Physical testing of performance characteristics of a novel drag-driven vertical axis tidal stream turbine; with comparisons to a conventional Savonius

Harries, Tom, Kwan, Alan Shu Ken ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4206-4435, Brammer, James and Falconer, Roger Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5960-2864 2016. Physical testing of performance characteristics of a novel drag-driven vertical axis tidal stream turbine; with comparisons to a conventional Savonius. International Journal of Marine Energy 14 , pp. 215-228. 10.1016/j.ijome.2016.01.008

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Abstract

An experimental study of the performance and optimisation of a prototype novel drag-driven vertical axis tidal stream turbine is presented. The drag turbine has several unique advantages, including simple blade design, deployable in shallow waters and potential denser array spacing. Performance optimisation was conducted in the hydraulics flume at Cardiff University (CU), where the turbine reached Cpmax/λ=0.132/0.441 for its 90⁰ phase angle configuration. The CU turbine was then tested using the wider and deeper hydraulics flume at IFREMER, France. Testing at IFREMER reduced the blockage factor from 17% at CU down to 1%; into the range of unblocked conditions. Testing in an unblocked environment, under similar flow conditions, reduced the peak efficiency of the CU turbine by 43% to Cpmax/λ=0.067/0.346. Finally the CU turbine was compared to the performance of a Savonius turbine. The design of the Savonius was based on a literature review. The CU turbine showed inferior efficiency values compared to the performance of the Savonius. The Savonius reached Cpmax/λ=0.098/0.692 in unblocked conditions, 46% greater than Cpmax of the drag turbine.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Advanced Research Computing @ Cardiff (ARCCA) Engineering
Subjects:	T Technology > TC Hydraulic engineering. Ocean engineering
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2214-1669
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	27 January 2016
Last Modified:	06 May 2023 04:06
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/86412

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