Aquanis receives $224K NSF SBIR grant for wind energy development technology

NEAL FINE is the founder of Aquanis Inc. The company received a National Science Foundation Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $224,969 for development and testing of a device intended to improve the efficiency and extend the service life of utility-scale wind turbines.   / COURTESY NEAL FINE
NEAL FINE is the founder of Aquanis Inc. The company received a National Science Foundation Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $224,969 for development and testing of a device intended to improve the efficiency and extend the service life of utility-scale wind turbines. / COURTESY NEAL FINE

NORTH KINGSTOWN – Aquanis Inc. has received a $224,969 National Science Foundation Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop and test a device intended to improve the efficiency and extend the service life of utility-scale wind turbines.

Aquanis CEO Neal Fine said he is excited about the grant, which will give the company the opportunity to make the technology viable at even larger scales.
“The simplicity of our plasma actuator technology provides the basis for an inexpensive, no-moving-parts control system that will allow wind turbines to react instantly to changes in the wind,” Fine said in a statement.
According to information from the company, the cost of wind energy can be reduced by deploying larger, more efficient, and durable wind turbines.
To build this type of wind turbine, designers must find a way to mitigate fatigue loads in turbine blades, caused by unsteady aerodynamic forces. All of the remedies tried to date have moving parts, and are costly and complex to implement. Aquanis is developing a new technology that can address the problem with no moving parts and minimal blade modifications.
Aquanis’ system features a blade-mounted plasma flow actuator, a software-controlled solid-state electrical device that the company said is simple and inexpensive.
The system is based on patented technology developed at the University of Notre Dame.
The six-month NSF grant will fund the development of a new actuator design that is expected to at least double the efficiency of the device.
The company also recently was awarded an Innovation Voucher grant from the R.I. Commerce Corp., which will provide $50,000 in funding to support the company’s research partners in Brown University’s School of Engineering that are assisting in the Aquanis product design.
“We are thrilled to be working with our colleagues at Brown University on this Innovation Voucher grant,” Fine said. “Brown’s computational resources will help to cut years off of our product development cycle.”

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