Output details

Modelling tidal current turbine wakes using a coupled RANS-BEMT approach as a tool for analysing power capture of arrays of turbines

Significance of output:

Tidal turbines are seen as an attractive means of generating marine renewable energy, estimated at up to 22TWh of the UK’s annual electricity. This level of energy generation requires large arrays of turbines. Practical design of such systems requires detailed understanding of the wake interactions between multiple machines for both directions of the tide. A specifically developed computational analysis is used to identify that turbine induced turbulence makes an essential contribution to their wake development. ‘The computationally efficient approach makes it suitable for use in the design of actual tidal arrays’ Rupert.Raymond@andritz.com, developers of the UK’s first tidal array.