Numerical and experimental analysis of a shrouded hydroturbine

Abstract

One of the most promising fields in energy production from renewable sources is related to the intensive exploitation of marine and river current power. This paper will illustrate the design and the performances of a shrouded hydro turbine to harness clean energy from marine and river currents. This system has been developed and tested at the University of Naples, to explore the feasibility of plants based on such idea. Two different diffusers have been designed, realized and tested. A simple designed method has been carried out in order to define the diffuser pitch angle. In order to evaluate the design diffuser angle in more accurate way a numerical simulation has been carried out. The experimental test results were compared with the bare wind turbine. The data were non-dimensionalized with respect to the disc turbine area in order to compare the ducted turbine performances with a bare turbine with the same overall size of the ducted wind turbine.