Tidal and Ocean Current Energy

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 12972

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite strong growth in energy demand, most of the energy currently available is still mainly from nonrenewable resources. Renewable energy resources (for example, wind, solar or ocean currents, among others) possess an enormous potential owing to they are pollution-free and inexhaustible resource. However, although the technology developments for harnessing energy from the wind and the sun is in its maturity, the technology for harnessing energy from ocean currents is still in its infancy.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish exciting research in support of the development of ocean current energy in order to outline the current state of the art and highlight the emerging trends and challenges in this field, ranging from mathematical modeling to methodological aspects. Both high-quality original research and review papers are thus invited on:

  • Tidal and ocean current technologies;
  • Sensor systems for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Signal processing and power electronics for tidal and ocean current systems;
  • Control and modeling for tidal and ocean current systems;
  • Robotics for tidal and ocean current systems;
  • Industrial informatics for monitoring and controlling tidal and ocean current systems;
  • Risk and reliability models for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Lifecycle assessment for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Technoeconomic modeling for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Production costs for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Energy strategies for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Business modeling for tidal and ocean current applications;
  • Levelized cost of electricity protections for tidal and ocean current applications.

Prof. Dr. Rafael Morales
Prof. Dr. Eva Segura Asensio
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Renewable energy
  • Tidal and ocean current technologies
  • Robotics and control algorithms
  • Signal processing, sensors, and industrial informatics
  • Risk and reliability models
  • Lifecycle assessment and business modeling
  • Technoeconomic modeling
  • Production costs and levelized cost of electricity protections
  • Energy strategies

