COB-2021-0265
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF A SAVONIUS TURBINE INSERTED IN
OSCILLATING WATER COLUMN WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER
Andrei Luís Garcia Santos
Federal University of Rio Grande – FURG, Av. Itália, km 8, s/n, CEP 96203-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
[email protected]Filipe Branco Teixeira
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS, St. Sarmento Leite, 425, CEP 90150-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
[email protected]Liércio André Isoldi
Federal University of Rio Grande – FURG, Av. Itália, km 8, s/n, CEP 96203-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
[email protected]Jeferson Avila Souza
Federal University of Rio Grande – FURG, Av. Itália, km 8, s/n, CEP 96203-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
[email protected]Mateus das Neves Gomes
Federal Institute of Paraná – IFPR, St. Antônio Carlos Rodrigues, 453, CEP 83215-750, Paranaguá, PR, Brazil
[email protected]Luiz Alberto Oliveira Rocha
University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos – UNISINOS, Av. Unisinos, 950, CEP 93022-750, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil
[email protected]Elizaldo Domingues dos Santos
Federal University of Rio Grande – FURG, Av. Itália, km 8, s/n, CEP 96203-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brasil
[email protected]Abstract. This work presents a numerical analysis of a turbulent flow over a Savonius turbine in a domain that mimics
an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device. The model includes a dynamic mesh simulation on which the turbine
angular velocity is prescribed. The geometry is investigated using Constructal Design, being considered a constant area
(A1) for the chamber and two degrees of freedom. Here, the effect of the turbine duct positioning on the equipment,
represented by the ratio between the distance from the position of the water-free surface to the turbine duct center and
the height of the OWC device (H2/H1), on the resulting power coefficient is evaluated. For all cases, the height/length
ratio of the chamber is constant (H1/L1 = 0.55). The study is carried out considering a two-dimensional domain, where
the OWC device contains the turbine duct on the side of its chamber. The airflow in the domain is caused by the imposition
of a constant velocity Vcte = 1.4 m/s at the lower surface of the OWC chamber. Moreover, a turbine rotor constant velocity
ω’ = 15.5 rad/s is imposed in the Savonius turbine. The computational mesh was generated with the GMSH software.
To solve the turbulent flow, the time averaged equations of mass conservation and balance of momentum are solved
numerically with the finite volume method (FVM), more precisely with the Ansys Fluent 18.1 commercial software. For
closure of turbulence, it is considered the k –ω SST Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) method. A comparison
between present method and results of literature for a case with free Savonius turbine was performed to verify the
solution. The studied cases of OWC with turbine were also compared with similar domains and without inserted turbine
with the aim to investigate the influence of the model simplification in the performance and design of the device. For the
present conditions, the highest power take off (PTO) on the device and available power were obtained for the highest
magnitude of the ratio H2/H1 (H2/H1 = 0.81). Moreover, the effect of the ratio H2/H1 over the PTO and available power
for the conditions with and without turbine were similar, indicating that the improvement of the model (considering the
turbine) was important only for prediction of PTO and not for the recommendation about the best configuration of the
device.
Keywords: OWC, Numerical Simulation, Savonius Turbine, Turbulent Flows, Constructal Design.
A. Santos, F. Teixeira, L. Isoldi, J. Souza, M. Gomes, L. Rocha, E. Santos
Numerical Analysis of a Savonius Turbine Inserted in Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter
1. INTRODUCTION
Electric energy from renewable sources is a fundamental issue to be addressed nowadays. Its importance is not only
concerned with the environmental preservation, but also with economic issues of energy generation. According to Aneel
(2021), over the last five years, in Brazil, the consumed power electricity from fossil sources (non-renewable) and from
water falls (that can lead to great costs and environmental impacts) were 21,823.55 MW, while renewable power sources
(wind, biomass and solar energies), together, add up to 16,386.35 MW.
The ocean energy conversion into electricity has been the target of an increasing number of scientific works, focusing
on boosting the energy matrix, in turn, reducing demand for non-renewable and high-cost fuels. According to Jenniches
(2018) the transition from current sources to renewable energy is one of the main trends, as well as, the diversification in
ways to convert renewable energy into available energy for human consumption.
In this sense, the search for scientific and technological advances on the comprehension of the physical
phenomenology of Wave Energy Converters (WEC) as the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device has been intensified.
This device represents a relatively simple way to provide the mechanical energy conversion from waves movement into
electricity through an inserted turbine in the equipment. According to Twidell and Weir (2015), the OWC converter can
be defined as a device containing a hydropneumatic chamber with at least two openings, one in communication with the
atmosphere and another in communication with the sea. When the water column inside the hydropneumatic chamber
oscillates due to the wave movement it causes compression and decompression of air inside the chamber above the water-
free surface. The mass flow rate of air is forced to exit by a duct or entering from atmosphere to the chamber in
compression and decompression stages, passing through the turbine that converts mechanical energy into electricity.
