Numerical prediction of the turbulent wakes generated by a row of marine turbines

Numerical simulations of the turbulent wakes generated by rows of up to five marine turbines are presented. The numerical scheme combines an actuator disk model with a non-uniform velocity distribution, and the solution to the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. The first computations examine the dynamics of the turbulent wakes when the stream flows perpendicular to the row. The experiments of Stallard et al. (2013) serve as the benchmark for the numerical predictions. The computations also explore the significance of turbulence intensity and yawed conditions. An increase in the ambient turbulent intensity results in a quicker wake recovery. When the fluid stream is yawed to the turbine row, the problem loses its symmetry and some turbines realize lower velocities as they become affected by the wakes generated by other turbines.