Efficiency of Marine Hydropower Farms Consisting of Multiple Vertical Axis Cross-Flow Turbines

Abstract

This study focuses on the Achard turbine, a vertical axis, cross-flow, marine current turbine module. Similar modules can be superposed to form towers. A marine or river hydropower farm consists of a cluster of barges, each gathering several parallel rows of towers, running in stabilized current. Two-dimensional numerical modelling is performed in a horizontal cross-section of all towers, using FLUENT and COMSOL Multiphysics. Numerical models validation with experimental results is performed through the velocity distribution, depicted by Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry, in the wake of the middle turbine within a farm model. As long as the numerical flow in the wake fits the experiments, the numerical results for the power coefficient (turbine efficiency) are trustworthy. The overall farm efficiency, with respect to the spatial arrangement of the towers, was depicted by 2D modelling of the unsteady flow inside the farm, using COMSOL Multiphysics. Rows of overlapping parallel towers ensure the increase of global efficiency of the farm.