Marine turbine model (vertical slice)

A finite-element CFD simulation of Marine Current Turbine Ltd's Seaflow marine turbine (the small white cylinder just off-centre), in a tidal channel 1km long and 80m deep.
The flow accelerates to 4m/s and runs for approximately 1 1/2 hours.

The strong effect of bottom drag can be seen from the blue (slow moving flow) to the top (sea surface, faster flow).

Also note the ripples in the flow beneath the turbine -- this indicates possible scouring of the sea bed, which raises environmental issues.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• marine
• turbine
• renewable
• energy
• computational
• fluid
• dynamics