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Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems
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Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A3: Wind, Wave and Tidal Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 3024

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Patrick G. Verdin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Energy & Sustainability Theme, School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK
Interests: computational fluid dynamics; renewable energy systems; wind and tidal renewable energy; geothermal energy; solar energy; multiphase flow
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research and Development of Renewable Energy systems must be accelerated to reach the Net-Zero target by the second half of the century, and play a crucial role in limiting global warming. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes and software are now fully recognised as being important/necessary tools in all stages of a renewable energy system development, this includes design, prototyping, verification/certification, etc.  

Wind, tidal/waves, geothermal, and solar have been identified as leading technology options to decarbonise the energy system worldwide. Authors are invited to submit research and progress related to the development and application of CFD for the design, study and/or optimization of existing and/or novel renewable energy systems. This Special Issue will thus feature original research papers and review articles in these areas, including but not limited to:

  • Offshore/onshore wind energy,
  • Tidal/wave renewable energy,
  • Geothermal energy,
  • Solar energy.

Dr. Patrick G. Verdin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • computational fluid dynamics
  • fluid-structure interactions
  • wind energy
  • ocean energy
  • geothermal energy
  • solar energy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 4073 KiB  
Article
Co-Gasification of Polyethylene and Biomass in Catalytic Bed Material
by Warnakulasooriya Dinoja Sammani Fernando and Jamal Naser
Energies 2024, 17(8), 1804; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17081804 - 09 Apr 2024
Viewed by 414
Abstract
In this work, a simplified comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model is developed to study the effect of hydrogen production on co-gasification of biomass and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). CFD software AVL Fire 2020 inbuilt algorithms were employed to develop the gas phase while the solid [...] Read more.
In this work, a simplified comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model is developed to study the effect of hydrogen production on co-gasification of biomass and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). CFD software AVL Fire 2020 inbuilt algorithms were employed to develop the gas phase while the solid phase was developed by user-defined FORTRAN subroutines. Solid hydrodynamics, fuel conversion, homogenous and non-homogenous chemical reactions, and heat transfer, including radiation, subroutines were defined and incorporated into AVL FIRE explicitly. Species concentrations of the syngas were analyzed for co-gasification of Beechwood and LDPE for three distinct types of bed materials (silica sand, Na-Y zeolite, and ZSM-5 zeolite). Then, the model is validated with experiment results available in the literature for a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor. The highest hydrogen production was observed in Na-Y zeolite followed by ZSM-5 zeolite and silica in both numerical and experimental analysis for the co-gasification of Beechwood and LDPE, providing a reasonable agreement between the numerical and the experimental results. Therefore, the current model predicts the enhancement of the quality of hydrogen-rich syngas through the application of co-pyrolysis within a fluidized bed reactor, incorporating a catalytic bed material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems)
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25 pages, 8998 KiB  
Article
An Investigation of Tidal Stream Turbine Wake Development Using Modified BEM–AD Model
by Chee M. Pang, David M. Kennedy and Fergal O’Rourke
Energies 2024, 17(5), 1198; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17051198 - 02 Mar 2024
Viewed by 465
Abstract
Tidal stream turbines (TST) are a promising option for electricity generation to meet the ever-increasing demand for energy. The actuator disk (AD) method is often employed to represent a TST, to evaluate the TST operating in a tidal flow. While this method can [...] Read more.
Tidal stream turbines (TST) are a promising option for electricity generation to meet the ever-increasing demand for energy. The actuator disk (AD) method is often employed to represent a TST, to evaluate the TST operating in a tidal flow. While this method can effectively reduce the computational cost and provide accurate prediction of far-wake flow conditions, it falls short of fully characterising critical hydrodynamics elements. To address this limitation, a hybrid method is implemented by coupling AD with the blade element momentum (BEM) theory, using detailed performance data, such as thrust, to enhance the prediction of the wake effects. This work focuses on the development of a hybrid BEM–AD method using Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence models within computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Two variations and a hybrid modification of an AD model are presented in this paper. The first modified variation is a velocity variation that takes into account velocity profile inflow into the disk’s configuration. The second modified variation is a radial variation that integrates the blade element theory into the disk’s configuration. The hybrid modified model combines both the velocity profiles influenced and blade element theory in the design and analysis of the actuator disk. Several key investigations on some of the pre-solver parameters are also investigated in this research such as the effect of changing velocity and radial distance on the porosity and loss coefficient of the actuator disk performance. Importantly, this work provides an improved method to evaluate the key wake effects from a TST array which is crucial to determine the power performance of the TST array. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems)
