Counter-rotating Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion with High Robustness against Sudden Fluctuations in Wave Power

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H02377
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 24020:Marine engineering-related
• Research Institution: Matsue National College of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Takao Manabu 松江工業高等専門学校, 機械工学科, 教授 (00332057)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 奥原 真哉 松江工業高等専門学校, 実践教育支援センター, 技術専門職員 (90835779) ; Alam Ashraful 大阪産業大学, 工学部, 教授 (60759819) ; 木上 洋一 佐賀大学, 海洋エネルギー研究所, 教授 (50274486)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 再生可能エネルギー / 波力発電 / タービン / 振動水柱

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, a wind tunnel test was conducted as a demonstration test for predicting the performance of a counter-rotating impulse turbine for wave energy conversion, and the internal flow of the turbine was predicted by CFD analysis. The results obtained in this research are summarized below.(1) A wind tunnel test showed that the counter-rotating turbine with middle vanes showed a maximum efficiency of 0.452, which is 1.13 times higher than that without middle vanes.(2) It is speculated from CFD results that the torque obtained by the downstream rotor increases because the middle vane accelerates the airflow entering the downstream rotor and turns it to the swirl component.(3) The installation of the middle vanes increases collision loss and friction loss, and it is speculated from CFD results that the pressure difference before and after the turbine increases.

Free Research Field

流体工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の結果，波力発電用二重反転衝動タービンは従来の波力発電プラントで採用されてきたウェルズタービンより作動範囲が広く，高トルクが得られ起動性に優れていることが風洞実験により実証されるとともに，中間羽根の効果が確認された。我が国周辺は世界的に見て波浪エネルギー密度が高いとは言えず，一方で台風襲来や冬季の日本海側などで海象異常が発生するため，幅広い流量係数で高トルクが得られる波力タービンの開発は波力発電の普及に不可決である。この理由により，本研究の成果は学術的かつ社会的に有意義であると考えられる。