Reference no: EM132276341 , Length: word count:2000

Learning outcomes for the Sustainable Energy Systems Dissertation:

On completion of this course, the student will have acquired and demonstrated the following abilities:

1. Applying knowledge and understanding from earlier studies, as well as increasing competence in particular areas of study or research related to sustainable energy systems.

2. Delivering added value through the answer to one or several associated original (novel) research or design questions that are explicitly related to sustainable energy systems engineering. The scope of these questions may be of scientific, design or operational nature, or it may cover an economic or social science aspect of energy engineering. An application of a well-established method to a particular system is not in itself an original research topic, but an appropriate design of the research program would generate appropriate datasets and interpretations of these that answer a wider question of genuine general interest on such systems.

3. Conducting systematic and targeted literature searches from relevant peer reviewed literature, technical reports, personal communications, patents, specification sheets, databases, company literature, etc., with the aims of: 1) checking the timeliness and relevance of a research or design question, and if appropriate modify that question or reformulate new questions accordingly; 2) establishing the prior history as well as the state- of-the-art in the field; 3) putting the question into its wider context outside engineering, e.g. current and prospective societal needs, public acceptance and policy, markets and economics, regulations etc.; 4) inform the methodology and metrics to be applied in the project; 5) establish benchmarks for comparing project results with prior ones.

4. Demonstrating an ability not just to gather data, but also to interpret it, as well as to critically appraise the sources and contents and to compare between sources, and if necessary proposing appropriate metrics for comparison and attempting the recasting data from disparate sources into a common format. Being critical of one's own result, clearly establishing their range of validity and the uncertainties.

5. Designing, planning and executing an original programme of work appropriate to answering the research or design questions that the project is asking, being mindful and observant of health and safety issues and procedures. Planning also includes the writing up of the thesis, and adjusting this programme of work as the project progresses to suit e.g. changing circumstances, setbacks, or new insights that are brought about by results.

Type of project: Computer programming/simulation.

Project Title: Variable Depth in a Commercial Code for Modelling Wave Energy Converters.

Description: At present, two of the main approaches for the computer modelling of wave energy converters (WECs) and wave energy converter arrays are geographical-scale models and device-scale models. Geographical-scale models can model wave propagation over large areas around the WEC or WECs. They are particularly good at modelling wave farms near coastlines, as they are able to model the variation in bottom depth (bathymetry changes) over large regions. However, at present these codes are not very good at modelling the motion (response) and therefore the power production of the WECs.

In contrast, device- scale models are much better at predicting the response of WECs due to wave action. One of the most popular device-scale codes is the commercial computer program WAMIT, which can model the motion of one or more WECs in waves as long as the wave heights are not too big. However, a problem with WAMIT is that it is limited to the simulation of infinite or constant depths. It is possible to incorporate some bathymetry but this is only achieved by specifying this bathymetry as a stationary body on the bottom, which must be discretised and therefore adds to the computational burden.

This project will examine to what extent bathymetry can be added to a WAMIT simulation by use of bodies on the bottom. Simple sloping beaches will be added and the change in wave propagation caused will be examined. The change of power absorbed by simple WECs above bathymetry variation will also be investigated. If time permits, full-depth vertical walls will also be added to examine the simulation of narrow wave flumes (2D wave tanks enclosed by walls) in WAMIT.

Dissertation Mission Statement

You need to prepare Mission Statement

Summary and initial literature review

Please give a short summary of your project with an initial literature review. This section should be an updated and (slightly) expanded version of the original project summary. You should include up to 4 references to relevant work.

Main aims and objectives
In a few sentences describe the main aims and objectives of this projects, i.e. what is the expected final outcome, or what are you trying to achieve.

Interim targets
In this section you have to list any interim targets, i.e. tasks that you need to complete in order to deliver the main objectives. Examples could be, performing a literature review on the subject, learning a piece of software, carrying out a field study, familiarising with a hardware setup etc.

Methodology and draft work plan
Briefly describe the methodology you will use in your study and present a draft work plan, broken down into 5-6 main tasks, including a description of any work you have done to date. E.g.:
1/2/17-31/3/17: Literature review,
1/4/17-30/4/17: Learning Matlab,
1/5/17-31/5/17: Model Development,
1/6/17-30/6/17: Case Studies,
1/7/17-15/7/17: Critical analysis of the results,
16/7/17-10/8/17: Dissertation write-up.
(This is an example only!)

Required resources
List any resources required for the completion of the project such as software packages, equipment, access to laboratories, consumables and budget for field trips etc.

Health and safety implications
Please make a preliminary health and safety assessment (a) for the work to be carried out (e.g. prolonged use of computers, dealing with chemicals or electricity etc.) and (b) any health and safety aspects of the actual implementation of your project's outcomes in real life (e.g. use of a chemical process you developed, or equipment you designed etc.)

Reference
[1] First Reference
[2] Second Reference
[3] Third Reference
[4] Fourth Reference

Attachment:- Dissertation Project.rar