Professor Rupp Carriveau will discuss renewable energy Tuesday following a tour of the wind tunnel in the Centre for Engineering Innovation.
Professor Rupp Carriveau will discuss renewable energy Tuesday following a tour of the wind tunnel in the Centre for Engineering Innovation.
A symposium on the UWindsor campus this week will explore strategies to store and use energy generated by renewable sources.
This illustration demonstrates how an underwater compressed air energy storage system works.
Storing energy underwater is new technology still in its infancy but has tremendous potential for industrial growth, says a UWindsor engineering professor.
Entire communities will be able to generate their own energy and will do so in the not-so-distant future with a much greater reliance on such renewable sources as wind, solar and biomass, according to Rupp Carriveau.
Last year set a record for wind-energy installations in Canada and the US at an enormous: an average 100 MW terrestrial wind farm requires a $250-million investment. Wind farm owners are naturally keen to ensure that their machines operate efficiently, and that’s where Rupp Carriveau comes in.
A showcase of engineering research Friday was a great opportunity for prospective students and members of the community to see first-hand some of the fascinating work that’s going on here, according to a participating professor.
“Everyone seemed really pleased with what they saw,” said Narayan Kar, one of three researchers who opened up their labs for the Open Doors, Open Knowledge event. “It’s critical that people have a good understanding of the kind of research we’re doing here.”
The components for the first of two new wind tunnels to be installed in the new Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation began arriving late last week, much to the delight of the researchers who will be working with them.
Made by Industrial Metal Fabricators Ltd. of Chatham, the elevated 12 meter tunnel will run in a closed loop around the walls of a lab in the north-east corner of the CEI. With a 1.2 meter fan and a 30 horsepower motor, the tunnel will be capable of generating wind speeds of up to about 30 meters per second.
Who knew that windmills are territorial? According to an article published online this week by the Ontario Council on University Research, UWindsor researcher Rupp Carriveau did—and his work can turn that knowledge into better wind farms.
Placed too close together, turbines interfere with one another, reducing their overall efficiency, but Dr. Carriveau, an associate professor in civil and environmental engineering, is working to determine how strategic placement can exploit the windmills’ wakes to increase power generation.
Rupp Carriveau feels like a torchbearer for UWindsor’s research community.
“We have so many people doing such incredible things and that’s what really makes me proud,” said Dr. Carriveau. An associate professor in civil and environmental engineering, he’s participating in a province-wide awareness campaign aimed at convincing the general public about the importance of university research.
One of the challenges in developing wind power is how to store energy generated during off-peak hours. A UWindsor engineering professor’s research into a unique solution will be the focus of a lead segment on tonight’s edition of Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel.
