Kristen Thyng

Kristen M. Thyng

Predoctoral Research Associate

Address:
University of Washington
Mechanical Engineering
Box 352600
Seattle, WA 98195
USA

Phone: 206-543-8663

E-mail: thyngkm at uw.edu

Office: MEB G33, Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab

Websites: Theoretical and Applied Computational Fluid Mechanics Group
Laboratory for Energy and Environmental Combustion
Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC)

Curriculum Vitae
· Research Interests · Teaching · Biography ·

Research Interests
I am interested in renewable energy resources together with computational mathematics, numerical modeling, and geophysical fluid dynamics. Since April 2007, I have been working as part of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) , funded by the Department of Energy. For this center, the UW is in a partnership with Oregon State University, in which UW has a focus on tidal energy while OSU focuses on wave energy.
My PhD committee members are my advisor, James J. Riley, and Brian Polagye, Mitsuhiro Kawase, Alberto Aliseda, and Dale R. Durran (GSR). My previous work had been focused on getting a model of the Puget Sound up and running. This model was presented at the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference in September 2009.
More recently, my research focus is on tidal turbine siting by carefully analyzing the flow fields and other features in potential development areas. So far, this work has involved idealized modeling of one, a headland case, and two, a double-silled channel, each examining different bathymetric aspects of Admiralty Inlet, an area of strong potential tidal development. There have been many metrics propsosed to move toward answering the question of where to micro-site turbines. My longer-term goal is to create a high resolution numerical model of Admiralty Inlet using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). This model will be nested in the Modeling the Salish Sea (MoSSea) project in the School of Oceanography. I intend to investigate in-stream tidal turbine siting questions in addition to interacting with the researchers in NNMREC who gather field data as well as those who are modeling turbines.

Publications

T. Roc, K. Thyng and D. Conley, "Applying a numerical decision-making tool for tidal current turbine (TCT) planning projects to the Puget Sound estuary: Early Results", Proc. EWTEC, 2011.

Thyng, Kristen M. and James J. Riley (2010). Idealized Headland Simulation for Tidal Hydrokinetic Turbine Siting Metrics. OCEANS 2010 MTS/IEEE Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.

Kawase, M, and K.M Thyng. "Three-dimensional Hydrodynamic Modelling of Inland Marine Waters of Washington State, United States, for Tidal Resource and Environmental Impact Assessment." IET Renewable Power Generation. 4.6 (2010): 568-578.

Posters

Graduate and Professional Student Senate Science and Policy Summit, University of Washington, May 13, 2011.

INORE Symposium, 5-9-10

INORE Symposium, 5-25-09

Presentations

Note: Download and view in Adobe Reader to properly view movies in presentations
Site Modeling for Tidal Turbines, 2nd Annual OSU-UW Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center Conference, University of Washington, May 5, 2011.

Understanding New Admiralty Inlet Simulation, MoSSea Users Group, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, May 4, 2011.

Modeling for Tidal Energy Analysis, MoSSea Users Group, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, January 19, 2011.

General Examination for the Doctoral Degree at the University of Washington, December 8, 2010

Mechanical Engineering Student Seminar at the University of Washington, October 11, 2010: Presentation and Presentation Article

OCEANS 2010 MTS/IEEE Seattle, September 21, 2010:

Presentation (movie),

Presentation article with notes (movie),

Presentation (no movie),

Presentation article with notes (no movie)

4th INORE Symposium, 9-14 May 2010, Dartmouth, UK

OSU, 4/27/10

NNMREC Group Meeting, 4/21/10

SIAM UW, 4/21/09

SIAM UW, 5/29/08

Movies

Note: Some movies require Quicktime
Depth-averaged vorticity in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, indicating eddy locations around headlands
Surface salinity in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, showing fresh water exiting the estuary toward the ocean
Idealized 2D simulation of the Puget Sound forced by an M2 tide. The domain starts out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, includes the double sill features of Admiralty Inlet, and includes part of the main basin. Various density stratification initializations are shown. These simulations were made using ROMS.

Linear Density Initialization

Mixed Density Initialization

2-layer Density Initialization

Linear Density Initialization (different density values)

2-layer Density Initialization (different density values)

1/z Density Initialization

Depth-Averaged Speed at Admiralty Inlet in m/s. The subplot shows the free surface elevation of the water at Port Townsend, the point on the western end of Admiralty Inlet over time in part of the tidal cycle. The movie shows a simulation day worth of model output. These simulations and the following were made using SUNTANS.

Low Resolution

Medium Resolution

High Resolution

Depth-Averaged Power at Admiralty Inlet in kW/m^2.

Low Resolution

Medium Resolution

High Resolution

Depth-Averaged Speed over Puget Sound in m/s. The subplot shows the free surface elevation of the water at the western open boundary in the Strait of Juan de Fuca during a tidal cycle. A simulation day is shown.

Medium Resolution

Depth-Averaged Power over Puget Sound in kW/m^2. The subplot shows the free surface elevation of the water at the western open boundary in the Strait of Juan de Fuca during a tidal cycle. A simulation day is shown.

Medium Resolution

Teaching

ME 323 - Thermodynamics, Teaching Assistant, Autumn 2007

Biographical information
I grew up in Seattle, but headed east of the mountains to attend Whitman College , where I received a Bachelor of Arts in Physics in 2005. After college, I lived in Washington, D.C., for most of a year before returning to Seattle to attend the University of Washington in my hometown. I received a Masters of Science in Applied Mathematics in 2007, and am currently in my fourth year pursuing my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering . Outside of academics, I have always been active in the outdoors, especially having grown up with my family deeply involved in my two older brothers' boy scout troop. I began climbing mountains when I was 15 and have been doing so ever since (though time is tight in graduate school). In high school I also started playing lacrosse, which I played all through high school and college and hope to pick up again soon. Running has been a part of my life for a good 10 years now also, having run numerous half marathons, completed my first marathon in October 2006 (Marine Corps) and second marathon in April 2009 (Big Sur), and having participated in 10 Epic 1- or 2-day running/hiking journeys in various locations around the West Coast (and Grand Canyon).

Other Papers

Tidal flow around obstacles, for ME 543 - Turbulence: pdf

· Research Interests · Teaching · Biography ·

Kristen Thyng, May 2010

Kristen M. Thyng Predoctoral Research Associate
Address:	University of Washington Mechanical Engineering Box 352600 Seattle, WA 98195 USA
Phone:	206-543-8663
E-mail:	thyngkm at uw.edu
Office:	MEB G33, Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab
Websites:	Theoretical and Applied Computational Fluid Mechanics Group Laboratory for Energy and Environmental Combustion Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC)