The performance of ocean current turbine arrays operating in a shear flow*

We use numerical simulations and reduced order wake interaction models to describe the performance of an array of ocean current turbines (OCTs) operating in a spatially nonuniform inlet flow field. In particular, we are interested in linear shear profiles of varying strengths and reminiscent of conditions found in the Gulf Stream. An analytical model proposed by [1] for turbines operating in arbitrary velocity profiles is extended here to the case of multiple devices, accounting properly for the wake interaction effects. The predictions from the resulting model are compared with RANS numerical simulations performed using the STAR-CCM software. In the simulations, the turbines are represented as porous disks through an Actuator Disk model (ADM), while the turbulence is modeled using the k-omega turbulence closure. A parametric variation across different non-dimensional shear rates and turbine induction factors was also carried out. The results from this study can be generalized to wind turbine farms and airborne, tethered wind energy systems.

¹ L.P. Chamorro, and R.E.A. Arndt, Wind Energy, 16, 279-282 (2013)