Using Numerical Analysis to Design and Optimize River Hydrokinetic Turbines’ Capacity Factor to Address Seasonal Velocity Variations

Bahador Shaabani (), Vijay Chatoorgoon and Eric Louis Bibeau ()
Additional contact information
Bahador Shaabani: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, 75 Chancellors Cir, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada
Vijay Chatoorgoon: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, 75 Chancellors Cir, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada
Eric Louis Bibeau: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, 75 Chancellors Cir, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-28

Abstract: Seasonal velocity variations can significantly impact the total energy delivered to microgrids produced by river hydrokinetic turbines. These turbines typically use a diffuser to increase the velocity at the rotor section, adding weight and raising deployment costs. There is a need for practical solutions to improve the capacity factor of such turbines. Our solution involves using multiple turbine rotors that can be interchanged to match seasonal velocity changes, eliminating shrouds to simplify design and reduce costs. This solution requires turbines that are designed to have an easily interchanged rotor, which requires us to limit the rotor to a two-blade design to also lower costs. This approach adjusts the turbine power curve with different two-blade rotor sizes, enhancing the yearly capacity factor. BladeGen ANSYS Workbench is used to design three two-blade rotors for free stream velocities of 1.6, 2.2, and 2.8 m/s. For each turbine rotor, 3D simulation is applied to reduce aerodynamic losses and target a coefficient of performance of about 45%. Mechanical stress analyses assess the displacement and stress of the used composite materials. Numerical results show good agreement with experimental data, with rotor efficiencies ranging from 43% to 45% at a tip speed ratio of 4 and power output between 5.4 and 5.6 kW. Results show that rotor interchangeability significantly enhances the turbine capacity factor, increasing it from 52% to 92% by adapting to river seasonal velocity changes.

Keywords: renewable energy; river hydrokinetic turbine; rotor design; capacity factor; power coefficient; tip speed ratio; computational fluid dynamic; finite element analysis (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: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/477/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/477/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:3:p:477-:d:1572937

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().