IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v36y2011i11p3013-3022.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tests on ducted and bare helical and straight blade Darrieus hydrokinetic turbines

Author

Listed:
  • Kirke, B.K.

Abstract

Despite much optimistic language on commercial websites, little data is available on actual performance of hydrokinetic turbines. This paper summarises the findings of a series of tests on several Darrieus type cross flow hydrokinetic turbines (HKTs). Although this type of hydrokinetic turbine (HKT) has some advantages over axial flow turbines, fixed pitch Darrieus HKTs also have some drawbacks, including inability to self-start under load, low efficiency and shaking. Variable pitch has been suggested to increase starting torque and efficiency, ducts to increase power output and helical blades to produce smooth torque. To assess each of these modifications, tests were conducted in Australia and Canada on HKTs with fixed and variable pitch straight blades, fixed helical blades, with and without a slatted diffuser, by mounting each turbine in front of a barge and motoring through still water at speeds ranging from less than 1 m/s up to 5 m/s. The diffuser increased the power output by a factor of 3 in one configuration but considerably less in others. A reason for this finding is suggested. The maximum coefficient of performance Cp of the fixed pitch straight blade and helical turbines without a diffuser ranged from about 0.25 at 1.5 m/s down to less than 0.1 at 5 m/s, while Cp for those with a diffuser ranged from about 0.45 down to about 0.3. Fixed blade turbines, both straight and helical, exhibited low starting torque, while variable pitch turbines started easily. Considerable differences in Cp were observed for the same turbine configuration at different speeds. The turbine with fixed pitch, straight blades was found to shake violently due to cyclical hydrodynamic forces on blades, while the helical and variable pitch turbines did not shake excessively. These findings suggest that variable pitch cross flow HKTs should be further investigated.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirke, B.K., 2011. "Tests on ducted and bare helical and straight blade Darrieus hydrokinetic turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 3013-3022.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:11:p:3013-3022
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2011.03.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148111001637
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2011.03.036?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirke, B.K. & Lazauskas, L., 2011. "Limitations of fixed pitch Darrieus hydrokinetic turbines and the challenge of variable pitch," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 893-897.
    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. Hand, Brian & Kelly, Ger & Cashman, Andrew, 2021. "Aerodynamic design and performance parameters of a lift-type vertical axis wind turbine: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Chen, J. & Yang, H.X. & Liu, C.P. & Lau, C.H. & Lo, M., 2013. "A novel vertical axis water turbine for power generation from water pipelines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 184-193.
    3. Goude, Anders & Bülow, Fredrik, 2013. "Robust VAWT control system evaluation by coupled aerodynamic and electrical simulations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 193-201.
    4. Pierre-Luc Delafin & François Deniset & Jacques André Astolfi & Frédéric Hauville, 2021. "Performance Improvement of a Darrieus Tidal Turbine with Active Variable Pitch," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Gorle, J.M.R. & Chatellier, L. & Pons, F. & Ba, M., 2019. "Modulated circulation control around the blades of a vertical axis hydrokinetic turbine for flow control and improved performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 363-377.
    6. 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.
    7. Goude, Anders & Bülow, Fredrik, 2013. "Aerodynamic and electrical evaluation of a VAWT farm control system with passive rectifiers and mutual DC-bus," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 284-292.
    8. Yosry, Ahmed Gharib & Álvarez, Eduardo Álvarez & Valdés, Rodolfo Espina & Pandal, Adrián & Marigorta, Eduardo Blanco, 2023. "Experimental and multiphase modeling of small vertical-axis hydrokinetic turbine with free-surface variations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 788-801.
    9. Khaoula Ghefiri & Aitor J. Garrido & Eugen Rusu & Soufiene Bouallègue & Joseph Haggège & Izaskun Garrido, 2018. "Fuzzy Supervision Based-Pitch Angle Control of a Tidal Stream Generator for a Disturbed Tidal Input," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-21, November.
    10. Zeiner-Gundersen, Dag Herman, 2014. "A vertical axis hydrodynamic turbine with flexible foils, passive pitching, and low tip speed ratio achieves near constant RPM," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 297-304.
    11. Jain, Palash & Abhishek, A., 2016. "Performance prediction and fundamental understanding of small scale vertical axis wind turbine with variable amplitude blade pitching," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 97-113.
    12. Toja-Silva, Francisco & Colmenar-Santos, Antonio & Castro-Gil, Manuel, 2013. "Urban wind energy exploitation systems: Behaviour under multidirectional flow conditions—Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 364-378.
    13. Davila-Vilchis, J.M. & Mishra, R.S., 2014. "Performance of a hydrokinetic energy system using an axial-flux permanent magnet generator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 631-638.
    14. Guanghao Li & Guoying Wu & Lei Tan & Honggang Fan, 2023. "A Review: Design and Optimization Approaches of the Darrieus Water Turbine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-28, July.
    15. Yutaka Hara & Ayato Miyashita & Shigeo Yoshida, 2023. "Numerical Simulation of the Effects of Blade–Arm Connection Gap on Vertical–Axis Wind Turbine Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-15, October.
    16. Eduard Dyachuk & Anders Goude, 2015. "Simulating Dynamic Stall Effects for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Applying a Double Multiple Streamtube Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, February.
    17. 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.
    18. Khaoula Ghefiri & Soufiene Bouallègue & Izaskun Garrido & Aitor J. Garrido & Joseph Haggège, 2017. "Complementary Power Control for Doubly Fed Induction Generator-Based Tidal Stream Turbine Generation Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-23, June.
    19. Zeiner-Gundersen, Dag Herman, 2015. "A novel flexible foil vertical axis turbine for river, ocean, and tidal applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 60-66.
    20. Behrouzi, Fatemeh & Nakisa, Mehdi & Maimun, Adi & Ahmed, Yasser M., 2016. "Global renewable energy and its potential in Malaysia: A review of Hydrokinetic turbine technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1270-1281.

    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:36:y:2011:i:11:p:3013-3022. 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.