CONTENTS

-Overview Statement 

-Need Statement

-Selecting Location for Tidal Generators 

-Design and Construction of Tidal Generators 

-Testing Tidal Generator Concepts 

-Additional Information Internet Sourced  

Hydro tidal power is immense renewable energy. Tidal power has been overlooked as a viable source of renewable energy. This inexhaustible energy is caused by the rise and fall of ocean sea levels due to the gravitational pull of the moon. Few locations on our planet have such a unique tidal quality, as San Francisco Bay. The bay is very large (550 square miles) but has a very narrow entrance. This narrow entrance/exit creates swift tidal currents. About 8,000,000,000 gallons of water pass through the narrow opening each day. The narrow entrance/exit to the bay is also very deep 377feet. This depth provides plenty of room for tidal generators and room for even large cargo ships to pass over them. The advantage of using tidal power for generating electricity is it is reliable, renewable, and predictable. Tidal electric generating turbines are 80% efficient which is higher than Solar or Wind energy generators. The following proposal will show how tidal electrical generation is possible in San Francisco Bay.     

Hydro tidal power has not been invested in today's quest for renewable energies. This is a big mistake; hydro tidal power is a great untapped resource. Tidal power is predictable, renewable, and creates no co2 emissions. With an ever-increasing population, and an insatiable appetite for electrical power, hydro tidal power is a great untapped resource that should not be overlooked.  tidal power The different ways of manufacturing electrical power are important. If we dam up a river to create electrical power, we inadvertently disrupt fish migrations. And that intern affects our food supply. Using large amounts of fossil fuels to create usable energies has caused global warming due to excess co2 emissions. Deciding which environmentally safe power generating system we use is important. We chose poorly in the past, and cannot make those mistakes in the future. Tidal-generated power should be a part of our future. Severing our ties to fossil fuels seems impossible, but with innovation, creative thinking, and proper planning, nothing is impossible.     

Finding a suitable location in the San Francisco bay for the turbine generators is important. Certain parameters need to be met. Will the location have little or no environmental impact? Will the location have easy access for construction and later maintenance requirements? And will the location provide the strongest tidal current and the lowest water turbulence? These are considerations that need careful review. Selecting a suitable location for the tidal turbine generators is the most important part of this project. San Francisco Bay is an ideal location for tidal electric power generation. This is due to the unusual topography of the area. The bay's area covers roughly 550 square miles and is the biggest natural bay on the west coast of America. The inlet to the bay is roughly 4000 feet across and is 377 feet at the deepest point. Nearly 400,000,000,000 gallons of water rushed through the entrance of the bay every day. These conditions are what make San Francisco Bay an ideal location for tidal power electric generators.   

The best-suited location for tidal turbine generators is located west of the Golden Gate Bridge. This location is roughly 180 feet deep and the tidal current in this area is strong and swift. A fluid dynamics study of this location would provide us with the tidal flow; tidal volume and tidal direction. Cargo ships are constantly passing through this small channel to access the San Francisco Bay. The location west of the bridge being 180 feet deep will allow more than enough room for even the biggest cargo container ship. Environmental impact studies would need to take place at the chosen location. The impact studies would encompass all the types of marine life that inhabit the area. This study would determine if any positive or negative effects were caused by placing electrical tidal generators in the bay. Hopefully, the tidal generators' support structure will provide new homes for marine life.

The construction of tidal generators will be split into two different categories. The first portion will consist of the support module that will hold the generators off of the seafloor. The second portion is the tidal generator itself. The support stand will be made of concrete and positioned on the seafloor. The generator modules will rest on the support stand. The turbine generator will be of composite materials. If maintenance is necessary the generator can be detached from its support stand, and float to the surface for repair. The location in the SF bay where the tidal generators are to be placed will dictate the design of the generator support stands. The area west of the golden gate bridge has a rocky topography, due mostly to the extreme tidal current. The area chosen for the generators will have to be mapped using sonar imaging technology. The detailed image of the sea floor will enable us to fit our support stands to the sea floor. Design the support stand is important due to its environment. Saltwater and strong tidal currents are two elements that make this underwater construction so difficult.  Placing the tidal generator directly on the sea floor is not feasible due to sediment and debris movement. 

A support stand is what is needed to solve this problem. When designing a support stand, we need to understand the effect the environment will have on the structure and how the structure will affect the environment. The turbine support stand will be about 35 ft. high and 30 ft. wide. The reason for the support stand height is to allow debris and sediments to pass under and between the support stands legs. The support stand will have four legs, one in each corner. The top 5 feet of the concrete support stand will be a hallow area and provide buoyancy for the support stand. The buoyancy bladder (hollow area) will make it possible to float the support stand from the manufacturing site (dry dock) to the work site. At a chosen location the support stand buoyancy bladder will be flooded with water and the support stand will sink to the sea floor. The construction materials for the support stand will be concrete with a carbon fiber rebar for reinforcement. Standard steel rebar that would normally be used in concert is not acceptable for this application. 

