Technology▼Solutions

Creating electricity with undammed hydropower most tests are strictly for spinning and
mechanics, he adds.
Gorlov started developing his tur-
One of the first field tests of a truly re- Environmental and Energy Study In- bine in 1993, and Northeastern patent-
newable approach to producing elec- stitute (EESI), a nonprofit organization. ed it in 1994. GCK Technology holds
tricity from river currents is set for However, she says that EESI promotes the exclusive license, and Verdant is
mid-2004 in a river north of Boston. technologies like the Gorlov turbine one of three companies with contracts
Alexander Gorlov designed the “no that can capture energy from the flow to use the turbines in field demonstra-
head” turbine at Northeastern Univer- of water without dams because fish tions. Gorlov chose the helical design
sity. It is only one of many proposed can swim around the turbines. because it is “immune” to the direction
devices in development that could of the water flow and the axis can be

GCK TECHNOLOGY
extract power from water with min- set up vertically or horizontally de-
imal environmental damage, but pending on water depth. He says that
this patented prototype has gained the plan is to install six twin triple-
international interest, several part- helix turbines in a vertical, side-by-
ners, and “hard-to-get” funding to side arrangement in the Merrimack
move the technology beyond just River estuary tidal streams. This coat-
laboratory tests. Thanks to collabo- ed aluminum turbine is 1 meter (m)
ration with Verdant Power, GCK in diameter (diam) and 2.5 m in
Technology, and a half-million-dol- length. Each twin turbine will sit in
lar grant from the Massachusetts its own cage attached to a barge un-
Renewable Energy Trust (MRET), derwater. A similar helical turbine
the upcoming test will collect im- These Gorlov turbines are 1 m in diameter and 2.5 design has spun in South Korean wa-
portant data by evaluating the m in length, sit inside a cage, and will be installed ters since March 2002 and has gener-
Gorlov turbines as part of an inte- in Massachusetts’ Merrimack River later this year. ated some electricity.
grated system that converts free- Over the years, Gorlov has man-
water flow into electricity. The Gorlov turbines can work in aged to find research support from
Gorlov’s interest in developing a shallower waters better than conven- the U.S. Department of Energy
technology that extracts power from tional turbines, so this technology (DOE), the U.S. Navy, the National
water without destroying the environ- can bring hydropower to places dams Science Foundation, and the New
ment dates back to 1958−1960, when couldn’t go, says Trey Taylor. He is England Power Co. Yet getting federal
he helped design Egypt’s Aswan Dam. president and head of marketing funding in the United States has been
“Hydropower has developed a very bad development for Verdant Power, the difficult because there isn’t much
reputation [and] not because of the independent hydropower systems in- money for renewable energy. In fact,
turbines, but because of the dams,” he tegrator in Virginia that is partnering DOE’s National Renewable Energy
explains. Gorlov is an emeritus me- with Gorlov and GCK Technology. Laboratory does not research hydro-
chanical engineering professor and di- And in terms of renewable energy, electric power technologies. The
rector of the Hydro-Pneumatic Power water currents are much more de- funds being used to test the turbine
Laboratory at Northeastern University pendable than solar or wind, he adds, in the Merrimack River come from
in Boston and chief technology officer which may explain why the number the MRET fund, which is one of 17
for GCK Technology in San Antonio, of similar designs he is aware of has funds in 12 states totaling $3.5 billion.
Texas. His triple-helical turbine design grown to 38 from 6 just two years ago. These state funds are generally col-
does not require a dam and has spun The demonstration project in the lected with a small surcharge on utili-
successfully in tests conducted in Merrimack River is important for the ty bills to support development of
water bodies around the globe over the hydropower industry because it will renewable and clean energy.
past several years. be a full integration of the turbine, “We looked for projects that were
Generating hydropower with con- generator, and distribution system, well past the blueprint stage but had-
ventional turbines requires pressure something we usually don’t see in n’t received too much commercial
created by dams. But building dams early field tests, says Michael Bahleda, testing, that did well in peer review,
disrupts the natural environment, in- area manager for Hydro, Renewables, and showed promise for the local
cluding fish migration, so any new and Economics for the Electric Power area,” says Chris Kealey, a spokesper-
large-scale conventional hydropower is Research Institute, a nonprofit energy son for the Massachusetts Technology
not considered “green”, according to research consortium. Usually, if a tur- Collaborative, the organization that
Carol Werner, executive director of the bine even gets to demonstration, administers MRET grants. Verdant

