Implementation of Tidal Stream Turbines and Tidal Barrage Structures in DG-SWEM

Abstract

There are two approaches to extracting power from tides — either turbines are placed in areas of strong flows or turbines are placed in barrages enabling the two sides of the barrage to be closed off and a head to build up across the barrage. Both of these energy extraction approaches will have a significant back effect on the flow, and it is vital that this is correctly modelled in any numerical simulation of tidal hydrodynamics. This paper presents the inclusion of both tidal stream turbines and tidal barrages in the depth-averaged shallow water equation model DG-SWEM. We represent the head loss due to tidal stream turbines as a line discontinuity — thus we consider the turbines, and the energy lost in local wake-mixing behind the turbines, to be a sub-grid scale processes. Our code allows the inclusion of turbine power and thrust coefficients which are dependent on Froude number, turbine blockage, and velocity, but can be obtained from analytical or numerical models as well as experimental data. The barrage model modifies the existing culvert model within the code, replacing the original cross-barrier pipe equations. At the location of this boundary, velocities through sluice gates are calculated according to the orifice equation. For simulating the turbines, a Hill Chart for low head bulb turbines provided by Andritz Hydro is used. We demonstrate the implementations on both idealised geometries where it is straightforward to compare against other models and numerical simulations of real candidate sites for tidal energy in Malaysia and the Bristol Channel.