INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TIDAL TURBINE WAKES: NUMERICAL STUDY FOR SHALLOW WATER APPLICATION

Abstract

The placement of tidal turbines in a tidal farm is challenging owing to the flow resistance caused by individual devices. To successfully deploy tidal turbines, the wake interaction between devices, often determined by the array's layout and spacing, must be understood. In this study, the impact of array configuration for shallow water application is examined numerically using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This is to propose a suitable array structure for possible implementation in Malaysia. This numerical study uses 15 turbines in a staggered and squared array with two sets of lateral and longitudinal spacing combinations. The horizontal axis tidal turbine (HATT) and vertical axis tidal turbine (VATT) are represented using disc and cylindrical models, respectively. The VATT with staggered setup and greater spacing model demonstrates faster wake recovery (between 10% to 21%), compared to the squared arrangement. This meets the far wake criteria and reduces the chance of wake mixing. It is also suitable for shallow depth implementation.