Research on Hydraulic Conversion Technology of Small Ocean Current Turbines for Low-Flow Current Energy Generation

Wenbin Su, Hongbo Wei, Penghua Guo, Qiao Hu, Mengyuan Guo, Yuanjie Zhou, Dayu Zhang, Zhufeng Lei and Chaohui Wang
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Wenbin Su: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Hongbo Wei: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Penghua Guo: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Qiao Hu: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Mengyuan Guo: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yuanjie Zhou: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Dayu Zhang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Zhufeng Lei: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Chaohui Wang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: Ocean energy is a kind of renewable energy contained in seawater, which has the characteristics of large total reserves, sustainable use, and its being green and clean. Influenced by rising oil prices and global climate change, an increasing number of countries are attaching great importance to the strategic position of ocean energy in the future energy sector, and are formulating national ocean energy development roadmaps and conducting research and development on ocean energy technologies. Ocean current energy is a widely existing kind of ocean energy with abundant reserves. However, due to the low current velocity in most of the deep sea, low current energy has not been effectively exploited. In this paper, the Blade element momentum (BEM) theory based on Vortex column theory is used to design a special airfoil for low current energy applications, and a prototype turbine with rotor diameter of 4.46 m and tip speed ratio (TSR) of 6 is fabricated. In order to achieve stable electric power output, this paper designs a hydraulic conversion power generation control system with flexible control, and the hydraulic system working pressure designed to 21 MPa. In this paper, we conducted towing experiments on the prototype of an ocean current energy turbine, with hydraulic transmission and a control power generation system applied to the low flow rate, and achieved the target of hydraulic motor speed in the range of 14.7~15.9 r/min and steady-state speed accuracy in the range of ±1%. The research conducted in this paper can provide a research basis for the efficient exploitation of low-flow ocean current energy.

Keywords: ocean current energy; small ocean current energy turbine; hydraulic energy conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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