JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #52 - October 2009 - 18

BUSINESS Trends g…/… Ocean energy: generating new business promote composites. However, clearly much more has to be done to make engineers and designers aware of the properties of this alternative material. This situation is not restricted to the ocean energy arena but is also present in many other industries. Gurit believe that greater awareness needs to be taught, especially in universities, if long-term improvement is to be assured. Fortunately, an increasing number of developers are aware of the requirements for thorough and detailed structural engineering at the earliest possible stage. The reality of delays and costs caused by failures during demonstration phases can very quickly bring a project and possibly the developer’s company to its knees. Gurit can help avoid these risks by providing advice from the start of a project in order to develop reliable and costeffective structures and manufacturing processes suitable for both prototypes and full-scale devices. Credit: MCT artist impression year-on-year growth in the use of ocean energy of between 25% and 50%. Tidal energy is completely predictable and repeatable on a six hour (approx.) cycle, thus removing some of the issues associated with other sources of renewable energy. Wave energy, although not as regular or predictable, is very abundant in many regions around the world. Europe, including the British Isles, holds 16% of the world’s ocean energy resource and 60% of the technology developers. Composites: a vital ingredient FRP composite materials were first used for the mass manufacture of boats in the 1960s and the vast majority of these craft are still in use today, even though the materials utilised are very much first generation. Since then, material technology has moved on through a number of generations to a point where virtually all leisure and high-performance craft are now manufactured from composites. In the 1980s, Gurit (previously SP Systems) introduced epoxy sandwich construction into the construction of marine craft, starting with the catamaran Colt Cars. Since then, the company has been at the forefront of this sector, not only advancing material performance but also the performance of the composite structures themselves. This was driven by SP Technologies, the structural engineering branch of the company, and now part of Gurit. Through the late 80s and into the 90s, Gurit applied the expertise gained from marine craft to the offshore oil and gas industry and composites are now used extensively subsea and topsides in every development in the world, recognising the substantial benefits brought by these materials to one of the harshest environments possible. Despite this long and distinguished track record offshore, the emerging ocean energy industry still seems largely unaware of the benefits that composite materials offer in a marine environment. That some parts of the better known tidal stream devices are manufactured from composites has undoubtedly helped Location, location, location As applications to develop sites are now being submitted, mainly by the energy companies, the competition to supply these companies with generating devices heats up. Never before has location been more important. Experience has shown that many devices, regardless of the concept, will have to be fine tuned, if not completely designed to suit the location where they are to be used. This can put the device developer in a real quandary, having to undertake costly detailed design and development work to prove the functionality and reliability of the device, most likely without knowing what the specification of his first final full-scale device will be. Artists impression of Turbines Design: the devil is in the detail Regardless of the manufacturing materials, the secret to a successful structure is simplicity, which is achieved by focus, expertise – with innovation where appropriate – and a lot of common sense. It goes without saying that no detailed design should be commenced until a thorough design brief, or device functional specification has been issued. The importance of this cannot be over stated as only then will it be possible to develop the best structural concept and avoid detracting from it as the design brief changes during the project. Many design teams however have never undertaken a similar project; to design, develop, test and install a full-scale or even small-scale complex device. These projects are a major undertaking requiring a vast range of skills and resources. Any project team with a reasonable chance of success will contain a mix of technical, financial and entrepreneurial skills; but without funding to pay these staff, the device developer is faced with an almost insurmountable task. Due diligence: a risky business For a device to stand any chance of making it to market, i.e. being commercially successful, the project team will have to convince potential financiers and/or customers that they can progress from negative to positive returns within a reasonably short period of time. All device developers face competition not only from other tidal energy devices but also from offshore wind. Therefore, developers must be able to demonstrate that they can quickly produce power at a commerciallyviable rate with a machine that will provide an acceptably short payback period; and be absolutely clear where their particular market lies. jec composites magazine / No52 October 2009

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #52 - October 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #52 - October 2009