ANACONDA LOBE-TENDON | What's next for Anaconda
What's next for Anaconda
The Lobe-Tendon invention arose from the original R&D development programme of the Anaconda Wave Energy Convertor. This device paved the way and changed conventional thinking on how the energy of ocean waves can be harnessed and extracted.
Many iterations of wave energy convertors have been proposed. Some have made it into scalable devices and one or two have been deployed. They all share one fundamental flaw; generally made of articulating rigid sections, they lack flexibility and thus their capacity to absorb the energy of the sea is limited to a fixed range of motion.
The Lobe-Tendon Anaconda device is designed to capitalise on the distensibility of a natural elastomeric material, rubber. The original Anaconda development demonstrated, in scale model wave tank testing, a remarkable ability to withstand the most crushing and severe wave conditions, whether in the Strathclyde KHL facility, the LIR Cork tank in Eire or the Edinburgh FlowWave tank. The power output and survivability results astounded critics and the engineering community alike.
The device mimics properties found in the arteries of all mammals; a bulge wave excited in a distensible tube is similar to the pulse of blood created by the pumping heart muscle, the pump in the Lobe-Tendon Anaconda device being the ocean wave as it surges along the outer wall of the tube creating the bulge wave that travels the length of the tube to the PTO, each wave or swell creating its own bulge wave inside the tube and so a series of bulges travel towards the PTO, passing through a generator then returning to the tube in a completely sealed system.
With the earlier design of Anaconda a major issue remained to be solved. In order to manufacture a device capable of generating large amounts of power the outer tube thickness became so large that no workable solution could be found to join rubber of such thickness. The weight of the tube became ever heavier as the power outputs rose. We have found that the Lobe-Tendon device provides a practical solution to this difficulty. It also solves a second issue found with the earlier all-rubber tubes, which all demonstrated excessive local swelling, known as aneurysm, when the internal pressure exceeded a certain limit. This does not occur with the Lobe Tendon tubes.
The Lobe-Tendon Anaconda development has now achieved a remarkable milestone. After successive scale testing over the last three years, we have arrived at a device that does exactly what the original Anaconda did and more, and the cost of the tube has fallen by over 70%. This is a breathtaking drop resulting from both lower material volumes and the ease of manufacture.
Where to next?
The development of the device has been funded to date entirely in-house, but to take the device to the next big step, which is an ocean trial, it requires large sums and a deep pocket. Current estimates are around £2.5-3m, as there will have to be an engineering programme to develop the bulge tube and efficient power take-off coupled to a generator. This will entail further wave tank testing and the creation of a team somewhat larger than we have today.
The demand?
There are over 11,000 inhabited islands around the globe, a large number of which rely on diesel electric power generation. Almost all these islands could use Anaconda devices to supply renewable energy.
