Analysis on the performance of current turbine under different sea conditions

Abstract

To study the influence of different sea conditions on the motion response and energy conversion efficiency of the turbine and its carrier platform, a numerical model of the tidal current turbine and platform was established by using advanced quantitative wave analysis. The elements of wind, wave, and current coupling loads were input by programming user-defined function, and the motion and energy conversion efficiency of the turbine under different sea conditions were simulated by the method of moving boundary and moving grid. Results show that under the coupling of wind, wave, and current, the swaying of the turbine and its carrier platform increases significantly, and the energy conversion efficiency shows obvious fluctuation compared with the response of the turbine under the single current load. Moreover, the amplitudes of rolling and pitching are the main factors that affect the energy conversion efficiency of the turbine. The rotating plane motion amplitude of the hydraulic turbine is the main cause of the fluctuation of the energy conversion efficiency. The research results provide a reference basis for improving the performance of tidal current turbines under complex sea conditions.