Navigation Links
'Fish technology' draws renewable energy from slow water currents
Date:11/21/2008

ecture and Marine Engineering.

Fish have long known how to put the vortices that cause these vibrations to good use. "VIVACE copies aspects of fish technology," Bernitsas said. "Fish curve their bodies to glide between the vortices shed by the bodies of the fish in front of them. Their muscle power alone could not propel them through the water at the speed they go, so they ride in each other's wake."

This generation of Bernitsas' machine looks nothing like a fish, though he says future versions will have the equivalent of a tail and surface roughness a kin to scales. The working prototype in his lab is just one sleek cylinder attached to springs. The cylinder hangs horizontally across the flow of water in a tractor-trailer-sized tank in his marine renewable energy laboratory. The water in the tank flows at 1.5 knots.

Here's how VIVACE works: The very presence of the cylinder in the current causes alternating vortices to form above and below the cylinder. The vortices push and pull the passive cylinder up and down on its springs, creating mechanical energy. Then, the machine converts the mechanical energy into electricity.

Just a few cylinders might be enough to power an anchored ship, or a lighthouse, Bernitsas says. These cylinders could be stacked in a short ladder. The professor estimates that array of VIVACE converters the size of a running track and about two stories high could power about 100,000 houses. Such an array could rest on a river bed or it could dangle, suspended in the water. But it would all be under the surface.

Because the oscillations of VIVACE would be slow, it is theorized that the system would not harm marine life like dams and water turbines can.

Bernitsas says VIVACE energy would cost about 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Wind energy costs 6.9 cents a kilowatt hour. Nuclear costs 4.6, and solar power costs between 16 and 48 cents per kilowatt hour depending on the location.

"T
'/>"/>

Contact: Nicole Casal Moore
ncmoore@umich.edu
734-647-1838
University of Michigan
Source:Eurekalert  

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Pitt researchers use fluorescence to develop method for detecting mercury in fish
2. NC State takes research lead in protecting Puerto Ricos unique freshwater fisheries
3. Fish choose their leaders by consensus
4. Overfishing threatens European bluefin tuna
5. Mapping a clan of mobile selfish genes
6. Details of evolutionary transition from fish to land animals revealed
7. Digital zebrafish embryo provides the first complete developmental blueprint of a vertebrate
8. Diversity of plant-eating fishes may be key to recovery of coral reefs
9. So-called sandfish could help materials handling and process technology specialists
10. Fishy future written in the genes
11. Researchers study acoustic communication in deep-sea fish

