
Jere A. Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory at University of New Hampshire
Facility Overview
The Jere A. Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory (COEL) is equipped with state-of-the-art testing facilities for underwater/ocean engineering. Resident faculty use the laboratory to conduct research in the areas of ocean engineering, ocean mapping, ocean acoustics, hydrogeology, and hydrographic surveying. Graduate and undergraduate students also take advantage of COEL to support their thesis work.




Facility Capabilities
Tow and Wave Tank The UNH Tow and Wave Tank enables research where test bodies can be towed, subjected to wave action, or both. It is 3.66 m wide, 2.44 m deep, and 36.6m long. The tow carriage can achieve tow speeds up to 2 m/s for turbine testing and the tow system provides highly accurate control of acceleration, velocity and position. A low-drag hydrokinetic turbine test bed with a submerged frame made from NACA 0020 struts is used to test turbines up to nominally 1m diameter for both cross-flow and axial-flow turbines, enabling high Reynolds number testing at reasonable blockage. The wave maker can generate waves with 1-5 s periods up to 0.4 m wave height (regular waves, various random seas spectra), and the tank is equipped with a wave-energy-absorbing geo-textile beach. Dimensions: Length: 36.6m, Width: 3.66m, Height: 3m Max depth: 2.44 m Capabilities: Component testing, Performance metrics analysis, WEC and TEC hydrodynamics, Array integration, IEC technical specification design. Test plan design
2 Facility Capabilities
- Flume
- Tank
Contact
Engineering Tank The Engineering Tank at COEL measures 18.3 m (L) x 12.2 m (W) x 6.1 m (D) (360,000 gallons of water) and is used for a variety of experiments where simulating unobstructed, open water environments is required. Cranes for deploying heavy equipment, including a 2-ton wall-cantilevered jib crane and a large 6-ton gantry crane are available. The tank is used for wet-testing of all types of marine renewable energy devices, ocean observing buoys, autonomous underwater or surface vehicles, and for evaluating deployment and operational strategies. Several additional components offer a variety of testing platforms. For example, the tank is well-equipped for standard acoustic measurements of hydrophones, projectors, and sonar systems (transducer impedance, receive sensitivity, transmitting voltage response, source level, and beam patterns). A variety of sub-bottom profiler transducers, single- and split-beam echo sounders, and multibeam echo sounders have been tested and calibrated in this facility. Tank dimensions: Length: 18.3 m, Width: 12.2 m, Height: 6.4 m Max Depth: 6.1 m Capabilities: Component testing, Performance metrics analysis, WEC and TEC hydrodynamics, Array integration, IEC technical specification design, Test plan design.
2 Facility Capabilities
- Flume
- Tank






















































