Ocean Physics Group, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2013 Jan 14;371(1985):20120251. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0251. Print 2013 Feb 28.
At tidal energy sites, large arrays of hundreds of turbines will be required to generate economically significant amounts of energy. Owing to wake effects within the array, the placement of turbines within will be vital to capturing the maximum energy from the resource. This study presents preliminary results using Gerris, an adaptive mesh flow solver, to investigate the flow through four different arrays of 15 turbines each. The goal is to optimize the position of turbines within an array in an idealized channel. The turbines are represented as areas of increased bottom friction in an adaptive mesh model so that the flow and power capture in tidally reversing flow through large arrays can be studied. The effect of oscillating tides is studied, with interesting dynamics generated as the tidal current reverses direction, forcing turbulent flow through the array. The energy removed from the flow by each of the four arrays is compared over a tidal cycle. A staggered array is found to extract 54 per cent more energy than a non-staggered array. Furthermore, an array positioned to one side of the channel is found to remove a similar amount of energy compared with an array in the centre of the channel.
在潮汐能发电场，需要数百个大型涡轮机阵列才能产生具有经济意义的大量能源。由于阵列内的尾流效应，涡轮机在阵列内的布置对于从资源中捕获最大能量至关重要。本研究使用 Gerris（一种自适应网格流动求解器）初步研究了通过四个不同的 15 个涡轮机阵列的流动。目的是优化理想通道中阵列内涡轮机的位置。涡轮机在自适应网格模型中表示为增加的底部摩擦区域，以便可以研究潮汐流中通过大型阵列的潮汐反转流中的流动和功率捕获。研究了潮汐的振荡效应，随着潮流方向的反转，有趣的动力学被激发，迫使湍流流过阵列。在一个潮汐周期内，比较了四个阵列从流中去除的能量。交错阵列比非交错阵列多提取 54%的能量。此外，发现位于通道一侧的阵列与位于通道中心的阵列相比，去除的能量相似。
