A novel energy harvesting mechanism and its design methodology for underwater gliders using thermal buoyancy engines

Hou, Hongbo and Shi, Weichao and Arredondo-Galeana, Abel and Song, Yang; (2022) A novel energy harvesting mechanism and its design methodology for underwater gliders using thermal buoyancy engines. In: Proceedings of the thirty-second (2022) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference. The International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference . International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers, CHN, pp. 462-469. ISBN 9781880653814 (http://publications.isope.org/proceedings/ISOPE/IS...)

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Abstract

Underwater gliders are becoming popular in ocean exploration. However, the main development limitation of underwater gliders is still around energy. This paper proposes a new-type energy harvesting mechanism and explores its design methodology for the gliders using thermal buoyancy engines. With the temperature difference in the ocean, the thermal buoyancy engine changes the buoyancy of the glider and drives the glider to ascend and descend through the water and drive a turbine behind to harvest energy. Based on this harvesting mechanism, firstly, a new-type thermal engine with high ballast capacity is developed with patent applied. Secondly, a dedicated turbine design and optimization method based on modified Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory has been developed to maximize the energy harvesting capability.

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