The blade is the key component for energy capture in horizontal axis tidal current turbine, and the blade’s design is directly related to the efficiency of the power generation device. The seawater flow velocity is a crucial parameter for blade design. Since the seawater velocity changes constantly, it is extremely important to determine the design velocity of the blade. This article proposes a calculation method for the design velocity of the blade so that the designed blade can achieve better energy collection efficiency under a variable flow velocity. This study performed the following investigations: (1) The author tested and analyzed the seawater velocity variation at the experimental site, determining the designed flow velocity via calculations; (2) The author combined the blade element momentum and Wilson’s optimization design method using the MATLAB software to calculate the blade shape parameters and predict the performance under a number of different flow velocity forecasts; (3) When testing the device under sea conditions, the experimental results showed that the performance capture devices and digital projections are basically the same, which verifies the validity and effectiveness of the design method.
In this study, a new type of double-pontoon floating breakwater was designed to improve the wave attenuation performance through the addition of suspended Savonius propeller-blade. Its hydrodynamic characteristics were studied through numerical simulations and performance-testing experiment. The following investigations were performed in this study: Firstly, wave theory and hydrodynamic theory were combined to calculate the wave attenuation performance and motion response of double-pontoon floating breakwater under linear wave conditions. The numerical results showed that the wave attenuation performance was better under a specific wave period and height, the transmission coefficient reached a relatively small value, and the mooring line tension responded periodically and satisfied the condition of maximum breaking force. Secondly, three key geometric parameters of breakwater were researched, including the relative spacing of pontoons, the relative spacing between pontoons and blades, and the height–diameter ratio of Savonius blades. The calculation results showed that the pontoon spacing was closer to the wavelength and the breakwater wave attenuation performance was better. Lastly, experimental tests were also performed on the new double-pontoon floating breakwater and the results showed that the wave attenuation performance and numerical projections were basically the same, which verified the validity and effectiveness of the design method.
Aiming at the performance evaluation problem of tidal energy turbines in the application of periodic time-varying flow velocity, with the goal of maximizing the efficiency of energy harvesting in practical applications, an evaluation system combining the characteristics of flow velocity changes in practical applications is proposed. After long-term monitoring of tidal current flow velocity in the applied sea area, the actual measured tidal current periodic flow velocity is divided into several flow velocity segments by using statistical segmentation, and the evaluation flow velocity of each flow velocity segment and its time proportion in the tidal current cycle are obtained. A test device with constant torque regulation is built, and capture power tests of different torque loads are carried out under each evaluation flow rate. After comparison, the maximum captured power at each evaluation flow rate is determined. We calculate the weight based on the time proportion of each evaluation flow velocity and obtain the turbine average power of the tidal cycle, thereby evaluating the overall energy capture performance of the turbine under the periodic time-varying flow velocity. Finally, the application test of the turbine in the actual sea area shows that the thin-walled airfoil turbine is more suitable for the sea area, which is the same as the pool evaluation result. The result shows that the evaluation system is reliable and effective and has significance for guiding practical engineering.
In this paper, the blade solidity of the tidal current turbine was investigated. Based on the blade element momentum theory, different design flow velocities were selected to design two blade types with different solidities. The geometric parameters of the blade were calculated using MATLAB programming, and the performance of two blades was compared in terms of the start-up flow rate, power generation and thrust by test experiment, which showed that the blade with higher solidity has better start-up performance and higher energy capture efficiency at low flow rates. The performance is better than that of the blade with low solidity, but due to the high solidity, the thrust is also high, which should be taken into account when installing the turbine.
Aiming at the breeding environment where the construction of marine pastures requires low wind and waves, a floating breakwater (FB) with a Savonius type (referred to as S type) runner with wave absorption and energy reduction function is studied for wave absorption and energy reduction in aquaculture sea areas. The wave-absorbing and energy-reducing performance of the floating breakwater is studied by the method of combining numerical simulation and experiment. Using Star-CCM+ numerical simulation software, based on linear wave theory and energy conservation law, using overlapping grid technology, calling DFBI model, second-order time discretization, a three-dimensional flow field model of the floating breakwater was established and numerically simulated. At the same time, a floating breakwater physical test system was developed for experimental verification, the transmission wave and the conversion power consumption of the S-shaped runner under different wave heights and different periods were measured, and the results Please carefully check the accuracy of names and affiliations. of numerical simulation and physical experiments were comprehensively evaluated. The research results show that the floating breakwater based on the S-shaped runner has the functions of reducing the wave height and reducing the wave energy, which have guiding significance for practical engineering.
Due to the limitations of farming space, fish cage aquaculture is gradually expanding into offshore deep-sea areas, where the environmental conditions surrounding deep-sea fish cages are more complex and harsher compared to those in shallower offshore locations. Conventional multi-point moored gravity flexible fish cages are prone to damage in the more hostile environments of the deep sea. In this paper, we present a design for a single-point mooring vessel-shaped fish cage that can quickly adjust its bow direction when subjected to waves from various angles. This design ensures that the floating frame consistently responds effectively to wave impacts, thereby reducing the wave forces experienced. The dynamic response of the floating frame and the mooring forces were simulated by coupling the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method with the Moordyn numerical model for mooring analysis. The three degrees of freedom (heave, surge, and pitch) and the mooring forces of a scaled-down vessel-type ship cage model under wave conditions were investigated both numerically and experimentally. The results indicate that the error between the simulation data and the experimental results is maintained within 6%. Building on this foundation, the motion response and mooring force of a full-sized ship-shaped net box under wave conditions off the southeast coast of China were simulated. This study examined the effects of varying mooring lengths and buoy configurations on the motion response and mooring force of the fish cage. Finally, we constructed the fish cage and tested it under the influence of a typhoon. The results demonstrate that the fish cage could operate stably without structural damage, such as mooring failure or floating frame breakage, despite the significant deformation of the floating frame.