Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/N02057X/1
Title:	SURFTEC: SUrvivability and Reliability of Floating Tidal Energy Converters
Principal Investigator:	Williams, Dr AJ
Other Investigators:	Croft, Dr TN
Researcher Co-Investigators:	Dr M Togneri
Project Partners:	Black & Veatch European Marine Energy Centre Sustainable Marine Energy
Department:	College of Engineering
Organisation:	Swansea University
Scheme:	Standard Research
Starts:	23 November 2016	Ends:	31 March 2020	Value (£):	508,199
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Energy - Marine & Hydropower
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 17 Nov 2015 SUPERGEN Marine 2015 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Identifying and understanding extreme and fatigue loads on tidal energy converters (TEC), understanding environmental extremes (other than main resource), and determining accessibility, serviceability criteria, fault intervals and associated device life cycles, are all important factors that can determine CAPEX and OPEX cost of devices and array deployments. This project will provide a holistic vision for design optimisation to ensure, reliability and survivability for floating TECs (FTECs). Computational modeling and real sea deployment measurements will provide a tool to inform the optimum operational strategy and maximise survivability and reliability for FTEC devices and arrays. Swansea University will develop a versatile BEMT code to enable the study of FTECs numerically at a fundamental level and physically by working closely with project partners Oceanflow Energy, EMEC and Black and Veatch to determine the most important parameters to be measured for this type of technologies. Measurements taken at the Sanda Sound deployment site for the Oceanflow Energy 1:4 scale EVOPOD prototype, including loads on the device and sea condition datasets, will be used to validate the BEMT model for FTECs. A generic BEMT FTEC model will then be tested using environmental data, including extremes, provided by EMEC. In collaboration with Black and Veatch the resulting load predictions will be used to estimate component fatigue and failure. This will lead to the development of an operational strategy and design guidance to maximise survivability and reliability of FTECs.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.swan.ac.uk