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
'Fish technology' draws renewable energy from slow water currents
'Fish technology' draws renewable energy from slow water currents
(Date:12/2/2009)...niversity of Salamanca and another from Yale Unive...fects the behaviour of Acanthodactylus beersheben...e Near East. According to the study, these reptile...ey if they are under pressure from predators. , ... but until now there had been very few experimenta...
(Date:12/2/2009)...N, NJ According to the National Institute of Heal...d with diabetes already have some stage of diabeti...e retina caused by leaky blood vessels, is a major... one of the most feared diabetic complications. I...d diabetes for 10 years or more will experience so...
(Date:12/1/2009)...s National Primate Research Center, Emory Universi...ic prairie voles, an important step toward unlocki...e application of this technology will enable scien...hat will help identify the brain mechanisms of soc...is advancement may also have important implication...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Lizards change their diet to avoid predators 2Study shows pine bark improves circulation, swelling and visual acuity in early diabetic retinopathy 2Study shows pine bark improves circulation, swelling and visual acuity in early diabetic retinopathy 3Yerkes researchers create first transgenic prairie voles 2Video 3A Plan for Long Term Care Before the Crisis Hits 47797 1Video 3A Plan for Long Term Care Before the Crisis Hits 47797 2Video 3A Plan for Long Term Care Before the Crisis Hits 47797 3Video 3A Plan for Long Term Care Before the Crisis Hits 47797 4Five Cord Blood Transplant Centers in Catalonia and Valencia Join a Study to Test a New Technique to Treat Leukemia and Lymphoma 12449 1Five Cord Blood Transplant Centers in Catalonia and Valencia Join a Study to Test a New Technique to Treat Leukemia and Lymphoma 12449 2Five Cord Blood Transplant Centers in Catalonia and Valencia Join a Study to Test a New Technique to Treat Leukemia and Lymphoma 12449 3Stepping up minority recruiting 47791 1Stepping up minority recruiting 47791 2Stepping up minority recruiting 47791 3
...icant advance for regenerative medicine, researche... culture adult stem cells from bone marrow such th...at is rich in important biochemical growth factors...n the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scien...esearchers found they could coax bone cells into p...
...rcher Yvonne van Breugel analysed rocks from seabe...in two stable forms; atomic mass 12 (99 percent) a...assic and Cretaceous periods were characterised by... have shown that this was caused by a sudden large... ocean floor or peats and bogs. , The atmospheric...
...have identified a handful of microRNAs (miRNAs) th...pment of platelets ?blood cells critical to the bo...ey also say some of these same miRNAs, when acting...ukemia. , "Basically, we found that a specific set...development, but turned on in certain platelet-rel...
Other Biology News:Findings advance use of adult stem cells for replacement bone 2Carbon cycle was already disrupted millions of years ago 2MiRNA fingerprint identified in platelet formation 2
(Date:12/1/2009)...ANGHAI, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Shanghai ChemP... a leading China-based Contract Research,Organizat...009 Deloitte,Technology Fast 50 China, ranking 3rd...anies in China. The award is a testament to ChemPa... 2006 to 2008. , The results of the 2009 ...
(Date:12/1/2009)...NGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 1 Prairie Hear...ce that it was recently awarded two statuettes at .... 13 in New York City. The CLIO Healthcare Awards ...he healthcare advertising industry and is an exten...ecognized awards competitions for advertising, des...
(Date:12/1/2009)... Enterprise level storage is now available t...hout breaking the bank. , ...w.pacsdrive.com ), a medical imaging software com...ble cloud storage service. The PacsDrive service e...s to securely archive medical imaging in complianc...
(Date:12/1/2009)... Congruent Software agrees to migrate their ...ccounting clients) to Synergy Business Solutions t... Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 1, 2009 -- Syner...red the Microsoft Dynamics SL practice of Congruen...vider. The move was necessary due to a change in C...
Breaking Biology Technology:Shanghai ChemPartner Ranks 3rd among 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China Winning Companies 2Shanghai ChemPartner Ranks 3rd among 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China Winning Companies 3Prairie Heart Institute of Illinois Wins Two CLIO Healthcare Awards 2PacsDrive Announces Low Cost Medical Imaging Storage Service, Seeks to Alter Status Quo in Health Care IT 2Synergy Business Solutions Acquires the Microsoft Dynamics SL Practice of Congruent Software, Inc. 2Synergy Business Solutions Acquires the Microsoft Dynamics SL Practice of Congruent Software, Inc. 3
...2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ . Maxygen, Inc.,(Nasdaq: ...velopment of,improved protein drugs, today reporte...r ended December 31, 2007. At December 31, 2007, c...taled $145.8 million compared to,$182.9 million at... MAXY-G34 in the clinic, we enter 2008 in a,solid ...
...Keck Graduate Institute,(KGI) today announced that...nology Industry Organization (BIO), will discuss "... Race: Who Will Regulate, Who Will,Innovate?" at t...ies on,Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at 4 pm., "We a...rve as our guest,speaker at this year,s event," sa...
...ounced, SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 12 United,Thera...ay that it will,release its 2007 fourth quarter an...et on Tuesday, February 19, 2008., United Therape...day,February 19, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. ...3-1777, with international callers dialing,+1-706-...
Other Biology Technology:Maxygen Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 2Maxygen Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 3Maxygen Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 4Maxygen Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 5Maxygen Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 6KGI Announces BIO President Greenwood to Address Health Care Reform and the Presidential Race at Simon Ramo Lecture 2KGI Announces BIO President Greenwood to Address Health Care Reform and the Presidential Race at Simon Ramo Lecture 3
RNaseZAP(r) from Sigma-Aldrich
Sinapic acid from Sigma-Aldrich
Corning Culture Flask, 25 cm2, Tc-Treated, Straight Neck, Vent Cap, Sterile from Sigma-Aldrich
...iginally developed at the USDA Insect Pathology La...gation of cells from the fall armyworm,Spodoptera ...rowth and maintenance of cell lines derived from l...se cell lines. One of the most significant uses of...
Biology Products: