Numerical performance analysis of acoustic Doppler velocity profilers in the wake of an axial-flow marine hydrokinetic turbine

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · International Journal of Marine Energy, 11:50-70

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijome.2015.05.004· OSTI ID:1184950

Richmond, Marshall C.; Harding, Samuel F.; Romero Gomez, Pedro DJ

The use of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) for the characterization of flow conditions in the vicinity of both experimental and full scale marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbines is becoming increasingly prevalent. The computation of a three dimensional velocity measurement from divergent acoustic beams requires the assumption that the flow conditions are homogeneous between all beams at a particular axial distance from the instrument. In the near wake of MHK devices, the mean fluid motion is observed to be highly spatially dependent as a result of torque generation and energy extraction. This paper examines the performance of ADCP measurements in such scenarios through the modelling of a virtual ADCP (VADCP) instrument in the velocity field in the wake of an MHK turbine resolved using unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This is achieved by sampling the CFD velocity field at equivalent locations to the sample bins of an ADCP and performing the coordinate transformation from beam coordinates to instrument coordinates and finally to global coordinates. The error in the mean velocity calculated by the VADCP relative to the reference velocity along the instrument axis is calculated for a range of instrument locations and orientations. The stream-wise velocity deficit and tangential swirl velocity caused by the rotor rotation lead to significant misrepresentation of the true flow velocity profiles by the VADCP, with the most significant errors in the transverse (cross-flow) velocity direction.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1184950
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-105604; WC0100000
• Journal Information: International Journal of Marine Energy, 11:50-70, Journal Name: International Journal of Marine Energy, 11:50-70
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)
MHK
Marine Hydro-kinetic Turbine
Non-homogeneous Velocity
renewable energy