Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

VanZwieten, James H.

Thesis/Dissertation Co-Chair

Dhanak, Manhar R.

Abstract

An Ocean Current Turbine (OCT) numerical simulation for creating, testing and tuning flight and power takeoff controllers, as well as for farm layout optimization is presented. This simulation utilizes a novel approach for analytically describing oceanic turbulence. This approach has been integrated into a previously developed turbine simulation that uses unsteady Blade Element Momentum theory. Using this, the dynamical response and power production of a single OCT operating in ambient turbulence is quantified. An approach for integrating wake effects into this single device numerical simulation is presented for predicting OCT performance within a farm. To accomplish this, far wake characteristics behind a turbine are numerically described using analytic expressions derived from wind turbine wake models. These expressions are tuned to match OCT wake characteristics calculated from CFD analyses and experimental data. Turbine wake is characterized in terms of increased turbulence intensities and decreased mean wake velocities. These parameters are calculated based on the performance of the upstream OCT and integrated into the environmental models used by downstream OCT. Simulation results are presented that quantify the effects of wakes on downstream turbine performance over a wide range of relative downstream and cross stream locations for both moored and bottom mounted turbine systems. This is done to enable the development and testing of flight and power takeoff controllers designed for maximizing energy production and reduce turbine loadings.

Extent

149 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004737

Format

pdf

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