Environmental monitoring research around marine energy requires an interdisciplinary team of researchers with a variety of technical abilities. Engineering is one discipline that is integral to the advancement of the marine energy industry, including the development and application of monitoring technologies that help industry and regulatory communities understand possible environmental effects.
The Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office’s Triton Initiative is a suite of projects that aim to reduce barriers to testing and permitting marine energy devices by researching and developing environmental monitoring technologies and methods to understand potential effects on marine ecosystems. To make this research possible, engineers contribute to Triton’s technical capabilities and develop tools to address monitoring challenges, including the detection of animal collisions with marine energy devices. In the development phase, engineers provide critical insights into the technical applications of monitoring devices, instrumentation, and their functionality in the dynamic and often harsh conditions of underwater environments.
We want to introduce you to one of the Triton scientists and engineers advancing the marine energy industry. Abigale (Abby) Snortland, a post-doctorate researcher and mechanical engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is bringing her expertise in fluid mechanics to Triton by supporting the Blade Integrated Collision Detection (BICD) project.
Growing to love the ocean
Abby spent much of her life living in landlocked states–she was born in Montana, spent her childhood in Colorado, moved back to Montana for her undergraduate studies, and spent time in New Mexico during internships. But she always loved the water and hydrodynamics, especially when it came to her studies.
Studying mechanical engineering at Montana State University, she initially thought she wanted to build cars, design outdoor gear, or work with recycled and renewable materials. However, in the classroom, she found an affinity for studying fluids and thermodynamics, and Abby realized she wanted to pursue a career doing work with fluids related to renewable energy, which led her to an internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At LANL, she worked on hydrogen storage projects. Her path resulted in her decision to pursue graduate school at the University of Washington as part of the Pacific Marine Energy Center, which she says is one of the best things she’s ever done. After moving to Washington, Abby “grew to love the ocean infinitely more.”
Finding a career in marine energy
Abby was particularly drawn to experimental laboratories and the hands-on side of research, with an interest in emerging renewable energy fields. She pursued this passion through her PhD in mechanical engineering; this is where she got her first window into the world of marine energy.
During her PhD, Abby conducted experimental research with cross-flow tidal turbines, conducted data analyses, and utilized experimental techniques like Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), which captures images of particles to track their displacements, producing experimental flow fields. This diverse work with new energy devices needing to function in complex marine and aquatic environments solidified her interest in marine energy research, exploring dynamic solutions to engineering challenges. Abby’s research predominantly focused on studying the hydrodynamics in and around cross-flow tidal turbines. This work provided insight into the fundamental operation of cross-flow turbines and illuminated potential pathways for increasing their efficiency. One understated benefit of cross-flow turbines, according to Abby, is that these devices can operate regardless of the inflow direction, enabling them to be located in areas where the water movement changes 180 degrees multiple times a day, like a tidal channel. The potential for energy generation from devices like these is significant and allows for increased energy production from one of Earth’s most consistent natural phenomena: tides.
While she wasn’t initially looking for a career in marine energy, Snortland says she’s glad she found it. She loves that the field is new and has a lot of energy. “If you have a question about marine energy,” Abby says, “it probably hasn’t been fully answered yet.”
After interning at LANL, Abby became interested in working for the national laboratories and came to PNNL through connections at the University of Washington—a long-term partner to Triton. In searching for a career in renewable energy, Abby was excited to learn about PNNL-Sequim and the Lab’s in-water work with marine energy devices and environmental monitoring. Abby enjoys working with ocean renewables since the ocean is such a harsh environment, which makes the issues she’s trying to solve particularly challenging. With marine energy, she is fascinated by the variety of small-scale applications for this technology. For example, it can be used to support aquaculture or to power instrumentation to learn more about the ocean and the critters that inhabit it. While there is a lot of focus on bringing marine energy to grid scale, Abby believes it’s also important to focus on smaller applications offshore, in areas with limited power.
Creating dual-purpose solutions through the Blade Integrated Collision Detection project
Through Triton’s BICD project, the team is exploring whether strain gauges in tidal turbines can be used to detect collision events. Developers integrate these sensors into turbine blades to monitor the structural health of the device by measuring strain as indicators of mechanical stress on the system. Through laboratory experiments, Abby and the BICD team are testing the potential for strain gauges to be used for monitoring collision risk as well, exploring their ability to detect interactions with marine animals or sense differences in water flow caused by the animal’s movement in the surrounding area.
During the first phase of this project, the team conducted experiments with scaled marine mammal models in calm and controlled laboratory conditions in a flume. While the team gathered data on how strain gauges detect simulated collision events, these conditions are not representative of what a turbine will actually experience in dynamic tidal currents. Abby’s expertise in fluid mechanics is helping the team understand the impact of turbulence on this collision risk monitoring technology. By understanding how realistic water flow impacts strain gauge measurements, Abby hopes to understand how we can detect collisions under dynamic environments as well as how turbulence impacts the structural load of the turbine blades.
Abby seeks to answer an important question posed through this project: “You can come up with perfect solutions at the lab scale, but how do you make sure what you’re doing in the lab is grounded and realistic?” To make collision detection more practical for developers, Abby believes coming up with dual-purpose solutions like strain gauges benefits industry, researchers, and decision-makers concerned with collision risks. Strain gauges are of interest for structural integrity, which is a major issue for cross-flow turbines. However, while it is complicated by turbulence and large load fluctuations, it can also be utilized for collision detection. "Using this technology allows both for collision detection and provides developers with information on the survivability of their devices,” Abby shares.
In the coming months, Abby and the BICD team will collaborate with the University of Washington to test the capabilities of strain gauges in a number of turbulent conditions at the Alice C. Tyler Flume with funding from the TEAMER program.
Taking advantage of new opportunities
According to Abby, “Having a career in marine energy involves wearing a bunch of hats.” People with backgrounds in fluids, ecology, economics, data, and other fields are all contributing and important to marine energy. For those interested in pursuing a career in marine energy, she recommends figuring out what you enjoy and thinking about how it can be tied in with the current challenges the industry faces. There are many avenues to do that, from designing wave or tidal energy devices to modeling potential power outputs or environmental effects to conducting experiments on collision monitoring technologies like Abby, and so much more. “Marine energy is a small field, but there’s a focus on getting more exposure to younger students about our work,” says Abby.
She also recommends looking out for opportunities in the marine energy space and thinking about what you could do in college to get more information about the field. For example, there are Marine Energy Collegiate Competition teams, opportunities to take a short course, an
d researching available information could allow you to create relationships that would enable you to do this work in graduate school.
Life outside of work
Abby spends much of her time outside of work outdoors. She enjoys skiing during the winter, frequently around Crystal Mountain and recently traveling to Iceland for a backcountry trip. In the warmer months, she enjoys mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and backpacking. When she’s indoors, Abby enjoys reading historical fiction, listening to audiobooks, and knitting.
Regarding her work, Abby genuinely enjoys what she does. “I feel so fortunate that I ended up where I ended up, and I feel like I’m in the right place.”
Interested in learning about other careers in marine energy environmental monitoring? Read our other Triton Stories.
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