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Two rookie engineers, Parviz Sedigh and Mason Bichanich, are making waves in the field of tidal energy with their innovative design of a tidal energy turbine. Both doctoral candidates at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), are working towards creating their first real-world device: a hydrokinetic turbine aimed at advancing our understanding of tidal energy.
Their journey began with no prior experience in seeing their work in the water. However, through a collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, they embarked on this ambitious project. The result is an axial-flow tidal turbine designed to collect data at the mouth of the Piscataqua River in New England.
The turbine is part of a larger effort to explore tidal energy, a clean energy source that could potentially power up to 21 million homes in the United States. While it’s impossible to harness all that potential due to the needs of fishers, boaters, and other water users, even a fraction of this power could significantly contribute to the country’s clean energy goals. Their 25-kilowatt turbine, about the size of a harbor seal and resembling an underwater wind turbine, will perform multiple functions once deployed. It will produce valuable data, help power a busy drawbridge, and support community education through UNH’s Living Bridge Project.
Before starting this project, Sedigh and Bichanich had little experience with tidal turbines. However, their enthusiasm for creating something new propelled them forward. Bichanich, who has a degree in environmental engineering and a knack for mechanical tinkering, brought hands-on skills to the project. Growing up in a remote Midwestern town, he spent a lot of time fixing things, often scavenging parts from local scrapyards. His mentor, Martin Wosnik, had been working on the turbine design for nearly two years before Sedigh joined the team.
Sedigh brought a different expertise. With a master’s degree in aerospace engineering, he was familiar with propulsion systems in the air and was excited to apply his knowledge to the denser field of marine energy. For him, understanding how giant machines like airplanes fly naturally extended to generating electricity using water.
The project required more than just adapting past turbine designs. Sedigh and Bichanich needed their turbine to collect data, protect multiple sensors and their wiring, and withstand the challenging conditions of the estuary where the Piscataqua meets the Gulf of Maine. They collaborated closely with NREL, PNNL, and Sandia, and after many iterations, they developed a viable 3D model. Fabrication and physical assembly, which has been wrapping up in 2024, brought their design to life.
The turbine will be tested beneath Portsmouth’s Memorial Bridge, rebranded as the Living Bridge to highlight its role in public science education. This bridge has become a destination for students and citizens to learn about tidal energy and the technology used to harness it. Compared to a previous turbine under the bridge, this new model is highly instrumented to collect extensive data. Using NREL’s Modular Ocean Data Acquisition (MODAQ) system, the turbine will log performance data, which will be openly shared through the Water Power Technologies Office’s Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository.
This project is not only about collecting data on the turbine’s strain, power output, and environmental conditions but also about monitoring for floating debris using equipment like PNNL’s acoustic camera. This comprehensive data collection aims to advance the field of tidal energy research.
For Sedigh and Bichanich, the project is a significant professional milestone. As they approach the finish line, they reflect on the importance of their collaboration. Both are equally involved in the hands-on work, recognizing that combining their ideas leads to better outcomes. This turbine, their first major engineering achievement, will always hold a special place for them, and they plan to continue working on it closely as it contributes to the growing body of tidal energy research.
