Performance of different turbulence models in predicting flow kinematics around an open offshore intake

Abstract

Combined predictive modelling approach that couples the 2D far-field model and the 3D near-field computational fluid dynamic model has been developed to compare the performance of different turbulence models in predicting the flow kinematics around an open offshore intake structure. The k–epsilon (k–ε), k–ε renormalized group (RNG), k–omega (k–ω) and large eddy simulation (LES) models are used in this study. The objective is to select an appropriate turbulence model for simulating the flow field around the open offshore intake. The simulated water level and current speed of these turbulence models were compared with the field sampling results obtained at the vicinity of an existing open offshore intake structure located in the Penang Strait of Malaysia. Through the analysis, it can be concluded that the simulated water level for all turbulence models are broadly consistent with the major trend of measured values with k–ε model reporting the best performance. Comparison of the simulated current speed with the field measurements show that the k–ε RNG model fits better than the other models. The analysis reveals that the LES model has slightly lower accuracy in predicting current speed around the existing intake structure.