Hydrodynamic Performance Analysis on Different Airfoils of Straight Blade H Type of Vertical Axis Tidal Current Energy Turbine

Airfoil is a key factor that influences the hydrodynamic performance of vertical axis tidal current energy turbine. In order to explore the influences from the runner’s blade airfoil towards its hydrodynamic performance, three-dimensional unsteady flow numerical simulation on four airfoils of straight blade H type of tidal current energy turbines was carried out, under the precondition of same turbine compactness. Through investigating the influences from the four different airfoils of H blade towards the runner in terms of its dynamic torque feature and hydropower utilization coefficient, this research has analyzed the hydrodynamic performance of the tidal current energy turbine. As the research result indicates, the maximum dynamic torque value of the single-blade turbine with NACA0015 airfoil is significantly higher than that of the other three airfoils; while the maximum value of the overall runner torque is determined by the operating conditions such as different stream speed etc. As a whole, hydropower utilization coefficient of the turbine with asymmetric airfoil NACA4415 is better than that of the other three airfoils. This research has provided references for the design and airfoil selection for the new type of tidal current energy turbine.