Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine

Malaysia’s rivers and ocean energy can be the best resource for green marine renewable energy. The generation of electricity by the burning of fossil fuels are expensive and produce undesirable greenhouse gases. Malaysia’s sea has average speed of 1 m/s, which is twice less than the minimum speed th...

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Main Author: Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102366/1/AtefSalemMeftahPSKM2020.pdf
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spelling my-utm-ep.1023662023-08-28T06:13:48Z Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine 2020 Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Malaysia’s rivers and ocean energy can be the best resource for green marine renewable energy. The generation of electricity by the burning of fossil fuels are expensive and produce undesirable greenhouse gases. Malaysia’s sea has average speed of 1 m/s, which is twice less than the minimum speed that can operate the conventional turbines. Low-Speed Vertical Axis Turbine (LS-VACT) as a drag device represents a promising technology to exploit marine currents. It can be applied to harness current energy in rivers, coastal area and ocean due to their relative simplicity with reduced installation and maintenance costs. The purpose of this research is to investigate performance of the turbine and the influence of added mass, damping and arm-length to its performance at low current velocities. To achieve that, numerical simulation was conducted using MATLAB program by utilizing the hydrodynamic coefficients and derivatives of the hydrodynamic forces and moments acting on the turbine buckets. The simulation program was validated through the experiments of the LS-VACT. This developed simulation program can be used as a fast and useful tool to achieve design improvements for this turbine at several speeds and various loads. This computer programming can match and integrate the full-scale turbine to a suitable generator with different powers and loads efficiently. The simulation results showed that the performance of LS-VACT agreed within 10% with the experiment results and having the same trend at various flow speeds. A parametric study was performed to analyse the effects of added mass and arm-length at several current speeds. LS-VACT has the highest power coefficient of 0.196 at 0.32 m/s. Also, the peak power (8.6W) and the maximum torque (19.4N.m) values were recorded at a flow velocity of 0.64 m/s. At low water flow speed of 0.17 m/s and 0.32 m/s, the added mass has a significant influence on the LS-VACT performance. At this condition, the inertia forces were dominant at low Keulegan-Carpenter number (K-C) of 3 to 9. The torque and the power magnitudes of the turbine decreased about 18 % and 52.7% respectively. At K-C number above 10, the boundary layer separated with formation of vortex shedding occur. The drag forces were found to be dominant in this situation. At the current speed of 0.32 m/s and arm-length of 0.27 m, the maximum torque of 10.11 N.m and corresponding power of 1.75 W was achieved. However, further increase of the arm-length results in decreasing torque and power. The dynamic performance of LS-VACT was carried out and it can facilitate improvements in its design at low current speed. 2020 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102366/ http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102366/1/AtefSalemMeftahPSKM2020.pdf application/pdf en public http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:147299 phd doctoral Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering
institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection UTM Institutional Repository
language English
topic TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
spellingShingle TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah
Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
description Malaysia’s rivers and ocean energy can be the best resource for green marine renewable energy. The generation of electricity by the burning of fossil fuels are expensive and produce undesirable greenhouse gases. Malaysia’s sea has average speed of 1 m/s, which is twice less than the minimum speed that can operate the conventional turbines. Low-Speed Vertical Axis Turbine (LS-VACT) as a drag device represents a promising technology to exploit marine currents. It can be applied to harness current energy in rivers, coastal area and ocean due to their relative simplicity with reduced installation and maintenance costs. The purpose of this research is to investigate performance of the turbine and the influence of added mass, damping and arm-length to its performance at low current velocities. To achieve that, numerical simulation was conducted using MATLAB program by utilizing the hydrodynamic coefficients and derivatives of the hydrodynamic forces and moments acting on the turbine buckets. The simulation program was validated through the experiments of the LS-VACT. This developed simulation program can be used as a fast and useful tool to achieve design improvements for this turbine at several speeds and various loads. This computer programming can match and integrate the full-scale turbine to a suitable generator with different powers and loads efficiently. The simulation results showed that the performance of LS-VACT agreed within 10% with the experiment results and having the same trend at various flow speeds. A parametric study was performed to analyse the effects of added mass and arm-length at several current speeds. LS-VACT has the highest power coefficient of 0.196 at 0.32 m/s. Also, the peak power (8.6W) and the maximum torque (19.4N.m) values were recorded at a flow velocity of 0.64 m/s. At low water flow speed of 0.17 m/s and 0.32 m/s, the added mass has a significant influence on the LS-VACT performance. At this condition, the inertia forces were dominant at low Keulegan-Carpenter number (K-C) of 3 to 9. The torque and the power magnitudes of the turbine decreased about 18 % and 52.7% respectively. At K-C number above 10, the boundary layer separated with formation of vortex shedding occur. The drag forces were found to be dominant in this situation. At the current speed of 0.32 m/s and arm-length of 0.27 m, the maximum torque of 10.11 N.m and corresponding power of 1.75 W was achieved. However, further increase of the arm-length results in decreasing torque and power. The dynamic performance of LS-VACT was carried out and it can facilitate improvements in its design at low current speed.
format Thesis
qualification_name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.)
qualification_level Doctorate
author Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah
author_facet Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah
author_sort Soufaljen, Atef Salem Meftah
title Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
title_short Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
title_full Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
title_fullStr Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
title_full_unstemmed Unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
title_sort unsteady hydrodynamic effects on the dynamic performance of low speed vertical axis current turbine
granting_institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering
granting_department Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering
publishDate 2020
url http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102366/1/AtefSalemMeftahPSKM2020.pdf
_version_ 1776100906296672256