Numerical Investigation of the Performance of a Hydrokinetic Turbine
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Date
2021-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
As the usage of electricity increases, people are seeking ways to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly way. According to a study done by BP [1], the global hydroelectricity consumption in 2019 was 948.8 Million tones of oil equivalent, including hydrokinetic power. Compared to traditional hydropower, hydrokinetic power has advantages such as considerably less construction work and a lower environmental impact, so it is essential to find an efficient way to utilize hydrokinetic energy. The main purpose of this research is to simulate a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of a Schottel SIT tidal turbine by using the Finite Volume Method (FVM). The software ANSYS Fluent is used to simulate the working condition of the hydrokinetic turbine and provide accurate power predictions under various working conditions. The first simulation is conducted using the same working conditions as the on-site test of the same turbine to get similar performance characteristics such as torque and power. The sliding mesh method is used to better simulate the rotating working condition of the blades. This step is also important to examine the simulation setups, such as mesh sizes and time-step sizes. Finer meshes are created where turbulence may generate to make more accurate power predictions. The next step is to perform CFD simulations using different flow speeds and RPM and find the working condition that can produce maximum power, which will be helpful for future on-site tests on the SIT turbine and other turbines that use similar blade design to save the test time and cost.
Description
Undergraduate Research Forum, 3rd place
Keywords
Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hydrokinetic Energy, Sliding Mesh, Flow Field Analysis