Cong Han and Christopher Ruhl are mechanical engineering PhD students in the Rossin College. Their research on tidal turbines may someday help tidal energy become a viable alternative energy source.
“My work is in the area of turbulent flow and specifically the production and the analysis of turbulent flow on its interaction with tidal stream turbines,” says Ruhl. “The approach we take is unique in the capabilities we have to reproduce tidal current in a laboratory setting.”
“I can come in and do some actual experiments with an actual turbine, rather than just looking at models,” says Han.
Han and Ruhl are advised by Professor Arindam Banerjee, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Banerjee leads Lehigh's Turbulent Flow Design Group and has designed an innovative water channel experimental facility for studying hydrokinetic turbines.
Learn more about their research in this video.
Video by Christine Fennessy, multimedia content creator, P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science