a device to harness energy from waves in the sea. The design of the device known as Wave Energy Converter (WEC) according to its innovator D Chandrasekar is a fresh approach to harness renewable energy from sea waves. “Ocean waves contain a lot of energy though not much work has been done to harness this energy,” said Chandrasekar.

According to Chandrasekar, the WEC has a seabed unit and a surface unit of floats. The floats move as per the waves and transmit the power to the seabed unit that converts it into usable forms of energy.

Chandrasekar who started working on the WEC in 2016 had first developed a test tank in Bengaluru to test the initial design. Subsequently, a model was developed to be tested under controlled conditions at the IIT Chennai wave basin last month. The device was also tested on land before wave basin testing. Chandrasekar said that the test results were satisfactory.

The base unit of the WEC is about six meters long and three meters wide with a height of 1.5 meters.

The WEC project has also been supported by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research with an R&D grant of Rs 8.7 lakh for realising prototype under Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Start-ups and MSME (PRISM) scheme.

Chandrasekhar said that the WEC model which was tested can generate 5 kw electricity and that a patent application for this design is under process.
“We will soon be approaching port authorities that can use this technology to light break waters at the ports,” he said.

That apart, the WEC can also be used to power buoys at sea, light unmanned oil platforms and small islands.

Explaining WEC’s features, Chandrasekar said that the system has the flexibility to be placed at various depths and that the floats can be quickly disconnected in case of an impending cyclone.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / March 27th, 2018