EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF AXIAL-FLOW HYDRODYNAMIC POWER TURBINE

Abstract

Thorough analysis of drag and power characteristics of hydrodynamic power turbines is necessary for the efficient extraction of energy available at sea. In an effort to obtain these characteristics for a three-bladed, axial-flow hydroturbine, used to provide electric power on small sailing vessels, a load cell and voltage measuring system was installed on a carriage in a towing tank for analysis across a speed range of 0.5 to 1.8 m/s. A high-speed camera was used to determine the precise carriage speed and the rotational speed of the turbine rotor. For validation of concept, two thin flat plates were analyzed using the same drag force measuring system in the tow tank to compare experimentally determined drag coefficients with known literature values. Results are shown for the drag force experienced by the flat plates and both the non-rotating and the rotating turbine configurations. Additional results are shown for the turbines power generation capabilities at rotational speeds between 90 and 500 RPMs. Using computational fluid dynamics for the rectangular flat plate and non-rotational turbine configuration, the experimental and computational results for the drag force characteristics were compared.