Reducing risks and costs of in-stream tidal energy using multi-scale computational fluid dynamic simulation

使用多尺度计算流体动力学模拟降低河内潮汐能的风险和成本

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-04704
• 负责人: Jeans, Tiger
• 金额: $ 1.97万
• 依托单位: University of New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=740133
• 关键词: Reducing; risks; costs; stream; tidal

Ocean renewable energy in the form of tides, waves and offshore wind is one of the most abundant, but relatively untapped, renewable energy sources available. Specifically for tidal energy, recent interest has focused on the development of in-stream tidal energy converters that transform kinetic energy from fast flowing tidal steams to electricity. In Canada, 190 potential sites have been identified with sufficient power to meet the annual electricity needs of 30.6 million Canadian households. Specifically, Minas Passage, located in the Bay of Fundy, is considered one of the world's best tidal energy sites and it has been estimated that this single site could provide sufficient electricity to power 1.4 million Canadian households. With such potential, it is surprising there are only a limited number of tidal turbines operating worldwide and only one turbine currently deployed in Minas Passage. The industry has admittedly progressed slower than anticipated, but now hovers at the edge of commercialization. Global installed ocean renewable energy doubled in 2017 and installed in-stream tidal energy increased to 17 MW. Slow industry progress has been largely due to high project costs and risks because turbines must operate in harsh energetic environments with site-specific turbulence. This creates fluctuating forces on tidal turbine blades and support structures, degrading turbine performance and shortens their lifespan. The US Department of Energy has stated that developing a thorough understanding of turbulence is a critical step to designing durable devices and accelerating the pace of technology development, leading to a significantly lowered cost of energy, similar to what was achieved in the wind industry. An additional challenge has been assessing the impact of these devices on the local environment, in particular, the effects on fish and marine mammal populations and sediment transport. This has resulted in slow social acceptance of the tidal energy industry in Canada. The objective of this research is to develop a multi-scale high-fidelity computational fluid dynamic tool that simulates in-stream tidal turbines in a realistic ocean environment. This software will then be used to quantify the impact of environmental turbulence on the turbine and the impact of the turbine on the turbulent environment. Emphasis will be place on identifying how environmental turbulence affects turbine performance and durability, while also quantifying how the presence of the turbine alters the turbulent flow characteristics, ambient noise levels, and local sediment transport. This will facilitate the in-stream tidal energy industry in Canada by providing developers with the knowledge required to reduce project risks and costs, while simultaneously determining the appropriate scale of tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy that is socially acceptable and environmentally compatible.

潮汐，波浪和海上风的形式可再生能源是最丰富但相对尚未开发的可再生能源之一。特别是针对潮汐能，最近的兴趣集中在潮汐潮流转换器的发展上，这些转化器将动能从快速流动的潮汐蒸汽转变为电。在加拿大，已经确定了190个潜在地点，并有足够的电力来满足3,0060万加拿大家庭的年度电力需求。具体来说，位于芬迪湾的米纳斯通道被认为是世界上最好的潮汐能网站之一，据估计，这个单一地点可以为140万加拿大的家庭提供足够的电力。具有如此潜力，令人惊讶的是，全球运行的潮汐涡轮机只有有限的潮汐涡轮机，而目前仅在Minas通道中部署了一辆涡轮机。该行业的发展速度比预期的要慢，但现在徘徊在商业化的边缘。全球安装的海洋可再生能源在2017年翻了一番，并安装了潮汐潮流的能源增加到17兆瓦。 行业进步缓慢的基本上是由于项目成本和风险很高，因为涡轮机必须在特定地点的湍流中在苛刻的充满活力的环境中运行。这会在潮汐涡轮叶片和支撑结构上产生波动的力量，降低了涡轮机的性能并缩短其寿命。美国能源部表示，对湍流进行彻底的了解是设计耐用设备并加速技术开发步伐的关键步骤，从而导致能源成本大大降低，类似于风能行业的成本。另一个挑战是评估这些设备对当地环境的影响，特别是对鱼类和海洋哺乳动物种群和沉积物运输的影响。这导致加拿大潮汐能产业的社会接受缓慢。这项研究的目的是开发多尺度的高保真计算流体动力学工具，该工具模拟在现实的海洋环境中模拟潮汐潮汐涡轮机。然后，该软件将用于量化环境湍流对涡轮机的影响以及涡轮机对湍流环境的影响。重点将放在确定环境湍流如何影响涡轮机的性能和耐用性的同时，同时还量化了涡轮机的存在如何改变湍流特性，环境噪声水平和局部沉积物的运输。这将通过为开发人员提供降低项目风险和成本所需的知识，同时确定Fundy湾的适当规模，在社会上可接受且环境兼容。