Author(s): Derya Karakaya; Sebnem Elci
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Hydrokinetic energy is often considered a more environmentally sustainable and flexible approach to harnessing power from natural water sources, particularly in areas where traditional hydropower may not be feasible. A vertical-axis hydrokinetic turbine is engineered to capture the kinetic energy in flowing water, such as rivers or tidal currents. In this study, the SC-Darrieus (straight blade) vertical axis water turbine is numerically modeled in 3D with the ANSYS Fluent program. The turbine has a height of 20 cm and a width of 15 cm. The turbine has three blades, and NACA S-1046 symmetrical blade profile is used. The turbine design and computational domain area were drawn in the Autodesk Inventor program. The dynamic mesh method accurately represents the simulation of turbine motion with water flow in areas with moving boundaries. The Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations (SIMPLE) was implemented with a shear stress transfer (SST) k-ω turbulence model. The effects of time-variable flow and constant flow models on simulation results were compared. The coefficient of power (CP) and coefficient of torque (CT) -tip speed ratio (TSR) graphs are obtained according to these two different flow conditions. To determine the effect of unsteadiness in the flow, the pressure distribution, velocity distribution and turbulent kinetic energy distribution of the water flow around the rotor were examined by comparing the results for two flow conditions: under a given hydrograph (unsteady flow) versus under constant flow velocity (steady flow).
Year: 2024