Simulation of device-scale unsteady turbulent flow in the Fundy Tidal Region

Wilcox, Kevin W.; Zhang, J.T.; McLeod, Ian M.; Gerber, A. G.; Jeans, Tiger L.; McMillan, J.; Hay, Alex E.; Karsten, Richard; Culina, Joel

doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2017.08.050

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…One of the important steps toward harvesting instream tidal energy is resource characterization and assessment, at either the project-design or regional scales. Although significant efforts have been made to assess the maximum potential of tidal stream energy at a system-wide scale using theoretical methods or numerical models [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], the accurate assessment of tidal energy resources at the project-design scale requires detailed tidal hydrodynamic information obtained from intense field measurements [13][14][15] and high-resolution simulations using three-dimensional (3-D) numerical models [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Field measurements can not only provide direct and accurate resource assessment at a specific site but also support model validation and build confidence in the models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

Yang

Wang

Xiao

et al. 2020

JMSE

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Numerical models have been widely used for the resource characterization and assessment of tidal instream energy. The accurate assessment of tidal stream energy resources at a feasibility or project-design scale requires detailed hydrodynamic model simulations or high-quality field measurements. This study applied a three-dimensional finite-volume community ocean model (FVCOM) to simulate the tidal hydrodynamics in the Passamaquoddy–Cobscook Bay archipelago, with a focus on the Western Passage, to assist tidal energy resource assessment. IEC Technical specifications were considered in the model configurations and simulations. The model was calibrated and validated with field measurements. Energy fluxes and power densities along selected cross sections were calculated to evaluate the feasibility of the tidal energy development at several hotspots that feature strong currents. When taking both the high current speed and water depth into account, the model results showed that the Western Passage has great potential for the deployment of tidal energy farms. The maximum extractable power in the Western Passage was estimated using the Garrett and Cummins method. Different criteria and methods recommended by the IEC for resource characterization were evaluated and discussed using a sensitivity analysis of energy extraction for a hypothetical tidal turbine farm in the Western Passage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

Yang

Wang

Xiao

et al. 2020

JMSE

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“…For the most part, field‐scale simulations of large rivers have been performed using 2‐D models by solving the shallow‐water equations (Abderrezzak et al, ; Casulli & Walters, ; Heniche et al, ; Lee et al, ; Yoon & Kang, ) or statistically stationary 3‐D models based on the Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes (RANS) equations (Baranya et al, ; Ge & Sotiropoulos, ; Lu & Wang, ; Nagata et al, ), due to their simplicity and computational expedience. Computational methods for carrying out eddy‐resolving simulations in real‐life rivers have only recently began to appear in the literature (Kang & Sotiropoulos, ; Khosronejad, Le, et al, , Khosronejad, Hansen, et al, ; Wilcox et al, ). Such models, however, have yet to tackle the simulation of MHK devices in real‐life river environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Churchfield et al (2013) are developing a framework for simulating MHK turbine arrays in natural waterways (Churchfield et al, 2013) and have applied it to study the effects of turbulence in the incoming flow on the wake characteristics in an artificial straight channel using LES and actuator disk parameterization. Wilcox et al (2017) performed site-specific detached-eddy simulation (DES) of turbulent flow in the Fundy Tidal Region at field scale to gain insight about the placement of tidal turbines. However, the simulations with turbines was planned for future work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiresolution Large‐Eddy Simulation of an Array of Hydrokinetic Turbines in a Field‐Scale River: The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project in New York City

Chawdhary

Angelidis

Colby

et al. 2018

Water Resources Research

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Marine hydrokinetic (MHK) power generation systems enable harvesting energy from waterways without the need for water impoundment. A major research challenge for numerical simulations of field-scale MHK farms stems from the large disparity in scales between the size of waterway and the energy harvesting device. We propose a large-eddy simulation (LES) framework to perform high-fidelity, multiresolution simulations of MHK arrays in a real-life marine environment using a novel unstructured Cartesian flow solver coupled with a sharp-interface immersed boundary method. The potential of the method as a powerful engineering design tool is demonstrated by applying it to simulate a 30 turbine MHK array under development in the East River in New York City. A virtual model of the MHK power plant is reconstructed from high-resolution bathymetry measurements in the East River and the 30 turbines placed in 10 TriFrame arrangements as designed by Verdant Power. A locally refined, near the individual turbines, background unstructured Cartesian grid enables LES across a range of geometric scales of relevance spanning approximately 5 orders of magnitude. The simulated flow field is compared with a baseline LES of the flow in the East River without turbines. While velocity deficits and increased levels of turbulence kinetic energy are observed in the vicinity of the turbine wakes, away from the turbines as well as on the water surface only a small increase in mean momentum is found. Therefore, our results point to the conclusion that MHK energy harvesting from large rivers is possible without a significant disruption of the river flow.

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Prediction of tidal energy resources at Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat by data mining

Khare,

Bhuiyan

2023

Cleaner Energy Systems

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Simulation of device-scale unsteady turbulent flow in the Fundy Tidal Region

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

Multiresolution Large‐Eddy Simulation of an Array of Hydrokinetic Turbines in a Field‐Scale River: The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project in New York City

Prediction of tidal energy resources at Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat by data mining

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