TEAMER: Biofouling Analysis for Wave Energy Piston Design - Load Cell Data

Biofouling and corrosion are a major concern for all ocean-deployed components, especially when mechanical motion is involved. Triton has developed the concept of a biofouling mitigation seal as part of the piston sealing assembly for the Triton Wave Energy Converter (TSI-WEC). This mitigation seal has the purpose of preventing the formation of a biofilm on the inside of the piston cylinder. It is hypothesized that the prevention of a biofilm will reduce the amount of macro-biofouling that can occur in the piston assembly. The mitigation seal can also reduce the wear on the main dynamic seal, helping to maintain smooth operation and water-tightness. The cylinder is made from a thermoset composite epoxy, which is resistant to corrosion. However, no studies have researched the material's performance with biofouling.

Triton placed two prototype Power Take-Off (PTO) assemblies in a PNNL biofouling tank, one with a biofouling mitigation seal and one without, allowing for an evaluation of seal effectiveness at the prevention of biofouling.

In actual WEC operation, wave action would react against the piston, which would drive the linear actuator and electric generator, providing electrical power. In the test setup, this was reversed; a linear actuator was powered to drive the piston in a consistent motion within the cylinder.

There are two assemblies: one has a biofouling mitigation seal, the other (control) does not. The following data encompasses a 4 month test period, with load cells being used to monitor piston friction force.

Results from this testing will be used to improve seal design and material selection, mitigating risk of premature failure during open water testing and evaluation.

This project is part of the TEAMER RFTS 3 (request for technical support) program.

Data and Resources

Field Value
DOI 10.15473/2315037
accessLevel public
bureauCode {019:20}
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dataQuality true
datagov_dedupe_retained 20250120171954
identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/8085
issued 2021-11-01T06:00:00Z
landingPage https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/534
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
modified 2024-02-27T23:09:36Z
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programCode {019:009}
projectLead Lauren Ruedy
projectNumber EE0008895
projectTitle Biofouling Analysis for Wave Energy Piston Design
publisher Triton Systems, Inc.
resource-type Dataset
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Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • biofouling
  • code
  • energy
  • hydrokinetic
  • marine
  • matlab
  • mhk
  • oscillating-water-column
  • power
  • processed-data
  • raw-data
  • rfts-3
  • technology
  • wave-energy
  • wave-energy-converter
  • wec
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
maintainer Tyler Robertson
maintainer_email trobertson@tritonsys.com
metadata_created 2025-09-23T20:41:33.805875
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T20:41:33.805881
notes Biofouling and corrosion are a major concern for all ocean-deployed components, especially when mechanical motion is involved. Triton has developed the concept of a biofouling mitigation seal as part of the piston sealing assembly for the Triton Wave Energy Converter (TSI-WEC). This mitigation seal has the purpose of preventing the formation of a biofilm on the inside of the piston cylinder. It is hypothesized that the prevention of a biofilm will reduce the amount of macro-biofouling that can occur in the piston assembly. The mitigation seal can also reduce the wear on the main dynamic seal, helping to maintain smooth operation and water-tightness. The cylinder is made from a thermoset composite epoxy, which is resistant to corrosion. However, no studies have researched the material's performance with biofouling. Triton placed two prototype Power Take-Off (PTO) assemblies in a PNNL biofouling tank, one with a biofouling mitigation seal and one without, allowing for an evaluation of seal effectiveness at the prevention of biofouling. In actual WEC operation, wave action would react against the piston, which would drive the linear actuator and electric generator, providing electrical power. In the test setup, this was reversed; a linear actuator was powered to drive the piston in a consistent motion within the cylinder. There are two assemblies: one has a biofouling mitigation seal, the other (control) does not. The following data encompasses a 4 month test period, with load cells being used to monitor piston friction force. Results from this testing will be used to improve seal design and material selection, mitigating risk of premature failure during open water testing and evaluation. This project is part of the TEAMER RFTS 3 (request for technical support) program.
num_resources 9
num_tags 24
title TEAMER: Biofouling Analysis for Wave Energy Piston Design - Load Cell Data