Numerical Investigation of Vertical-Axis Hydrokinetic Turbine on Side-by-Side Configuration

Abstract

Indonesia, a maritime country, has a renewable energy source that has not been utilized to date, which is ocean current energy, with a potential reaching 17.9 GW. Ocean current energy conversion can be harnessed by using a turbine. A turbine farm is one of the solutions that can be applied to harvest energy and utilize the full potential of the energy available. The arrangements of the turbine on a turbine farm become crucial because the wake generated may affect the performance of the turbines. In this study, numerical simulation will be carried out to find the best y/D distance for twin turbine in low-velocity ocean currents. The simulation is carried out using Computational Fluid Dynamics software with different variations of lateral spacing (y/D 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0). The performance of each turbine, such as torque and Cp, is obtained and compared to a single turbine arrangement. At y/D 1.5 peak Cp achieved at 0.45, a 53% increase from single turbine arrangement. Using a twin turbine arrangement may be beneficial in developing ocean current turbine farms in the future.