Unsteady Fluid Dynamics of Tidal Stream Turbines

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Tidal stream energy offers a largely unexploited renewable energy source with the benefit of predictability of energy supply 24 hours a day. If the UK's vast tidal range resources can be harnessed, tidal power has the potential to play a significant role in the decarbonisation of the country's energy mix and help it meet ambitious 2050 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. As a world leader in tidal technology, there are significant economic opportunities for the UK from investment in domestic tidal infrastructure and the potential to export the technology and expertise to other nations.Yet despite its predictability, tidal stream energy bears a higher economic and environmental cost relative to some of its renewable counterparts as the technology must operate in very harsh environments with waves and turbulence producing large unsteady loads on the turbines, resulting in premature device failure and over-conservatism during the design phase.Working with industrial and academic partners alike, the project will centre on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling as well as laboratory scale turbine experiments to understand how unsteady flows, waves and turbulence develop unsteady rotor loading, and how this loading can be incorporated in engineering design tools. In developing a more accurate computational model of rotor dynamics, turbine designs can be optimised, yielding a lower incidence of in-field failures and a potential reduction in the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for consumers.The project falls primarily within the EPSRC Energy research area, however, owing to its multi-disciplinary nature involving fluid mechanics and renewable energy, there is also significant overlap with the Engineering theme. At its heart, the aims of the project are aligned with several key EPSRC strategic objectives, namely, achieving UK energy security and efficiency whilst reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels; ensuring a reliable energy infrastructure which underpins the UK economy; and introducing the next generation of innovative and disruptive technologies, which provide affordable energy and limit the impact on scarce natural resources and the environment.The project takes place in the context of the EPSRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures (WAMESS CDT), which is a collaboration between the Universities of Strathclyde, Oxford and Edinburgh.