LAPSE:2023.35791
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.35791
CFD Investigation of a Hybrid Wells Turbine with Passive Flow Control
Mohammad Nasim Uddin, Michael Atkinson, Frimpong Opoku
May 23, 2023
In the past decade, there has been renewed interest in wave energy harvesting utilizing oscillating water columns (OWC), one of the most well-studied wave energy harnessing technologies. In the OWC, pneumatic power from ocean waves is converted to mechanical energy by Wells turbines. It should be noted, however, that such turbines tend to perform poorly, have a limited operating range, and have low efficiency. In the present study, we incorporate a rectangular Gurney flap (GF) at the trailing edge (TE) of a Wells turbine consisting of hybrid airfoil (NACA 0015 and NACA 0025) blades with variable chord distribution along the span. This passive flow control mechanism was adopted to achieve increased power production by the Wells turbine. This study aimed to determine the aerodynamic performance of the variable chord turbine with GF compared to a turbine with a constant chord. By using ANSYS™ CFX, the three-dimensional, steady-state, incompressible Reynolds averaged Navier−Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the k-ω SST turbulence model are solved. The performance was evaluated through the use of non-dimensional coefficients of torque, pressure drop, and efficiency. In addition, the numerical accuracy was achieved through a grid independence study. There was a good agreement between the computed results and the available experimental and numerical data. The GF increased the torque coefficient by 18.6% and 47.3% but with the expense of peak efficiency of 8.5% and 7.4% for the baseline and the hybrid turbine, respectively. Additionally, the hybrid turbine with GF delayed the onset of the stall by ~3° angle of attack (AOA).
Keywords
blade stall, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Gurney flap, RANS, turbulence, Wave Energy, Wells turbine
Suggested Citation
Uddin MN, Atkinson M, Opoku F. CFD Investigation of a Hybrid Wells Turbine with Passive Flow Control. (2023). LAPSE:2023.35791
Author Affiliations
Uddin MN: Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA [ORCID]
Atkinson M: Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Opoku F: Senior Structural Engineer, Collins Aerospace, 190 Oak Plaza Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27105, USA
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
16
Issue
9
First Page
3851
Year
2023
Publication Date
2023-04-30
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: en16093851, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.35791
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doi:10.3390/en16093851
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May 23, 2023
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CC BY 4.0
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May 23, 2023
 
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Calvin Tsay
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