Tide, Wave and Hydro Power
Masood Ebrahimi; Omid Rasooli; Arash Babamiri
Abstract
In the present research, a hydrokinetic turbine is designed, and evaluated technically, economically and environmentally to produce power from low velocity currents. Firstly, the hydraulic characteristics of three existing canals is investigated and the blade profile for the turbine rotor is determined ...
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In the present research, a hydrokinetic turbine is designed, and evaluated technically, economically and environmentally to produce power from low velocity currents. Firstly, the hydraulic characteristics of three existing canals is investigated and the blade profile for the turbine rotor is determined by using the Schmitz's theory and XFOIL software. The geometrical model is then created in the SolidWorks and simulated in the ANSYS Fluent to estimate the power generation capacity. According to the results, a correlation is proposed to estimate the power generation by the turbine in different water velocities. The results are validated with the manufacturers data. The results show that the efficiency of the proposed turbine is almost 90%, the investment payback period is only 3.1 years, with a positive net present value. Environmentally, it shows that for a 1 meter in diameter turbine and water velocity of 1.5 m/s, carbon dioxide will reduce by 0.57 tons per year. The economic and environmental benefits improve greatly at higher water velocities. The results show that the proposed hydrokinetic turbine even by working in low velocity stream can supply electricity demand of rural area near the canals for the long lifespan of the turbine which is more than 25 years.
Tide, Wave and Hydro Power
A. Abazari
Abstract
The combination of offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters has recently been the focus of researchers. Many types of converters have been installed on the offshore platform in the design step, and the performance of these hybrid systems has been investigated. The oscillating water column converter ...
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The combination of offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters has recently been the focus of researchers. Many types of converters have been installed on the offshore platform in the design step, and the performance of these hybrid systems has been investigated. The oscillating water column converter is one of the most favorite and commercialized systems due to its efficiency and low maintenance cost. In the present study, a new design including the array of the oscillating water column in a circular arrangement around the spar-type platform is considered. The coupled governing equations are solved based on the simplified analytical approach through frequency domain analysis. The results show that the increase in the number of energy converters increases the total generated power, and consequently, the converters capture the vibrational energy of the spar platform. Therefore, the dynamic response of the spar decreases in the case with an array of energy converters which is one of the main objects of this hybrid system.