On the design of a small scale tidal converter for long time deployment at sea

Authors

  • Damiano Alizzio Department of Civil, Energy, Environmental and Material Engineering (DICEAM)
  • Luana Gurnari Department of Information Engineering, Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy (DIIES)
  • Vito Antonio Nardi Department of Information Engineering, Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy (DIIES)
  • Marco Torresi Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management (DMMM)
  • Domenico Coiro Department of Industrial Engineering
  • Sergio Mario Camporeale Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management (DMMM)
  • Pasquale Giuseppe Fabio Filianoti Department of Civil, Energy, Environmental and Material Engineering (DICEAM)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36688/imej.8.237-246

Keywords:

Tidal Energy, Tidal Energy Converter, Blade Element Momentum Theory, Hydrokinetic turbine, Biofouling, experimental testing

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a scale model of a kite-like tidal converter, GEMSTAR, intended for long-term deployment at sea. The main objective of this experiment is to develop a digital twin with integrated fault detection and isolation capabilities to improve the reliability and performance of the system. A fully functional 1:10 scale model of GEMSTAR was designed based on extensive measurements of tidal currents at the planned deployment site. Several locations were investigated to determine the most suitable flow profiles for energy generation. This study outlines the key challenges for operational functionality and describes the selection of critical physical parameters to be monitored during deployment using onboard sensors.

Journal front cover with wave breaking on rocky coastline

Downloads

Published

2025-06-16

How to Cite

Alizzio, D., Gurnari, L., Nardi, V. A., Torresi, M., Coiro, D., Camporeale, S. M., & Filianoti, P. G. F. (2025). On the design of a small scale tidal converter for long time deployment at sea. International Marine Energy Journal, 8(2), 237–246. https://doi.org/10.36688/imej.8.237-246

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2025): International Marine Energy Journal

Section

EWTEC 2023 special issue papers

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Damiano Alizzio, Luana Gurnari, Vito Antonio Nardi, Marco Torresi, Domenico Coiro, Sergio Mario Camporeale, Pasquale Giuseppe Fabio Filianoti

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

I the author/we the authors understand that I/we retain copyright over our article.  I/we grant a licence to IMEJ to: publish my/our article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and identify IMEJ as the original publisher.