US firm Vortex Hydro to scale up innovative hydro concept

In 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State collapsed due to the effects of Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV), where vortices are formed and shed on the downstream side of bluff bodies or rounded objects in a fluid current.

The vortex shedding alternated from one side of the bridge to the other, creating a pressure imbalance that resulted in an oscillatory lift, leading to the total destruction of the bridge.

Now, University of Michigan professor Michael Bernitsas has invented a novel hydrokinetic power-generating system that takes advantage of the same VIV phenomenon, allowing it to harness the hydrokinetic energy of river and ocean currents moving as slow as 2 to 3 knots previously off limits to conventional turbines, which only work in rivers and oceans with water currents greater than 4 knots.

Having demonstrated that the concept works in the laboratory, the Vortex Induced Vibration for Aquatic Clean Energy (VIVACE) converter is currently being commercialised by University of Michigan spin-out Vortex Hydro Energy. Bernitsas is heading up further development efforts as its chief technology officer.