Version 2 Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template •
•
•
Use one form per project Please complete & submit to international@nuigalway.ie as soon as possible, and by 27/11/2012 In your email, begin the subject line with [SWB] (be sure to use square brackets) to ensure that your email is filed correctly. Emails will be automatically filed PI name & contact details: School: Has project been agreed with head (or nominee) of proposed registration school? Research Centre / group affiliation: Dr Rory Monaghan Energy Systems Engineering n/a Member of: Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Energy (IRUSE) Combustion Chemistry Centre (C3) Research group / centre http://www.nuigalway.ie/iruse/ website: http://c3.nuigalway.ie/ PI website / link to CV: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10194626&trk=tab_pro
http://c3.nuigalway.ie/staff/rory_monaghan.html Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max): • Advanced numerical techniques (CFD & reduced‐order modelling) for thermo‐fluid energy applications • Analysis & modelling of sustainable energy pathways & technology options Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web): Accurate and Efficient Prediction of Ocean Energy Array Performance and Environmental Impacts As tidal and wave energy are increasingly prioritised for research and development, it is clear that promoters of ocean energy must develop the capability to accurately predict electricity production over the lifetimes of installations. Understanding the dependence of ocean energy converter (OEC) output on factors such as transient climatic and oceanographic conditions, and OEC spacing within arrays and interference would allow developers to better predict array performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations present challenges and opportunities in this field. On the one hand, CFD can be used to understand and predict, with potentially high accuracy and at high computational expense, hydrodynamic flow around individual OECs. On the other hand however, scaling this CFD simulation up to encompass the entire array is beyond practical commercially‐
available computational budgets. This research proposes to address this issue through the use of reduced‐order models (ROMs) that are automatically generated from CFD simulations of individual OECs. This approach is known as CFD‐ROM and has been and is currently being developed by the PI for energy applications as diverse as combustion, building energy use and wind energy. Once a CFD model of an individual EOC has Version 2 Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
been validated, the computational domain is coarsened to reduce its computational expense while retaining treatment of the most important physical phenomena. This ROM is then replicated for every EOC in the array, giving an accurate yet computationally‐efficient ocean energy array simulation. Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway: •
•
•
•
•
Work with IRUSE, an internationally‐renowned energy modelling and informatics research group Work as part of the Ryan Institute for environment, marine & energy research, one of the largest interdisciplinary groups in this field in Europe Very strong and active research links to industry in this technology area, e.g. ESB International Work will be performed in NUI Galway’s Engineering Building, the largest engineering education facility in Ireland Research will be supported through collaboration with internationally‐renowned ocean energy researchers at NUI Galway (Dr Mike Hartnett, Dr Stephen Nash, Dr Conchur O Bradaigh) and at University College Cork Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above: Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply: Mechanical Engineering, Energy Systems Engineering, Engineering Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area: Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits‐ choose only one (tick box): Engineering and other technological areas Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences) Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré‐clinical and Health Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace Pharmaceuticals Sustainable Agricultural Production Oil, Gas and Coal Renewable Energy X
Minerals, Minerals Technology Biotechnology Nanotechnology and New Materials Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity Marine Sciences Creative Industry New technologies in constructive engineering
Version 2 Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders arrangements): Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): Y Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): N Suitable for either/Don’t know: N