Computational Design Analysis of a Hydrokinetic Horizontal Parallel Stream Direct Drive Counter-Rotating Darrieus Turbine System: A Phase One Design Analysis Study

John M. Crooks, Rodward L. Hewlin () and Wesley B. Williams
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John M. Crooks: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science (MEES), University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
Rodward L. Hewlin: Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management (ETCM), University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
Wesley B. Williams: Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management (ETCM), University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 23, 1-25

Abstract: This paper introduces a phase one computational design analysis study of a hydrokinetic horizontal parallel stream direct-drive (no gear box) counter-rotating Darrieus turbine system. This system consists of two Darrieus rotors that are arranged in parallel and horizontal to the water stream and operate in counter-rotation due to the incoming flow. One of the rotors directly drives an armature coil rotor and the other one a permanent magnet generator. A two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation study was conducted to assess the hydrokinetic performance of the design. From a high computational cost and time perspective, the simulation setup was reduced from a 3-D to a 2-D analysis. Although useful information was obtained from the 3-D simulations, the output performance could be assessed with the 2-D simulations without compromising the integrity of the turbine output results. A scaled experimental design prototype was developed for static (non-movement of the rotors with dynamic fluid flow) particle image velocimetry (PIV) studies. The PIV studies were used as a benchmark for validating and verifying the CFD simulations. This paper outlines the prototype development, PIV experimental setup and results, computational simulation setup and results, as well as recommendations for future work that could potentially improve overall performance of the proposed design.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics; darrieus turbine; hydrokinetic horizontal parallel stream; particle image velocimetry; ripple effect (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: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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