ADT To Lead Blade Design And Optimization For ALPHEUS Project On Novel Hydro Energy Storage

Advanced Design Technology is a part of the ALPHEUS Project, funded as part of the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. ADT's role includes designing reversible pump-turbines using 3D Inverse Design technology and optimizing them based on the overall project objectives.

London, United Kingdom (PRWEB) - Advanced Design Technology, Ltd. (ADT), a global leader in the development of advanced turbomachinery design methods with their TURBOdesign Suite design software, is part of the ALPHEUS Project, funded through a €5m grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

With a growing share of intermittent renewable energy sources, grid stability can be maintained, and flexibility enhanced, by applying pumped hydropower energy storage. ALPHEUS will improve reversible pump-turbine (RPT) technology and the adjacent civil structures needed to make pumped hydro storage economically viable in shallow seas and coastal environments with flat topography to enhance grid stability.

ADT will be responsible for the blade design and optimization of two low-head axial contra-rotating reversible pump-turbines using its unique 3D Inverse Design technology. There will be one shaft-driven RPT and another rim-driven. They will be designed and optimized according to three criteria; round trip efficiency, mode switching time and fish mortality. These objectives have been set by the overall project aims to create an RPT that can switch from pump to turbine mode in less than one minute, operates at round trip efficiency of over 70% and minimizes the environmental impact.

“Over the past 20 years ADT has played a major role in helping turbomachinery companies design more efficient turbomachines and has contributed to significant reduction in CO2 emissions, however it is increasingly clear that urgent action is needed to further reduce and eliminate carbon emissions into the atmosphere if we are to avoid irreversible damage to the environment.” Said Professor Mehrdad Zangeneh, Managing Director at ADT, “the ALPHEUS project is a great opportunity for the development of novel pump/turbine energy storage systems for low head applications, which should help to go some way towards solving some of the issues around grid stability as the percentage of renewable energy grows.”

ADT’s unique 3D Inverse Design technology rapidly achieves optimum performance in the design of pumps, compressors, fans and turbines. Using 3D Inverse Design through its TURBOdesign Suite software provides increased efficiency, enhanced performance, shorter development time and an expanded design space for turbomachinery components.

The project is due to start on April, 1st for a duration of 48 Months, further information can be found on ADT’s website: http://www.adtechnology.com/ALPHEUS

About Advanced Design Technology
Advanced Design Technology (ADT) is a global leader in the development of advanced turbomachinery design methods, which help shorten development time and improve performance of turbomachinery components. ADT’s aim is to put designers in direct control of the aerodynamic design and to considerably shorten the design time and time to market for a range of turbomachinery products. ADT’s clients, who represent some of the leading global players in the aerospace, automotive, power generation and marine fields, have achieved significant returns on investment in terms of reduction in design times, higher performance and ease of know-how transfer among different design teams and projects.