Thesis
Design of horizontal axis tidal turbines for less energetic currents
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2024
- Thesis identifier
- T16876
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201764454
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Much of the growth in the tidal turbine industry is concentrated in energetic currentsites within current magnitudes exceeding 2m/s. Less energetic sites with U? < 2m/sare not tapped since there is no perceived economic benefit.This thesis explores the benefits of designing higher tip-speed ratio (TSR) rotorsthat operate in less energetic currents with the hypothesis that such rotors are canincrease the viability of tidal turbines in less energetic sites. A parametric blade designmethodology is developed to push the optimal TSR of rotors towards higher values. Theperformance of the blades is simulated using a BEM code with wave-current interaction.The blade designs are then evaluated according to three objectives: power, TSR, andthrust. A general cost model is also developed to evaluate the economic feasibility ofthe resulting blade designs.High-TSR rotors were found to reduce the cost associated with the generator, whichthen drives other cost components of a turbine although this is only significant up toa threshold rotational speed of 50RPM. Higher TSR rotors have better LCOE valuesbut utility scale feasibility is yet to be seen. The lowest LCOE value of the resultingturbine with a high-TSR rotor is at 0.6 EUR/kWh which is still higher than the currentstrike price of current tidal stream energy projects. However, these turbines may stillbe beneficial for off-grid sites that rely on unsustainable diesel-fired generation.While cost is an issue, high-TSR rotors overcome the issues when operating in lessenergetic currents - load variability as result of low magnitude current velocities thatare more susceptible to wave-induced variations. High-TSR rotors lessen the variationin load in addition to reducing the load due to lower torque and thrust loads sincehigh-TSR rotors tend to have low solidity.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Johnstone, Cameron
- Resource Type
- DOI
- Funder
Relations
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PDF of thesis T16876 | 2025-01-13 | Public | Download |
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File | 2024-12-11 | Private |