Presentation of Master thesis project awarded with the Chalmers MasterCard scholarship 2014

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1 Presentation of Master thesis project awarded with the Chalmers MasterCard scholarship 2014 It is with most gratitude we want to give a short summary of our master thesis project made possible by the financial support from Chalmers MasterCard. We left Sweden in February 2014 to perform our thesis at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The topic of the thesis was Design of a numerical model to analyse a wave energy dissipation device for hydropower. The thesis was presented at Chalmers in September. Besides that we are proud of what we achieved within the project, we feel enriched by all the new experiences and good memories from China and all the nice people we met. Figure 1. Picture of the Forbidden city

2 First we want to give a short introduction to the thesis. The master thesis was collaboration between Vattenfall R&D and Tsinghua University, Beijing. The institution of hydraulic engineering at Tsinghua University has suggested a new floating device in order to prevent issues related to issues related to high wave energy level located in the stilling basin of the hydropower plant. One of these issues is the disturbance of nearby residents, mainly by infrasound pollution. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to reduce wave energy in the outlet by this floating hinged- raft device. The suggested device will dissipate energy through interconnected piston dampers. The study was based on numerical simulations and the dissipation efficiency was calculated for numerous cases. Different designs and wave characteristics was simulated in the project and our result showed there is a strong relationship between the raft wideness and wavelength in order to achieve high dissipation efficiencies. The technology seems promising however there are a long way to go before having a final product. We hope that our conclusion can be helpful in the development of this technology. Hopefully will the device be implemented that would reduce the negative effects of hydropower and improve the prospect to expand hydropower worldwide. Figure 2. Aula of Tsinghua University

3 Figure 3. Picture of the northern part of Campus. We spend most of our days at Tsinghua campus were we worked and lived. Our accommodations were within campus in special apartment buildings for international students. The apartments did not have the same high standard we are spoiled with here in Sweden. Well, it is part of the experience and you get use to it after a while. The Chinese students however had to live four persons in each room, had no electricity after midnight and had to share toilet and shower with the entire floor. Our dormitory was over all pretty good even though the limited hot water hours. Mostly was the supervision the hardest part to accept. According to the rules you had to register after 11 PM. Also you were not allowed to have guests. Tsinghua is the top ranked University in China, which the students studying there was, were proud of. This also made the students study extremely hard and sometimes we worried of their wellbeing. The campus itself was like a city on it s own. You had everything from shopping malls, bike repair shops, hairdressers, restaurants and cafes. You could also do most sport activities on sight. Courts for baseball, tennis basketball, soccer fields and indoor swimming pools was all included there. To get around in campus everyone used bikes. On a regular basis there were traffic jams just with bikes. There were even bus lines inside just because of the size of the campus. A good thing about living on campus is that it was so easy to meet new people from all over the world. To have people in your age that you can share an adventure with was defiantly the best part of the trip.

4 During our stay in China we also had the opportunity to experience a culture that was new to both of us. As we didn t speak Chinese we quickly had to learn to communicate in many different ways. For instance body language, different dictionaries and technical support by apps etc. Though it could be really frustrating at a time we think we got a hang of it at the end. We also encountered the Chinese hospitality, where most people were willing to help even though we couldn t speak to one and other. This could sometimes be problematic as the Chinese culture says you should help even though you lack the information or knowledge to help. After a few misunderstandings you learned how to get by and have so many funny stories to tell. As an international student you also looked after one and other. It was often easier to ask friends for help instead of trying to figure out procedures on your own. With a smart phone and a broad social networked you have the opportunity to experience so many cool things in Beijing. During our stay we also had the opportunity to do some sightseeing. Mostly we went to different places in Beijing. This city has a lot to offer especially in Chinese history. It is a nice mixture of palaces, temples and government buildings. That China also have high economical growth the recent years could be seen fro all the financial centres and shopping malls that surrounded the city. The best sightseeing I think was the Great Wall of China. With help from a Chinese friend we arranged a daytrip for a very low cost. Both the history of the wall and the landscape was a very mighty adventure. Figure 4. Visit to the Great Wall

5 We also had the opportunity to travel within China. There are so many cool places to go and we felt we would like to stay longer just travelling within the country. One of trips went by bullet train to Shanghai. In Shanghai we experienced a new side of China. Shanghai is much more of a metropolitan city, not very different we can find in the western world. It also was much easier to get around just by English. Opposite to Beijing this felt much more modern, were Beijing has so much legacy from each of the different dynasties that China has experienced. Figure 5. Visist to the Great Wall The Chinese culture is so rich in many ways and thereby hard to describe. Also the differences in culture were very interesting and also very memorable. It is funny to think about all the misunderstandings we were part of and all the unbelievable things you could see just being out on the street.

6 Figure 6. Visit to Shanghai. It is also very humbling to think about the limited point of view we have. The preconceptions we had about the Chinese lifestyle was demolished so many times during the short period of time we had the possibility to be there. It felt like as soon you thought you had something figured out about how the Chinese are, you experienced the complete opposite the next day. Overall we feel very lucky to be part of this adventure and would like to thank you greatly for making this trip possible. Best regards Fredrik Hedberg Michael Saccullo