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 176 KiB  
Editorial
Tidal and Ocean Current Energy
by Rafael Morales and Eva Segura
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(4), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11040683 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1410
Abstract
Renewable energy resources (for example, wind, solar or ocean currents, among others) possess an enormous potential, owing to the fact that they are a pollution-free and inexhaustible resource [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 6627 KiB  
Article
Research on the Hydrodynamic Performance of a Horizontal-Axis Tidal Current Turbine with Symmetrical Airfoil Blades Based on Swept-Back Models
by Yu-Ting Yan, Shi-Ming Xu, Cong Liu, Xiao Zhang, Jian-Mei Chen, Xue-Ming Zhang and Yong-Jun Dong
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(10), 1515; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10101515 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2124
Abstract
For the design of a horizontal-axis tidal current turbine with adaptive variable-pitch blades, both numerical simulations and physical model experiments were used to study the hydrodynamic performance of symmetrical airfoil blades based on backward swept models. According to the lift–drag ratio of symmetrical [...] Read more.
For the design of a horizontal-axis tidal current turbine with adaptive variable-pitch blades, both numerical simulations and physical model experiments were used to study the hydrodynamic performance of symmetrical airfoil blades based on backward swept models. According to the lift–drag ratio of symmetrical airfoils, variable airfoil sections were selected for each part of the blade in the spanwise direction. Then, three kinds of blades were designed by using different swept-back models from wind turbines. A rotation model with a multi-reference frame was employed to conduct a three-dimensional steady numerical simulation of the turbine model based on the CFD method. The axial thrust and energy-capturing efficiency under different tip speed ratios, as well as the corresponding starting torque under different flow rates, were analyzed. The simulation results indicate that model 2 has optimal start-up performance, and model 3 has the largest power coefficient. The thrust coefficient of model 1 is the smallest. In all, model 2 has better comprehensive performance. The experiments of model 2 show that it has suitable hydrodynamic performance to capture bidirectional energy via passively variable pitch. This research provides an important solution for the design and optimization of horizontal-axis turbines to harvest bidirectional tidal current energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)
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15 pages, 5530 KiB  
Article
An Output Power Interval Control Strategy Based on Pseudo-Tip-Speed Ratio and Adaptive Genetic Algorithm for Variable-Pitch Tidal Stream Turbine
by Youming Cai, Mingzhu Li, Tianzhen Wang, Xiaohang Wang and Hubert Razik
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(9), 1197; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10091197 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1716
Abstract
Power extraction has become a critical consideration in tidal stream turbine (TST) systems. In practice, the lumped disturbances under varying tidal current conditions may deteriorate the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance and cumulate fatigue damage over-rated power. Besides, the conventional pitch controllers [...] Read more.
Power extraction has become a critical consideration in tidal stream turbine (TST) systems. In practice, the lumped disturbances under varying tidal current conditions may deteriorate the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance and cumulate fatigue damage over-rated power. Besides, the conventional pitch controllers are sensitive to parameter uncertainties of the nonlinear TST system. In this paper, a novel output power internal control strategy based on pseudo-tip-speed ratio and adaptive genetic algorithm (PTSR-AGA) is proposed to improve the anti-interference ability and reliability. The proposed control scheme consists of two parts. The first part proposes the PTSR method for MPPT to predict the TST’s operating point which contributes reducing the logical errors assigned to swell disturbances. The second part designed an AGA for the optimization of the pitch controller to conduct its angle delay. A reduced pitch control strategy is applied to the preprocessing of the pitch controller to reduce the mechanical wear over the rated power. The comparative simulation results validate the TST system can obtain a higher power efficiency of energy capture and a smoother power output with the proposed control strategies at full range of tidal current speed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)
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20 pages, 7433 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of Tidal Turbine Characteristics Obtained from Field and Laboratory Testing
by Pál Schmitt, Song Fu, Ian Benson, Gavin Lavery, Stephanie Ordoñez-Sanchez, Carwyn Frost, Cameron Johnstone and Louise Kregting
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(9), 1182; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10091182 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2210
Abstract
Experimental testing of physical turbines, often at a smaller scale, is an essential tool for engineers to investigate fundamental design parameters such as power output and efficiency. Despite issues with scaling and blockage which are caused by limitations in size and flow velocity [...] Read more.
Experimental testing of physical turbines, often at a smaller scale, is an essential tool for engineers to investigate fundamental design parameters such as power output and efficiency. Despite issues with scaling and blockage which are caused by limitations in size and flow velocity of the test facilities, experimental tank testing in laboratory environments is often perceived as offering more control and thus trustworthier results than field testing. This paper presents field tests of a tidal turbine, performed using a self-propelled barge in real tidal flow and still water conditions, that are compared to a towing tank test. Factors influencing the performance characteristics, such as the choice of velocity sensor, vessel handling and data processing techniques are investigated in this paper. Direct comparison with test results of the exact same turbine obtained in an experimental test facility further confirms that field testing with robust data analysis capabilities is a viable, time and cost efficient alternative to characterise tidal turbines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)
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27 pages, 6361 KiB  
Article
Principal Parameters Analysis of the Double-Elastic-Constrained Flapping Hydrofoil for Tidal Current Energy Extraction
by Junwei Zhou, Wenhui Yan, Lei Mei, Lixin Cong and Weichao Shi
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(7), 855; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070855 - 23 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1795
Abstract
Taking the rigid NACA0012 airfoil as the object, the key structural parameters of the spring–mass system that govern the dynamics of the double-elastic-constrained flapping hydrofoil are numerically studied in this paper. A two-dimensional numerical model, based on the CFD software FINE/Marine, is established [...] Read more.
Taking the rigid NACA0012 airfoil as the object, the key structural parameters of the spring–mass system that govern the dynamics of the double-elastic-constrained flapping hydrofoil are numerically studied in this paper. A two-dimensional numerical model, based on the CFD software FINE/Marine, is established to investigate the influence of the spring stiffness coefficient, frequency ratio, and damping coefficient on the motion and performance of the flapping hydrofoil. This study demonstrates that when the structural parameters are adequately adjusted, the power factor exceeding 1.0 has been achieved, and the corresponding efficiency is up to 37.8%. Moreover, this system can start and work within a wide range of damping coefficients. However, the hydraulic efficiency and power coefficient are sensitive to the change in damping coefficient, so it is very necessary to design an appropriate power output. Lastly, the most obvious parameter affecting the energy acquisition performance is the spring stiffness coefficients. Frequency ratios in the two directions have little influence on the peak value of the power coefficient, but they will cause the change of damping coefficients of the peak point. The key structural parameters studied in this paper provide a useful guideline for an optimized design of this interesting system through searching for the best performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)
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18 pages, 7398 KiB  
Article
Influence of Swept Blades on the Performance and Hydrodynamic Characteristics of a Bidirectional Horizontal-Axis Tidal Turbine
by Siyuan Liu, Jisheng Zhang, Ke Sun, Yakun Guo and Dawei Guan
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(3), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10030365 - 4 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2434
Abstract
Horizontal-axis tidal turbines (HATTs) have an acknowledged potential to extract a considerable amount of clean renewable energy from ocean tides. Among these, bidirectional HATTs (BHATTs) with bidirectional hydrofoils are thought to have higher economy than general HATTs. To improve the BHATTs, this study [...] Read more.
Horizontal-axis tidal turbines (HATTs) have an acknowledged potential to extract a considerable amount of clean renewable energy from ocean tides. Among these, bidirectional HATTs (BHATTs) with bidirectional hydrofoils are thought to have higher economy than general HATTs. To improve the BHATTs, this study systemically investigated the influence of swept blades on the performance and hydrodynamics of the BHATT. A three-dimensional (3D) numerical model based on OpenFOAM was adopted to simulate a full-scale BHATT. The numerical framework was validated using two well-known experiments, and the mesh convergence was taken into consideration. The results indicate that the forward and backward swept blades have a limited impact on the performance and hydrodynamics of the BHATT. The upstream swept blade leads to a 4.3% decrease in the load on the rotor at design tip speed ratio (TSR) with a 2.0% decrease in the power. The BHATT with a downstream swept blade can produce 3.2% more energy at TSR = 6. Moreover, the swept blades have the opposite effect on the power of the BHATT at TSR = 6 and TSR = 9. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tidal and Ocean Current Energy)
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