University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Comparison of inflow and outflow radial air turbines in vented and bidirectional OWC wave energy converters

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 05:33 authored by Ansarifard, N, Alan FlemingAlan Fleming, Alan HendersonAlan Henderson, Kianejad, SS, Shuhong ChaiShuhong Chai, Orphin, J
This study analyses the aerodynamic performance of two unidirectional-radial-air-turbine configurations; inflow and outflow. These turbines were studied as the Power-Take-Off unit for application on a vented-OWC and a conventional-bidirectional-OWC with a twin-turbine topology, forming four different turbine-OWC configurations. These configurations were evaluated in terms of full-scale power extraction using extrapolated hydrodynamic experimental data of irregular waves for a King Island test site. The power extraction capacity was evaluated by defining a lower and upper bound of power generation under fixed and controlled-RPM schemes and the energy produced in each configuration was then compared against a state-of-the-art twin-rotor turbine. It was found that the difference between these power extraction bounds was lower in case of the outflow turbine, which shows this turbine is less sensitive to RPM variations than the inflow turbine. In addition, due to its lower resistance to the flow in direct mode, the outflow turbine has a smaller full-scale size than the inflow turbine. It was concluded that the outflow turbine provides better efficiency in a twin-turbine-OWC system, while the inflow turbine yields higher conversion efficiency in a vented-OWC system. The vented OWC equipped with a radial inflow turbine can obtain comparable power to the bidirectional OWC system.

History

Publication title

Energy

Volume

182

Pagination

159-176

ISSN

0360-5442

Department/School

Australian Maritime College

Publisher

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd

Place of publication

The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England, Ox5 1Gb

Rights statement

Copyright 2019 Elsevier Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC