Estimating Power Output from a Tidal Current Turbine Farm with First-order Approximation of Hydrodynamic Interaction between Turbines

Abstract

This article presents a numerical approach to estimate power output from a tidal current turbine farm with first-order approximation of hydrodynamic interactions between multiple turbines. An example study is conducted by using this approach to design a tidal current turbine farm in an ideal site with the objective of maximizing the power output of the farm by optimizing the turbine distribution in the site. The results suggest that the maximum power output of a farm can be significantly improved with the utilization of the constructive hydrodynamic interaction between turbines. Limitation of this approach is discussed at the end.

Keywords:

• Linear unsteady foil theory
• Tidal current turbine
• Tidal current turbine farm
• Tidal energy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the following agencies for providing fellowships to Ye Li for conducting this research: the University of British Columbia, National Science and Engineering Research Council, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and International Society of Ocean and Polar Engineers.

Notes

This work was completed when Ye Li was with Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia. Ye Li is now a senior scientist in National Wind Technology Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.