Hydrokinetic Energy Corp6811 Shrimp Road , Key West, Florida, United States

Hydrokinetic Energy Corp. is a developer of hydrokinetic turbines for the production of electrical energy.  The company was founded in January 2014 by Walter Schurtenberger and Ted Herzog.    Based in Key West Florida, Hydrokinetic Energy Corp. has embarked on a program to design, develop, analyze and optimize a marine electrical energy generation system.  The primary objective of our system is to produce electric power from a highly reliable, renewable and sustainable source, namely the worlds ocean and river currents; which are called continuous/in-stream or tidal flow called fluctuating/alternating.  Our turbines are designed not to harm any sea life and have almost zero environmental impact while supplying tremendous amounts of clean electricity to near-shore regions.    The turbines we have developed will contribute to reducing CO2 levels, counteract global warming and help revert climate change due to zero carbon dioxide emissions and further reduce our dependency on all fossil and nuclear fuels (coal, crude oil, natural gas and uranium).

• VISSION - To live in a world where all energy used by mankind comes from a renewable source. 
• MISSION- To create, design, develop, optimize, test and facilitate manufacture of proprietary, innovative underwater turbines, for electrical  energy production in near-shore, in-stream, tidal and riverine water currents.  

TECHNOLOGY   

 Our permanent magnet alternator turbine has a unique Venturi/Bernoulli flow acceleration system, no shaft or gears, a wildlife and debris excluder, an easy way out for small marine life, EMF shielding, and is very low maintenance.  This turbine design can be installed on a floating structure or can be piling-mounted and pivoting with a very small footprint on the ocean floor/substrate, or can be mounted on a hoist attached to a bridge or seawall, or can be towed behind a vessel.  Thanks to our innovative design, we are able to develop flexible size and output capabilities for site specific requirements from small to very large-scale installations.  This turbine design can be optimized for units as small as 1.5 kW up to 6 MW or larger. Our turbines can either be grid connected or off-grid linked to a storage and inverter system.  A grid connected system will contribute to regional grid stabilization and help meet peak power demand, whereas an off-grid system can provide continuous power, in remote areas, independent of utility companies.  We have a new product that is unique in the global market due to:

• Larger energy output than current state-of-the art designs because of our proprietary flow acceleration technology
• Increased efficiency because of our modulation software extracting optimal power at any flow speed, especially in tidal situations
• Shallow water as well as deep water location capability (as low as 10 foot depth)
• The ability to generate electricity at very low flow speeds
• Environmentally friendly design that will not harm sea creatures or the seabed

DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY 

Hydrokinetic Energy Corp. is a design, development and testing laboratory using the latest cutting-edge technology for development and optimization.  Our turbines are created by 3D computer modeling, then analyzed with state of the art CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software.  Afterwards test models are fabricated on our large format 3D printer and tested in our flow simulation tank.  All real-life data such as RPM, electrical output, flow speeds and characteristics are meticulously logged and recorded for comparison to the computational data. In our test tank we can produce flow speeds anywhere from 0.5 knots up to 4.0 knots.  Using either saltwater or fresh water and even introducing fish and marine life into the tank enables us to simulate real life conditions.  Hydrokinetic Energy Corp. (HEC) and the Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) collaborate for ocean testing, utilizing their facilities (Tidal Energy Simulation Lagoon which is 170m x 110m x 10m depth) and test vessel for ocean testing of reduced scale prototypes.  We work closely with students (e.g. internships, etc.) from the Colleges Associate in Science program for Engineering Technology – Renewable Energy Technician training program, which has a focus on training hydrokinetic energy technicians.  Students participate in most aspects of the project including field testing as part of the courses and internships.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Environmental aspects of this design are just as important as producing energy that is clean and sustainable for the future. To assure that no fish or wildlife is harmed by our design, we have developed a unique Wildlife and Debris Excluder (WDE).  This device will prevent all larger sea life form entering the rotor section. Smaller sea life can swim and flow unharmed through the open center section of the rotor and exit unharmed.    The impact of our turbines on the ocean floor is practically zero, because each unit is either anchored to the seabed like a vessel or mounted on a single piling driven into the substrate.  This results in a very small footprint which has practically no effect on the environment of the installation.

RENEWABLE

Ocean currents, tidal currents and run of the river currents are by far the most reliable source of renewable energy on our planet.  They are as predictable as clockwork and fluctuate very little during meteorological events and condition changes.  As long as the earth rotates to create a Coriolis Effect and the moon orbits the earth there will be ocean currents and tides, day and night regardless of the weather.  Solar energy produces efficient output only a few hours a day and only when its not overcast.  Solar is very much affected by meteorological conditions.  Wind energy is a good source of power but the wind speeds can fluctuate tremendously.  The wind intensity can vary from dead calm to a raging storm; both extremes are not usable for electrical generation.      Ocean currents are located at the ocean surface and in deep water below 300 meters (984 feet).  They can move water horizontally and vertically and occur on both local and global scales.  The ocean has an interconnected current, or circulation system powered by wind, tides, the Earths rotation, the sun, and water density differences.  This constant motion in the worlds oceans is called the global ocean conveyor belt, a combination of thermohaline currents in the deep ocean and wind-driven currents on the surface.  The volume of water transported by the global conveyor belt is equal to 100 Amazon Rivers or 16 times the flow of all the worlds rivers combined.      Ocean currents are relatively constant and flow in one direction, in contrast to tidal currents.  While ocean currents move slowly, relative to typical wind speeds, they carry a great deal of energy because of the density of water. Water is more than 800 times denser than air.  For the same surface area, water moving 12 miles per hour exerts the same amount of force as a constant 110 mph wind.  Consequently, ocean currents contain an enormous amount of energy that can be captured and converted to a usable form.  It has been estimated that taking just 1/1000th the available energy from the Gulf Stream would supply Florida with 35% of its electrical needs.      For ocean current energy to be utilized successfully on a commercial scale, a number of engineering and technical challenges need to be addressed, including:

• Avoidance of cavitation (bubble formation)
• Prevention of marine growth buildup
• Reliability (since maintenance costs are potentially high)
• Corrosion resistant.