Performance analysis of a horizontal axis current turbine blade section with inserted tube

Abstract

Generating more usable power annually from the river and tidal currents is essential to improving cost-effectiveness. Among various alternative options, the performance improvement of the blade foil has been considered in this work. When the fluid over the blade surface loses kinetic energy, flow separation occurs. The lift forces are reduced by flow separation, which finally results in less power production by the horizontal axis current turbine. To extract more power, it is necessary to overcome this flow separation. This paper presents a passive flow control method using tubes at regular intervals on the blade section to improve its performance considering its application on a horizontal axis current turbine. The tube inlet and outlet positions are determined by analyzing the force coefficients, glide ratio, and stall angle for a specific angle of attack. Finally, the performance characteristics are compared between the baseline and the modified hydrofoil. The maximum lift coefficient of the hydrofoil is increased by 15.7%. Also, the maximum glide ratios are considerably increased beyond the stall of the baseline profile. From the numerical results, it can be concluded that tubes inserted at regular intervals on the hydrofoil significantly increase its performance at a higher angle of attack.