Hydrodynamic optimization of channelling device for hydro turbine based on lattice Boltzmann method

As the demand of renewable energy increasing, tidal current hydro turbine has become a research focus of domestic and overseas, which is a kind of energy conversion device collecting tidal current energy and generating electricity. The water depth and flow direction have little effect on work efficiency, but it must work at a flow speed higher than a certain value. In order to increase the flow speed in the neighborhood of the turbine, a channelling device should be fixed around the hydro turbine. In order to get a better hydrodynamic of the channelling device, lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) which is a new method of computational fluid dynamics is adopted to the numerical simulation of the channelling device. The hydrodynamics of the channelling devices with different geometries and assemble gaps are compared. Finally, a program of hydrodynamic optimization is constructed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.