Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance
As the tidal stream energy sector develops, reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) is essential to sustain commercialisation. Modular multi-rotor foundations, with bi-directional turbines, reduce offshore operational complexity through smaller turbine diameters and lift weights, in turn reduc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
2025-06-01
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| Series: | International Marine Energy Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://marineenergyjournal.org/imej/article/view/226 |
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| author | Bryn Townley Weichao Shi Qing Xiao Athanasios Angeloudis Ian Ashton Bevan Wray |
| author_facet | Bryn Townley Weichao Shi Qing Xiao Athanasios Angeloudis Ian Ashton Bevan Wray |
| author_sort | Bryn Townley |
| collection | DOAJ |
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As the tidal stream energy sector develops, reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) is essential to sustain commercialisation. Modular multi-rotor foundations, with bi-directional turbines, reduce offshore operational complexity through smaller turbine diameters and lift weights, in turn reducing the device Operational Expenditure (OpEx). With the introduction of modular, multirotor foundations, the wake-induced impacts that these structures have on turbine performance must be investigated to better estimate energy yield, loading, and fatigue life. This study sets the scene for investigating the relationship between the turbulent wake generated by a modular ballast weighted foundation and 2-bladed Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine (HATT) motivated by the HydroWing multirotor device concept. The presented work aims to determine the broader magnitude and severity of the loads and establish a transparent and well-defined methodology to be followed with further high-fidelity modelling. Initially, a transient RANS Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation environment with a sliding mesh is configured and validated against experimental data. A turbine in freestream isolation is simulated as a benchmark case with the modular foundation sequentially introduced to analyse the impact of the structure. Key findings suggest that operating turbines downstream of the multi-rotor foundation could cause a ≈20% fluctuation in CT loading at a 1.82 Hz frequency resulting in a mean CP reduction of ≈9% over a revolution.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-960c39b8117945efbe4b52252eefb2b2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2631-5548 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Marine Energy Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-960c39b8117945efbe4b52252eefb2b22025-08-20T02:07:32ZengEuropean Wave and Tidal Energy ConferenceInternational Marine Energy Journal2631-55482025-06-018210.36688/imej.8.167-175Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performanceBryn Townley0Weichao Shi1Qing Xiao2Athanasios Angeloudis3Ian Ashton4Bevan WrayIDCORE - Universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde, and ExeterNewcastle UniversityUniversity of StrathclydeUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of Exeter As the tidal stream energy sector develops, reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) is essential to sustain commercialisation. Modular multi-rotor foundations, with bi-directional turbines, reduce offshore operational complexity through smaller turbine diameters and lift weights, in turn reducing the device Operational Expenditure (OpEx). With the introduction of modular, multirotor foundations, the wake-induced impacts that these structures have on turbine performance must be investigated to better estimate energy yield, loading, and fatigue life. This study sets the scene for investigating the relationship between the turbulent wake generated by a modular ballast weighted foundation and 2-bladed Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine (HATT) motivated by the HydroWing multirotor device concept. The presented work aims to determine the broader magnitude and severity of the loads and establish a transparent and well-defined methodology to be followed with further high-fidelity modelling. Initially, a transient RANS Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation environment with a sliding mesh is configured and validated against experimental data. A turbine in freestream isolation is simulated as a benchmark case with the modular foundation sequentially introduced to analyse the impact of the structure. Key findings suggest that operating turbines downstream of the multi-rotor foundation could cause a ≈20% fluctuation in CT loading at a 1.82 Hz frequency resulting in a mean CP reduction of ≈9% over a revolution. https://marineenergyjournal.org/imej/article/view/226Multi-rotorTidalComputational fluid dynamicsRANSTidal TurbineShadowing |
| spellingShingle | Bryn Townley Weichao Shi Qing Xiao Athanasios Angeloudis Ian Ashton Bevan Wray Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance International Marine Energy Journal Multi-rotor Tidal Computational fluid dynamics RANS Tidal Turbine Shadowing |
| title | Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| title_full | Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| title_short | Investigating the impact of multi-rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| title_sort | investigating the impact of multi rotor structure shadowing on tidal stream turbine performance |
| topic | Multi-rotor Tidal Computational fluid dynamics RANS Tidal Turbine Shadowing |
| url | https://marineenergyjournal.org/imej/article/view/226 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bryntownley investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance AT weichaoshi investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance AT qingxiao investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance AT athanasiosangeloudis investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance AT ianashton investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance AT bevanwray investigatingtheimpactofmultirotorstructureshadowingontidalstreamturbineperformance |