TY - JOUR
T1 - Sheared turbulent flows and wake dynamics of an idled floating tidal turbine
AU - Lieber, Lilian
AU - Fraser, Shaun
AU - Coles, Danny
AU - Nimmo Smith, Alex
PY - 2024/9/20
Y1 - 2024/9/20
N2 - Ocean energy extraction is on the rise. While tides are the most predictable amongst marine renewable resources, turbulent and complex flows still challenge reliable tidal stream energy extraction and there is also uncertainty in how devices change the natural environment. To ensure the long-term integrity of emergent floating tidal turbine technologies, advances in field measurements are required to capture multiscale, real-world flow interactions. Here we use aerial drones and acoustic profiling transects to quantify the site- and scale-dependent complexities of actual turbulent flows around an idled, utility-scale floating tidal turbine (20 m rotor diameter, D). The combined spatial resolution of our baseline measurements is sufficiently high to quantify sheared, turbulent inflow conditions (reversed shear profiles, turbulence intensity >20%, and turbulence length scales > 0.4D). We also detect downstream velocity deficits (approaching 20% at 4D) and trace the far-wake propagation using acoustic backscattering techniques in excess of 30D. Addressing the energy-environment nexus, our oceanographic lens on flow characterisation will help to validate multiscale flow physics around offshore energy platforms that have thus far only been simulated.
AB - Ocean energy extraction is on the rise. While tides are the most predictable amongst marine renewable resources, turbulent and complex flows still challenge reliable tidal stream energy extraction and there is also uncertainty in how devices change the natural environment. To ensure the long-term integrity of emergent floating tidal turbine technologies, advances in field measurements are required to capture multiscale, real-world flow interactions. Here we use aerial drones and acoustic profiling transects to quantify the site- and scale-dependent complexities of actual turbulent flows around an idled, utility-scale floating tidal turbine (20 m rotor diameter, D). The combined spatial resolution of our baseline measurements is sufficiently high to quantify sheared, turbulent inflow conditions (reversed shear profiles, turbulence intensity >20%, and turbulence length scales > 0.4D). We also detect downstream velocity deficits (approaching 20% at 4D) and trace the far-wake propagation using acoustic backscattering techniques in excess of 30D. Addressing the energy-environment nexus, our oceanographic lens on flow characterisation will help to validate multiscale flow physics around offshore energy platforms that have thus far only been simulated.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204436921&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/bms-research/article/2791/viewcontent/s41467_024_52578_x.pdf
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-024-52578-x
DO - 10.1038/s41467-024-52578-x
M3 - Article
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 15
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 8244
ER -