Actuator Disc Model of a Tidal In-Stream Energy Converter – Voith Hytide?

摘要

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) represents an auxiliary tool for the purpose of supporting the development process in the early stage. Since running a transient simulation using a full-resolution rotor requires a high computing capacity, the need for such a high level of detail has to be scrutinized. Depending on the specific application, less level of detail might lead to the same results within a shorter computing time. To consider just one example, a park simulation of several turbines serves as a positioning assessment resulting in the highest economic reliability. In this case, the focus is being on the realistic depiction of the far wake rather than on the actual flow dynamics at the rotor blades. For the purpose of assessing and analyzing the turbine’s performance in a tenable computing time, an Actuator Disc approach has been implemented into a CFD simulation model in ANSYS CFX by Voith Hydro. The model constitutes a compromise between the numerical full resolution setup (CFD) and the analytical blade element momentum theory (BEM). This article introduces the developed Actuator Disc model in both physical and numerical terms. It deals with the numerical implementation in the CFD simulation code and the subsequent verification of the model with an analytical BEM tool and full resolution CFD simulation.