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The influence of a narrow channel on the performance of an oscillating hydrofoil power generator

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  • He, Guanghua
  • Yang, Changhao
  • Yang, Hao
  • Ghassemi, Hassan
  • Bu, Lingwei

Abstract

Surrounding constraints strongly affect the energy harvesting efficiency of oscillating hydrofoil power generators. In this study, the energy harvesting efficiency of an oscillating hydrofoil is numerically investigated under the constraint of two thin plates symmetrically placed. Three confinement levels are considered, with the vertical distance between the hydrofoil and the plate being 1.25c, 1.5c, and 3c (c is the chord length of the hydrofoil). The study is conducted by varying the horizontal length of the upstream and downstream plates from 0 to 10c. The results indicate that the ground effect of hydrofoils primarily occurs in the case of the hydrofoil closing to the downstream plate. The energy harvesting efficiency decreases significantly as the distance from the plate to the hydrofoil decreases. The reduction in the distance between two plates increases the blockage effect, which leads to a decrease in the inflow velocity and extracted power from the stream. The energy harvesting efficiency is more sensitive to the downstream plate length at low channel heights. More importantly, as the downstream plate length increases, the upstream flow velocity gradually decreases, suggesting that downstream constraints are the main factor affecting the energy harvesting efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Guanghua & Yang, Changhao & Yang, Hao & Ghassemi, Hassan & Bu, Lingwei, 2026. "The influence of a narrow channel on the performance of an oscillating hydrofoil power generator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PF).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pf:s0960148125020208
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124356
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    References listed on IDEAS

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