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COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
DETERMINATION OF INSTALLATION SITES OF HYDROKINETIC TURBINES DOWNSTREAM OF THE SEFAC HYDROELECTRIC FACILITY
Submission Author:
Kaajal Gopie , DF , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Kaajal Gopie, Isadora Bugarin, Rafael Castilho Faria Mendes, Taygoara Oliveira, Antonio Brasil Junior
Presenter: Kaajal Gopie
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-1953
Abstract
The hydrokinetic potential of electricity generation from a river stretch is studied using numerical methods for turbulent flows. This energy potential will be used to locate areas with high hydrokinetic energy. Areas with a high energy potential make for excellent turbine installation locations. The studied area (SEFAC channel) is located in the São Marcos river, downwind the dam of the SEFAC hydroelectric facility. The geometric data of the natural channel was generated by field experiments using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ACDP) methods. The flow boundary conditions were defined by considering the actual flow rate of the facility. The numerical methodology was verified using experimental data for sinusoidal open channel flow available in the literature. Three different turbulence models are tested for both the methodology validation and the natural channel simulations: the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM), the k-epsilon and the k-epsilon EARSM model. The free surface is simulated considering a slipping boundary. We use the simulations to look for useful sites for hydrokinetic unit installations, considering the local flow velocity, channel depth, secondary currents occurrence, and turbulent kinetic energy levels. A rarely used geometric model and a more accurate siting of turbines, taking also turbulence into consideration, are intended to fill in a knowledge gap in the literature. The proposed methodology has been validated by simulating natural channel flow with accurate results. Out of the three turbulence models, the RSM has provided the most consistent and reliable results. A distinguishing feature of the SEFAC channel, a depression area right after the channel inlet is also presented, with interesting flow structures. Based on high local velocities and depths, a selection of 20 possible turbine locations has been made. Ultimately, the initial proposed 20 locations are narrowed down to seven, using the occurrence of secondary currents and the turbulence intensity as deciding factors.
Keywords
hydrokinetic potential, Numerical simulation, turbine sites
