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Examples are provided of significant impact by the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Flow Analysis (CMMFA) upon the Marine Renewables and Offshore Wind communities. In particular, CMMFA informed the design of a novel wave energy converter being commercialised for connection to the national grid. CMMFA has also contributed to a study of the design parameters for an offshore wind power station as part of a larger interdisciplinary collaborative research effort. This work responds to and informs the RCUK Energy Programme via underpinning research, capacity building and provision of trained personnel thus enacting UK Government Energy Policy.
Wave power research at Queen's has led directly to the development of two types of convertor by Aquamarine Power Ltd (Edinburgh) and Voith Hydro Wavegen (Inverness). Direct employment totalling 400 person years has resulted along with hundreds of people in other companies delivering the different phases of the prototype machines. Financed by over £60 million from both the public but mainly the private sectors, this represents 20% of the total investment in wave power worldwide during this period. Internationally recognised success in wave power has led to the establishment of the Queen's team in tidal stream energy and environmental monitoring of marine renewable systems.
Edinburgh Designs Ltd., (EDL) was spun-out to exploit ERPE research from the original Wave Power Group. With six staff and an annual turnover approaching £2M EDL has supplied the equipment and control systems for wave tanks in 19 countries including the world's largest computer-controlled wave test facility, the US Navy Manoeuvring and Station Keeping Tank. They are currently completing the world's first circular tank, combining waves with currents in any relative direction, which is operated by the 6 person company, "FloWave" EDL, still run by the founding staff, it is the world-leading supplier of wave-making technology for scientific and recreational facilities.
The impact arises from the study of extreme ocean waves and their interaction with marine structures. It is relevant to the offshore, shipping, coastal and marine renewables industries and has been both economic and regulatory, involving:
(a) The establishment of revised guidelines for the design of new structures / vessels.
(b) Enhancing best practice, both from an economic and a safety perspective.
(c) Reducing the uncertainty in critical design issues, thereby improving overall reliability.
(d) Enabling "end-of-life" extensions for existing structures.
(e) Facilitating the effective decommissioning of redundant structures.
(f) Contributing to the development of new industrial R&D equipment, thereby assisting specialist UK manufacturers to secure international orders.
The impact is in the ERPE design of protocols which are subsequently used for evaluation and comparison of the performance of tidal energy converter designs. Researchers within the UK Centre for Marine Energy Research (UKCMER) at ERPE have led much of the fundamental and applied research that has supported the commercialisation of tidal energy technologies through the establishment of new international test standards and protocols.
ERPE researchers have regularly provided evidence which has influenced policy change in marine energy development in the UK and internationally with many ERPE graduating PhD's, subsequently employed in the marine energy sector.
Research by Professor John Thuburn and his group at the University of Exeter has made several key contributions to the formulation and development of ENDGame, the new dynamical core of the Met Office weather and climate prediction model. ENDGame has been shown to deliver improved accuracy and better computational performance at high processor counts compared to the current operational dynamical core, directly impacting the technological tools available to the Met Office. These improvements will benefit users when ENDGame becomes operational in early 2014: the economic value to the UK of the weather forecasts produced by the Met Office has been estimated to be in excess of £600M pa, while climate change projections inform policy decisions on mitigation and adaptation with huge economic implications.
Guidelines and standards underpinned by Strathclyde research have improved the design, assessment and the safety of marine structures subjected to wave impact in large steep waves. The guidelines and standards are widely used in the design of floating structures, particularly Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs) and offshore wind turbines. Since January 2008 the work has impacted the design, strength assessment and failure analysis of fixed offshore oil and gas platforms, renewable energy devices and ships. The guidelines and standards are used by designers to mitigate against damage caused by breaking wave impact, thereby improving the safety of mariners and offshore workers, reducing lost production due to downtime, and cutting the risk of environmental impact due to oil pollution. The research has also been used by Strathclyde researchers in industry-focussed studies, in legal work related to the loss of the oil tanker Prestige (2009-2013), in the assessment of the Schiehallion FPSO for BP (2010), and design of a Scottish harbour wave screen (2009) that allows ferries to access and stay in the harbour in more severe weather.