TidalTurbineWall.JPG unilogo.gifFree flow turbines and their efficiency

 

Research and Industry Workshop

(May 06, 2011, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK).

University Campus, Michael Atiyah Building, MAB119 from 09:30

Participation is Free, Everybody is Welcome

 

Most of hydraulic turbines that are presently used for hydropower generation have been developed for installation in water dams across streams. However, dams damage the environment and interfere with fish migration. They also cannot be used for power systems extracting energy from such huge potential sources as ocean currents or lowgrade rivers. Thus, new hydraulic turbines are needed that can operate efficiently in free flow without dams. The principal difference between exploiting high-head and free flow turbines is that the latter need large flow openings to capture as much water masses as possible with low velocities and pressure. It was demonstrated that the efficiency of a free flow turbine is maximal when the resistance is of a free flow turbine rather small and a large part of the flow (~61 percent) goes through.

 

During this workshop we plan to discuss recent development of free flow turbines theory and practice, to compare various constructions of turbines and to analyze possible efficiency of them. The talks about related topics from gas and fluid dynamics, energy systems engineering and mathematical modeling are also welcome.

 

The Program

 

09:00 Coffee, tea and greetings

 

9:30-10:10

Hydrodynamic and Structural Performance of the Transverse Horizontal Axis Water Turbine

Guy T. Houlsby, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, UK

 

10:10-10:50

Helical Turbine in free flow and Fish safety

Alexander M. Gorlov, Northeastern University, Boston, US
[1Gor]  [2Gor]  [3Gor] (Nominated for the European Inventor Award)

 

10:50-11:10 Coffee and tea

 

11:10-11:50

The Development of Tidal Current Turbines and Issues for Future Design and Operation

Ian Bryden, Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK

 

11:50-12:30

Reflections on the Shape of a Turbomachine Abstract Presentation
Paul Gostelow, Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, UK

12:30-13:30 Lunch

 

13:30-14:10

A Tour of the Hydraulic Research Infrastructure, Department of Engineering, University of Leicester

A. Rona and P. D. Williams, Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, UK

 

14:10-14:50

Exploitation of tidal stream energy in Spain: resource assessment, technological requirements and environmental issues

Gregorio Iglesias, University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

 

14:50-15:20

Evopod 10th Scale Trials

Roger Cox, Ocean Flow Energy

 

15:20-15:40 Coffee and tea

 

15:40-16:10

Free flow turbines and their efficiency. The objective - a commercial future

(And other questions here)

Geoffrey Hunt, Geoffrey Hunt & Associates Ltd.,

 

16:10-16:50

Application of Modelling Methods in Wind Turbine Engineering

Andrej Horvat, David Hartwanger, Intelligent Fluid Solutions Ltd., UK

[1HorHar]

 

16:50-17:20

Efficiency of Free Flow Turbines and Flows around a Semi-Penetrable Obstacle with Maximization of Energy Absorption

Alexander Gorban, Department of Mathematics, University of Leicester [GorGor1][GorGor2][GorGor3], UK and Alexander Demidov, Moscow University, Russia [1Dem]

 

 

Contacts: Alexander Gorban, E-mail: ag153(at)le.ac.uk,  Tel: +44 (0) 116 223 14 33

Aldo Rona, E-mail: ar45(at)le.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2510