© 2004 American Chemical Society FEBRUARY 1, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 55A
will contribute an additional $300,000 this vision of the turbines as a sub- power options. Before all that will be
to the Merrimack demonstration. stantial source of renewable distrib- possible, however, they need a cost-ef-
Gorlov says that in the Merrimack uted power. “The concept behind ficient product that works consistently.
demonstration, “Turbines represent [these] turbines is that as you put in a The best way to keep production costs
just a part of the system.” Here, GCK number of them, you start to build a down right now is to standardize basic
Technology and collaborators at whole field,” says Taylor. The Merri- equipment, says Taylor.
Verdant are working out the details mack River flows at about 3 knots, so Gorlov says that he “receives
related to system installation and op- he expects the demonstration project dozens of inquiries from around the
eration, such as securing the appara- to yield 20 kilowatts (kW). On the basis world on a day-[to]-day basis” regard-
tus in the water, harmonizing the of studying the size of the river, the ing possibilities for these turbines. In
turbines with electric generators, and river’s capacity will max out at 500 kW. addition to U.S. projects in Massachu-
connecting everything to the local Other locations in the United States setts, Maine, and Long Island, N.Y., a
power grid. Gorlov says it could take a and around the world—including 2.2-m-diam stainless steel Gorlov heli-
few years to make this technology a ocean currents—could generate much cal turbine commissioned by the
widespread reality. more power. For example, Gorlov esti- Korean Ocean Research and Develop-
Even though the power output mates that the Uldolmok Strait in ment Institute will be installed in
from the Gorlov turbine is small be- South Korea, which flows at 12 knots, South Korea during the summer of
cause of the slow speed and low could generate hundreds of megawatts 2004. Other small field research pro-
torque, at least it can extract some of capacity from tidal currents. jects are under way in Brazil’s Amazon
power from otherwise unproductive Once these turbines are successful- River and coming soon to Ireland.
sites, says James Sysko, a hydropower ly integrated with generators, Gorlov —RACHEL PETKEWICH
consultant in Bethel, Maine. His at- and Taylor have various ideas on how
tempt to power a small hotel with to expand their use. The turbines
Gorlov turbines has been a challenge. could be part of modular systems that Applied Marine Sciences (AMS)
But he is optimistic that capitalizing float on catamarans in remote loca- an environmental consultancy is
on many little sites could equal the tions. Hydropower generation could seeking qualified
Sr. Scientists/Proj.Mgrs.
size of a large dammed area, without be packaged with water purification,
Go to www.amarine.com/jobs
the environmental impacts. desalination, or hydrogen production for details.
GCK Technology and Verdant share or be hybridized with solar and wind

Faculty Positions in Environmental

EPFL plans a substantial emphasis of its School of We offer internationally competitive salaries and benefits.
Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Applications should include a résumé with a list oflica- pub
Within the framework of this broad programme, we are tions, a concise statement of research and teaching interests,
looking for several professors (full, associate or tenure track and the names and addresses (including e-mail) of at least
assistant level). We are seeking highly qualified scientists five referees. Applications should reach the address below
committed to a career in research and teaching, with a by March 31st, 2004:
strong record of accomplishments and an interdisciplinary
vision. Professor Laurent Vulliet, Dean
School of Architecture, Civil and
Current openings are in the fields of: Environmental Engineering
- soil science, particularly environmental chemistry and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
physics, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- environmental microbiology.
Additional information about EPFL is available at
Successful candidates are expected to initiate independent, http://www.epfl.ch and http://enac.epfl.ch.
creative research programs and participate in undergraduate
and graduate teaching. Start-up resources will be available. The EPFL is an equal opportunity employer.

56A ■ ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / FEBRUARY 1, 2004