Kinowave

What it does

Kinowave converts ocean waves into electricity with more than 60% efficiency using novel interconnected fluid-filled cylinders, addressing the existing need of complex permanent structures and inefficient power take-off systems to extract energy from waves.

Your inspiration

Growing up in the southern tip of India surrounded by the ocean, I was struck by the immense untapped power of waves. We validated that wave energy has the highest energy density where India alone holds 41,300MW yet existing technologies require costly permanent structures. After 12 iterations, we developed a solution inspired by Pascals Law and ancient water leveling devices using interconnected tanks to harness relative motion from waves. Validated through ocean and pool experiments it enables energy extraction without fixed infrastructure.

How it works

Kinowave is a wave energy platform based on Pascals law inspired by ancient water leveling devices used in construction. This principle ensures that water within interconnected tubes maintains a constant level, regardless of movement. In our design, a platform consisting of vertical tanks connected with flexible tubes floats on the ocean. Due to waves the tanks move up and down, causing the internal fluid to adjust and level itself. This motion between the fluid inside the tank and the tank surface creates dynamic linear motion. The energy from this movement is captured using various power take-off mechanisms including floats, single-point absorbers and highly efficient Wells turbines. This was validated with experiments reaching over 60% efficiency. This innovative approach allows Kinowave to convert the kinetic energy of ocean waves into electricity efficiently, without the need for complex permanent structures or mooring systems.

Design process

Firstly, our goal was to create a concept that didn’t rely on any permanent structure for energy extraction. Inspired by ancient water leveling devices, we developed our initial concept. Our first prototype was a simple setup using plastic bottles connected with tubes to observe the concept. This initial test showed promise but revealed slow water flow rates between the tanks. Calculations indicated that the diameters of the tank and the connecting tube needed to be the same for efficient water movement. With this insight, we constructed a new prototype using same-diameter tanks and tubes. This setup worked perfectly. We then improved the design using better-calculated floats and tanks. This prototype used floats as a power take-off mechanism, but efficiency was low. Meanwhile, dry testing our device showed an efficiency of over 60%, surpassing many existing wave energy generators. We then tested the prototype in a real ocean environment, where it performed well. Conversations with wave energy companies like Mocean, highlighted the importance of efficient power take-off systems. We researched Wells turbines and found them highly efficient. Currently, we have tested the Wells turbine in a mini tank and are extracting data to validate its efficiency.

How it is different

Traditional wave energy converters require permanent structures or mooring to the seabed which are complex and costly. Our unique design harnesses the relative motion between interconnected fluid filled tanks floating on ocean waves without the need for mooring or permanent structures which reduces costs significantly. Additionally, many wave energy platforms like Pelamis use hydraulic systems that are inefficient and costly. Kinowave supports various power take off mechanisms, including the highly efficient Wells turbine enabling our design to achieve over 60% efficiency, significantly higher than the typical 45% for converting wave motion into electricity. By combining an innovative design that eliminates the need for complex and costly infrastructure with an efficient power take off system Kinowave offers a scalable and environmentally friendly solution for harnessing ocean wave energy compared to traditional wave energy converters.

Future plans

We have been selected into the prestigious Cleantech Innovation Programme at Imperial College London. With support from the Grantham Institute and Dyson school of design engineering we are planning to refine our technology in collaboration with leading experts and scientists and validate our system. Our next milestones include fabricating a 100W prototype scaling to 10kW within two years and enabling modular clean energy solutions for coastal communities. For pilot testing we are planning to collaborate with the Government of Seychelles to deploy our wave energy pilot in real ocean conditions to test its performance and community impact.

Awards

Finalist of Cult Innovator Award 2023 by Confederation of Indian Industry, Project Represented at FXB Climate Advocate 2024, MIT Energy Prize Participant 2023, Winner of Himalayan Startup Trek 2022 at IIT Mandi, Finalist of EDII Hackathon 2022, Pre-incubated at BITS Pilani Goa 2022