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28 pages, 14230 KiB  
Article
A Numerical Investigation of the Hydrodynamic Performance of a Pitch-Type Wave Energy Converter Using Weakly and Fully Nonlinear Models
by Sunny Kumar Poguluri, Dongeun Kim and Yoon Hyeok Bae
Energies 2024, 17(4), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040898 - 15 Feb 2024
Viewed by 533
Abstract
In this study, the performance of a wave energy converter (WEC) rotor under regular and irregular wave conditions was investigated using 3D nonlinear numerical models. Factors such as the power take-off (PTO) load torque, wave periods, spacing of multiple WEC rotors, and wave [...] Read more.
In this study, the performance of a wave energy converter (WEC) rotor under regular and irregular wave conditions was investigated using 3D nonlinear numerical models. Factors such as the power take-off (PTO) load torque, wave periods, spacing of multiple WEC rotors, and wave steepness were analyzed. Two models were employed: a weakly nonlinear model formulated by incorporating the nonlinear restoring moment and Coulomb-type PTO load torque based on the potential flow theory, and a fully nonlinear model based on computational fluid dynamics. The results show that the average power estimated by both numerical models is consistent, with a wave steepness of 0.03 for the range of one-way and two-way PTO load torques, except for the deviations observed in the long range of the one-way PTO load torque. Furthermore, the average power of the WEC rotor under the applied PTO load torque exhibits a quadratic dependency, regardless of the wave steepness. In addition, adopting a one-way PTO load torque was more efficient than adopting a two-way PTO load torque. Therefore, the fully nonlinear model demonstrated its ability to handle a high degree of nonlinearity, surpassing the limitations of the weakly nonlinear model, which was limited to moderate wave steepness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems)
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18 pages, 38284 KiB  
Article
Numerical Investigation of Aerodynamic Performance and Structural Analysis of a 3D J-Shaped Based Small-Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
by Oriol Bel Laveda, Marie-Alix Roche, Mohit Phadtare, Louise Sauge, Keerthana Jonnafer Xavier, Grishma Bhat, Divya Saxena, Jagmeet Singh Saini and Patrick G. Verdin
Energies 2023, 16(20), 7024; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16207024 - 10 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1012
Abstract
Small vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are often considered suitable for use in urban areas due to their compact design. However, they are also well known to offer poor performance at low wind speeds, which is a common situation in such environments. An [...] Read more.
Small vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are often considered suitable for use in urban areas due to their compact design. However, they are also well known to offer poor performance at low wind speeds, which is a common situation in such environments. An optimised 3D J-shaped VAWT was designed from standard NACA 0015 blades and analysed numerically through computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A finite element analysis (FEA) was also carried out to ensure the model’s structural integrity. Optimal results were obtained with aluminium alloy hollow blades and stainless-steel struts with X-shaped beams, with internal ribs. Numerical results showed that the J-shaped VAWT achieved an 18.34% higher moment coefficient compared to a NACA 0015-based VAWT, indicating better self-starting abilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Dynamics: Technologies and Applications for Renewable Energy Systems)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: CFD model development for the investigation of the hydrodynamic performance of horizontal axis tidal turbines
Authors: Kai Xu; Fergal O’Rourke; Jamie Goggins; William Finnegan
Affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
Abstract: Tidal energy has attracted increasing attention in recent years, due to its advantage over other renewables in terms of reliability. Horizontal axis tidal turbines are similar to wind turbines in geometry but experience a much higher loading due to the extreme conditions in the submarine environment. Consequently, the loadings on the tidal turbine need to be accurately evaluated within the design stage to ensure its long-term durability. In this research, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a horizontal axis tidal turbine rotor has been developed. A number of parameters for meshing refinement and model setup have been compared to improve the model accuracy, where it is found that introducing a setup of meshing inflation of a first layer height with Y+ insensitive near wall treatment improves accuracy more efficiently in terms of computational costs. The CFD model has been validated by using the blade geometry of the prototype turbine used in the H2020 MaRINET2 Round Robin Tests, which is based on the NACA 63-418 profile, where the hydrodynamic forces predicted by the CFD model are compared to the results from these experimental trials. This CFD modelling methodology can be applied to other tidal turbines to accurately predict the hydrodynamic forces, reducing the need for expensive physical testing when exploring new concept designs and modifications.

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