Unsteady Fluid Dynamics of Tidal Stream Turbines

潮流能源提供了一种基本上未被开发的可再生能源，其好处是能源供应一天24小时可预测。如果英国广阔的潮汐范围资源能够被利用，潮汐能有可能在该国能源结构的脱碳方面发挥重要作用，并帮助该国实现雄心勃勃的2050年温室气体减排目标。作为潮汐技术的世界领先者，对国内潮汐基础设施的投资以及向其他国家输出技术和专业知识的潜力为英国带来了巨大的经济机会。然而，尽管潮汐能具有可预测性，但与一些可再生能源相比，潮汐能承担着更高的经济和环境成本，因为该技术必须在非常恶劣的环境中运行，波浪和湍流在涡轮机上产生大量非恒定负荷，导致装置过早故障，并在设计阶段过于保守。该项目将与工业界和学术界合作，重点研究计算流体动力学(CFD)建模以及实验室规模的涡轮机实验，以了解非恒定流如何波浪和湍流发展了非稳定的转子载荷，以及如何将这种载荷结合到工程设计工具中。在开发更准确的转子动力学计算模型时，可以优化涡轮机设计，从而降低现场故障发生率，并潜在地降低用户的统一电力成本(LCOE)。该项目主要属于EPSRC能源研究领域，然而，由于其涉及流体力学和可再生能源的多学科性质，也与工程主题有显著重叠。就其核心而言，该项目的目标与EPSRC的几个关键战略目标保持一致，即在减少对进口化石燃料的依赖的同时实现英国的能源安全和效率；确保支撑英国经济的可靠能源基础设施；以及引入下一代创新和颠覆性技术，这些技术提供负担得起的能源，并限制对稀缺的自然资源和环境的影响。该项目是在EPSRC资助的风能和海洋能源系统与结构博士培训中心(WAMESS CDT)的背景下进行的，该中心是斯特拉斯克莱德大学、牛津大学和爱丁堡大学的合作伙伴。

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.