Bayesian optimization for multi-screw archimedes turbine design

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Bluestreak Equipment, of Delhi, Ontario, is developing Archimedes screw hydro generators (ASGs) that could be utilized at thousands of low head (1-10m) sites along waterways just in Ontario. Several hundred ASGs have been installed in Europe in the past decade, with more in development. ASGs are commercially competitive with other hydro turbines, with very low environmental impacts, including on fish. In the past six years, Bluestreak researched and developed their Archimedes screw generator technology, and successfully installed the first grid-connected Archimedes screw hydro plant in North America. They currently are commercializing their ASG system and have several more in various stages of planning. Bluestreak and Prof. David Lubitz (University of Guelph) have developed and validated a refined engineering model that can reliably predict the power output of a specified Archimedes screw system. The model can be used iteratively to optimize the IRR of a single Archimedes screw generator for a specific site, and is a key part of Bluestreak's business advantage in the microhydro field.Dr. Graham Taylor's research team at the University of Guelph collaborated with Bluestreak through Engage and Engage Plus projects to replace the laborious laborious manual tuning of parameters to find an optimal site-specific configuration with a Bayesian Optimization-based solution. Bluestreak has since moved to consider multiple screws installed per site. Therefore, this 2 year CRD aims to extend the current framework to the practical case where multiple Archimedes screw turbines (ASTs) are optimized simultaneously. We will also develop improvements to the performance model and optimizers (relevant to both single- and multi-screw). The project aims to make Bluestreak's system more competitive while advancing the state-of-the-art in global optimization for engineering design.