IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v255y2025ics0960148125012005.html

High-performance cycloidal turbine for river current energy converter: Hydrodynamic design and analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Yijie
  • Li, Ang
  • Jensen, C. Greg
  • Zhang, Henry H.
  • Chen, Jun

Abstract

The low/zero head river current energy converter represents an attractive way of producing electricity for rural areas with nearby rivers and a shift towards reliable no-dam technology. This work presents a new design of a low/zero head river current energy converter. Different from the traditional fixed-pitch turbines that operate at angles of attack that either prevent power extraction or stall the blade during a portion of their revolution, the horizontally deployed pitch adjustable turbine (cycloidal cross-flow turbine) features varying blade pitch throughout each revolution to maximize the energy harvest. The optimal hydrodynamic design of this concept is explored by adopting an optimization routine for determining the pitching scheme and running hydrodynamic analysis via CFD in a domain with two sets of sliding interfaces. Simulations of both a one-section turbine and a three-section turbine yield similar averaged values of power coefficient of about 0.49, significantly higher than other turbine designs. The three-section turbine produces less oscillatory load transmitted to the turbine structure and benefits from enlarging the turbine lifespan in long-term operations. For the current three-section design, an optimal Tip-Speed Ratio is recommended as the design condition. Increased turbulence level of the river current results in decreased turbine efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yijie & Li, Ang & Jensen, C. Greg & Zhang, Henry H. & Chen, Jun, 2025. "High-performance cycloidal turbine for river current energy converter: Hydrodynamic design and analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:255:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125012005
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123538
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125012005
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.123538?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khan, M.J. & Bhuyan, G. & Iqbal, M.T. & Quaicoe, J.E., 2009. "Hydrokinetic energy conversion systems and assessment of horizontal and vertical axis turbines for river and tidal applications: A technology status review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(10), pages 1823-1835, October.
    2. Vermaak, Herman Jacobus & Kusakana, Kanzumba & Koko, Sandile Philip, 2014. "Status of micro-hydrokinetic river technology in rural applications: A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 625-633.
    3. Yuce, M. Ishak & Muratoglu, Abdullah, 2015. "Hydrokinetic energy conversion systems: A technology status review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 72-82.
    4. Ding, Lin & Zhang, Li & Bernitsas, Michael M. & Chang, Che-Chun, 2016. "Numerical simulation and experimental validation for energy harvesting of single-cylinder VIVACE converter with passive turbulence control," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1246-1259.
    5. Khan, M.J. & Iqbal, M.T. & Quaicoe, J.E., 2008. "River current energy conversion systems: Progress, prospects and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(8), pages 2177-2193, October.
    6. Chowdhury, Abdullah Mobin & Akimoto, Hiromichi & Hara, Yutaka, 2016. "Comparative CFD analysis of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine in upright and tilted configuration," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 327-337.
    7. Kinsey, T. & Dumas, G. & Lalande, G. & Ruel, J. & Méhut, A. & Viarouge, P. & Lemay, J. & Jean, Y., 2011. "Prototype testing of a hydrokinetic turbine based on oscillating hydrofoils," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1710-1718.
    8. Xu, Zhongyun & Chen, Jian & Li, Chun, 2023. "Research on the adaptability of dynamic pitch control strategies on H-type VAWT close-range arrays by simulation study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kumar, Dinesh & Sarkar, Shibayan, 2016. "A review on the technology, performance, design optimization, reliability, techno-economics and environmental impacts of hydrokinetic energy conversion systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 796-813.
    2. Elbatran, A.H. & Ahmed, Yasser M. & Shehata, Ahmed S., 2017. "Performance study of ducted nozzle Savonius water turbine, comparison with conventional Savonius turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 566-584.
    3. Montoya Ramírez, Rubén D. & Cuervo, Felipe Isaza & Monsalve Rico, César Antonio, 2016. "Technical and financial valuation of hydrokinetic power in the discharge channels of large hydropower plants in Colombia: A case study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 136-147.
    4. Khani, Mohammad Sadegh & Shahsavani, Younes & Mehraein, Mojtaba & Soleimani Rad, Mohammad Hossein & Nikbakhsh, Amir Abbas, 2024. "Evaluation of the performance of the Savonius hydrokinetic turbines in the straight and curved channels using advanced machine learning methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    5. Niebuhr, C.M. & van Dijk, M. & Neary, V.S. & Bhagwan, J.N., 2019. "A review of hydrokinetic turbines and enhancement techniques for canal installations: Technology, applicability and potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Ridgill, Michael & Neill, Simon P. & Lewis, Matt J. & Robins, Peter E. & Patil, Sopan D., 2021. "Global riverine theoretical hydrokinetic resource assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 654-665.
    7. Kumar, Anuj & Saini, R.P., 2016. "Performance parameters of Savonius type hydrokinetic turbine – A Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 289-310.
    8. Zhu, Hongjun & Zhao, Ying & Zhou, Tongming, 2018. "CFD analysis of energy harvesting from flow induced vibration of a circular cylinder with an attached free-to-rotate pentagram impeller," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 304-321.
    9. Kumar, Anuj & Saini, R.P., 2017. "Performance analysis of a Savonius hydrokinetic turbine having twisted blades," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 502-522.
    10. Bilgili, Mehmet & Bilirgen, Harun & Ozbek, Arif & Ekinci, Firat & Demirdelen, Tugce, 2018. "The role of hydropower installations for sustainable energy development in Turkey and the world," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 755-764.
    11. Zdankus, Narimantas & Punys, Petras & Zdankus, Tadas, 2014. "Conversion of lowland river flow kinetic energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 121-130.
    12. Zitti, Gianluca & Fattore, Fernando & Brunori, Alessandro & Brunori, Bruno & Brocchini, Maurizio, 2020. "Efficiency evaluation of a ductless Archimedes turbine: Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 867-879.
    13. Talukdar, Parag K. & Kulkarni, Vinayak & Saha, Ujjwal K., 2018. "Field-testing of model helical-bladed hydrokinetic turbines for small-scale power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 158-167.
    14. Lo, Jonathan C.C. & Thompson, Mark C. & Hourigan, Kerry & Zhao, Jisheng, 2024. "Order of magnitude increase in power from flow-induced vibrations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    15. Vermaak, Herman Jacobus & Kusakana, Kanzumba & Koko, Sandile Philip, 2014. "Status of micro-hydrokinetic river technology in rural applications: A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 625-633.
    16. Hammar, Linus & Ehnberg, Jimmy & Mavume, Alberto & Francisco, Francisco & Molander, Sverker, 2012. "Simplified site-screening method for micro tidal current turbines applied in Mozambique," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 414-422.
    17. Mansoor Ahmed Zaib & Arbaz Waqar & Shoukat Abbas & Saeed Badshah & Sajjad Ahmad & Muhammad Amjad & Seyed Saeid Rahimian Koloor & Mohamed Eldessouki, 2022. "Effect of Blade Diameter on the Performance of Horizontal-Axis Ocean Current Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-13, July.
    18. Li, Ningyu & Park, Hongrae & Sun, Hai & Bernitsas, Michael M., 2022. "Hydrokinetic energy conversion using flow induced oscillations of single-cylinder with large passive turbulence control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    19. John, Bony & Varghese, James, 2021. "Sizing and techno-economic analysis of hydrokinetic turbine based standalone hybrid energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    20. Gbalimene Richard Ileberi & Pu Li, 2023. "Integrating Hydrokinetic Energy into Hybrid Renewable Energy System: Optimal Design and Comparative Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-28, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:255:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125012005. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.