Ocean water is extremely corrosive to steel. When steel rebar is used to reinforce the concert and placed in a saltwater environment, the steel rebar will rust, causing the concert to crack and fracture.  The tidal generator support stand, once placed on the bedrock will be there forever. Using the proper materials for the construction of the support stand assures durability. Instead of steel rebar, we will use FRB, a fiber-reinforced polymer rod for our concrete reinforcement. FRB can be made of carbon, glass, or basalt fiber. FRB is corrosion resistant and salt water has no effect on FRB materials. FRB has some flexibility issues and is more expensive, but I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The tidal generator will be a separate unit and rest on the generator support stand. The generator will have a funnel-shaped inlet and exit. The purpose of this design is to allow the tide to flow through the generator from either direction. The reason for the funnel design at either end is to compress the incoming water causing an increase in water velocity. This increase in water velocity will spin the generator faster producing more electrical power. The generator will be constructed in a dry dock. When construction is complete the generator will be moved by barge, floated to its location in the SF Bay, and lower to its concrete support stand on the sea floor. 

Mechanical illustrations of the support stand and tidal generator will be listed on the following pages. The electrical connecting port located on the generator that is used to move electricity from the generator to the substation must be able to be removed for maintenance and then reinstalled without having any saltwater contamination. The turbine shaft water seal located between the generator and turbine must have a service life of at least 10 years. The aforementioned items, the turbine shaft seal and electrical connecting port are two very important design features concerning the tidal generator function. If either of these items were to fail, the entire tidal generator will fail also. Tidal generator maintenance that is done in the SF Bay will be accomplished using a two-man submarine and a remotely operated vehicle or ROV. The two-man submarine will be modified to deal with strong tidal currents and mostly be used for visual observation. The ROV tractor will be used for large debris removal. Both submarine and ROV will be battery power and will be rechargeable.

This picture was sourced from the internet. It’s a picture of the world’s largest water pump. Built by Nijhuis, and called the Nijhuis HP1 4000.340. This pump has a capacity of 60,000 liters per second. And the motor that operates the pump draws 4,000KW and produces 5,364 HP. The reason for showing you this pump is to illustrate what the tidal generators for the San Francisco bay would look like without the funnel inlets.

Testing design concepts whether using computer design programs or making actual models for rill time simulations is essential for success. San Francisco Bay is an ideal location for a tidal generating plant. The US Army corps of engineers built a working hydraulic scale-down model of the bay to understand how the water currents move in the bay. Hopefully, we can rent time at this facility for testing our support stands and tidal generators. These tests would provide vital information concerning the impact and operation of having tidal generators located at the entrance of San Francisco Bay. The tidal generator itself needs to be tested in rill time. For this test, we need to build a horse track-shaped pool that moved water in a circular motion. On one side of the track is where the tidal generator will be placed and on the other side of the track a motor-driven turbine to propel the water. The propel water will provide a simulated tidal current to test our tidal generator in rill time conditions. The test unit will be completely sealed to our atmosphere, allowing us to introduce an artificial pressure of 65psi, equal to 150 feet of ocean depth. This mechanical test will supply critical information concerning water seals and electrical connections. Testing the support stands is critical for understanding how they will operate in rill time situations. 

The design shapes we pick for the support columns must allow water currents to move freely around and through the support columns without causing unwanted turbulences. The building material I recommend for the support columns is impervious concrete with an FRB reinforcement rebar. FRB or fiber-reinforced polymer rods are the best choices for reinforcing concrete support columns. Using steel reinforcing rebar in the support columns will lead to disaster. There are coatings you can apply to steel rebar (Epoxy/Zinc Duplex) for corrosion prevention. The problem with this type of application is when damage occurs during construction to the coating of the rebar. This small scratch or crack in the coating finish will allow salt water to cause corrosion/rust to expand the steel rebar. That expansion will crack the concrete, and eventually cause catastrophic failure.  There are challenges when it comes to using FRB as reinforcement in concrete. The FRB rods tend to exhibit less flexibility than steel rebar.  Using steel rebar reinforcing with concrete in an ocean environment is a recipe for disaster, and should be avoided at all costs.   

Earthquakes are a major concern when designing any structure located in or near the San Francisco area. The San Andreas Fault is a 750 miles long fault that runs the length of California. The San Andreas Fault is the boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Ocean plate. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 killed 3000 people and was recorded to be 8.0 on the Richter scale and lasted 45 to 60 seconds with strong intermittent shocks. This type of earthquake will happen again. The ideal location for the tidal generators lies near the San Andreas Fault. For that reason, careful planning, extreme engineering, and all measures must be observed. In this harsh and unstable environment, our tidal generators must be last to the seafloor with cables. The cable wood allows for horizontal and vertical movement during an earthquake but retains its location on the sea floor. The concrete support columns at the sea floor will be made of porous concrete allowing them to absorb seismic activity. See reference drawing. This construction project poses many challenges, but nothing we cannot solve. This location provides an excellent source of renewable energy without creating any C02 greenhouse gas. San Francisco Bay is the best location for a tidal electrical generating facility in the United States.