The transport of suspended sediment in the wake of a marine hydrokinetic turbine: Simulations via a validated Discrete Random Walk (DRW) model
- Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
The interaction of sediment with Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) Turbines is studied via turbulent flow simulation coupled with a model for particle dynamics. The Discrete Random Walk (DRW) model is commonly used for simulations of particle dispersion in environmental flows. A method to improve the accuracy of the DRW model in conjunction with RANS simulations of the flow around MHK turbines is presented. A key issues for the use of the DRW model in marine applications is identified, finding the right characteristic eddy lifetime scale, and a simple methodology based on G.I. Taylor's classical dispersion theory is develop to calibrate this physical model parameter. The model is validated against experiments in the literature and the physics of suspended sediment transport in the wake of an MHK turbine is studied with this improved method. The qualitative changes observed in the particle trajectories agree well with theoretical and empirical observations and the quantitive trends allow for comparison of multiple particle cases under different flow conditions, confirming that this implementation of CFD can become a powerful tool to select the most challenging cases, among the thousands of potential studies on the environmental effects of MHK energy, for further study with experiments and pilot projects.
- Research Organization:
- Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG36-08GO18179
- OSTI ID:
- 1534206
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1416665
- Journal Information:
- Ocean Engineering, Vol. 129; ISSN 0029-8018
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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