A computational hydrodynamics method for horizontal axis turbine – Panel method modeling migration from propulsion to turbine energy

A computational hydrodynamics method was formulated and implemented for horizontal axis tidal turbines. This paper presents a comparative analysis between screw propellers and horizontal axis turbines, in terms of geometry and motion parameters, inflow velocity analysis and the implementation methodologies. Comparison and analysis are given for a marine propeller model and a horizontal axis turbine model that have experimental measurements available in literature. Analysis and comparison are presented in terms of thrust coefficients, shaft torque/power coefficients, blade surface pressure distributions, and downstream velocity profiles. The effect of number of blades from 2 to 5, of a tidal turbine on hydrodynamic efficiency is also obtained and presented. The key implementation techniques and methodologies are provided in detail for the propeller based panel method tool to migrate as a prediction tool for tidal turbine. While the method has been proven to be accurate and robust for many propellers tested in the past, this numerical tool could be validated further for turbines. To further refine and validate the panel method for various turbines, it requires substantial additional experimental measurements. These measurements include downstream velocity profile by using LDV and/or SPIV, which are essential for numerical wake vortices descritization.