Comprehensive Parametric Study of Blockage Effect on the Performance of Horizontal Axis Hydrokinetic Turbines

Abdulaziz Abutunis and Venkata Gireesh Menta
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Abdulaziz Abutunis: Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
Venkata Gireesh Menta: Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: When a hydrokinetic turbine operates in a confined flow, blockage effects are introduced, altering the flow at and downstream of the rotor. Blockage effects have a significant effect on the loading and performance of turbines. As a result, understanding them is critical for hydrokinetic turbine design and performance prediction. The current study examines the main and interaction effects of solidity ( σ ), tip speed ratio ( TSR ), blockage ratio ( ε ), and pitch angle ( θ ) on how the blockage influences the performance ( C P ) of a three-bladed, untwisted, untapered horizontal axis hydrokinetic turbine. The investigation is based on validated 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD), design of experiments (DOE), and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) approaches. A total number of 36 CFD models were developed and meshed. A total of 108 CFD cases were performed as part of the analysis. Results indicated that the effect of varying θ was only noticeable at the high TSR . Additionally, the rate of increment of C P with respect to ε was found proportional to both TSR and σ . The power and thrust coefficients were affected the most by σ , followed by ε , TSR , and then θ .

Keywords: hydrokinetic turbine; computational fluid dynamics; solidity; blockage; particle image velocimetry (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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