In order to reduce the computational effort, a two-dimensional analysis has been performed to determine the geometric
shapes that improve the OWC equipment performance. For instance, Pinto Jr. et al. (2019) evaluated the behavior of static
pressure in an OWC by varying the width of the equipment turbine duct. The model considered only the region of the
chamber and the equipment duct subjected to a turbulent airflow. Moreover, the interaction between the wave flow in the
channel is not considered and the influence of wave flow over the chamber is simulated by imposition of a velocity in the
lower surface of the chamber.
Other contributions were being recommended considering the OWC device installed inside a wave channel. For
instance, Letzow et al. (2020) studied, by means of Constructal Design and exhaustive search method the performance of
an onshore device, i.e., a device installed at the end of the numerical wave channel (which simulates the oceanic coast).
In this work, the performance indicator was the available power since there is no turbine or restriction imposed at the
duct. In spite of some simplifications adopted in this work, geometry proved to be an important issue for design of OWC
devices.
Constructal Design is a method based in a physical principle named Constructal Law. According to Bejan (2018), the
principle states that for a flow system with finite dimensions to persist in time, its configuration must freely evolve in
order to easily the access of the currents that flow through the system. It is important to emphasize that Constructal Design
is a physical principle that addresses geometric shapes to be studied (defining the search space of investigation). However,
for geometric optimization, it is necessary to associate an optimization technique. In the work of Letzow et al. (2020) the
exhaustive search method was used to optimize the ratio between the height and the length of the hydropneumatic chamber
of the equipment for two different lengths of frontal device wall, i.e., obtaining the configuration that maximizes the
available power of the OWC.
The Savonius turbine was widely used for generation of wind energy (Savonius, 1930). In this way, it is also worth
mentioning two studies about the computational modeling of Savonius impulse turbines with dynamic mesh. In the work
of Akwa (2010), the experimental research carried out by Blackwell et al. (1977) was reproduced in such way to validate
the used computational modeling. In this work, the Savonius turbine has its aerodynamics coefficients analyzed acting in
a wind tunnel. Afterwards, Dos Santos et al. (2019) verified another numerical method, based in the implementation of
Finite Volume Method (FVM) in FLUENT using the previous numerical results of Akwa (2010). In a second moment,
the same turbine studied in the verification case (free turbine in a wind tunnel) was used in a domain similar to that
observed in an OWC device, i.e., an enclosed domain. It was investigated the influence of consider an enclosed domain
for prediction of drag, lift, momentum and power coefficients.
In present work, main purpose is to analyze the influence of some geometric configuration of the OWC device over
the device performance considering a Savonius turbine inserted in the OWC duct. At the authors knowledge, this kind of
investigation was not previously performed in another works reported by literature. More precisely, it is considered a
horizontal turbine duct placed in lateral side of the chamber. The turbine duct position is varied and its effect over the
RMS (Root Mean Square) power coefficient is investigated. Details about RMS calculation can be seen in Marjani et. al.
(2006) and Letzow et. al. (2020). Another objective is to analyze the efficiency obtained by each of the geometric
variations of the analyzed equipment in relation to the available power i.e., without the presence of the Savonius turbine
in the OWC device duct.
The computational meshes are generated with the GMSH software and the solution of governing equations is
performed with the Ansys FLUENT 18.1 commercial code. Constructal Design is used to define the search space of
studied cases and the exhaustive search is employed for geometric optimization. Here, the study is limited to the OWC
26th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
November 22-26, 2021. Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
duct position influence over the RMS power coefficient for the case with inserted turbine and over the RMS available
power for the case without inserted turbine. It is important to note that, in present work, only one degree of freedom
(DOF) is evaluated as a first assessment to perform a geometric investigation of the simplified device with the inserted
Savonius turbine in the domain that mimics the OWC device.
2. MATHEMATICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELING
In this paper, flow is simulated as turbulent and incompressible in a two-dimensional domain and transient regime,
with constant thermophysical properties and k – ω SST turbulence model. The equipment duct is arranged in the horizontal
direction, next to the hydropneumatic chamber, similarly to the configuration studied in Letzow et al. (2020). The
geometry can be checked in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Case study: OWC with horizontal turbine duct.
The geometry is analyzed in order to obtain, as performance indicator, the RMS power coefficient by varying the
device duct position through several simulations, where, L1 = 10 m, L2 = 6 m, D = 2 m, H1 = 5.5 m and H2 is variable in
a ratio H2 / H1. The area A1 is constant and given by A1 = H1 ∙ L1.
The boundary conditions of the problem are no-slip and impermeability at the chamber and the duct walls, Vcte = 1.4
m/s at the OWC inlet line and atmospheric pressure at the duct outlet line. The inlet velocity magnitude is the same
adopted in the work of Dos Santos et al. (2019). This allow to prescribe a velocity at the duct similar in magnitude with
that used in the verification and mesh independent test section. A rotational moving mesh domain mimics a Savonius
turbine rotor. The turbine is placed in the OWC duct center, L2/2. Moreover, it is considered a diameter of turbine with d
= 1.8 m and the blades have a thickness of e = 0.0072 m. The blades overlay is S = 0.144 m and their chords size is C =
0.972 m, as illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Savonius turbine rotor measurement parameters.
A. Santos, F. Teixeira, L. Isoldi, J. Souza, M. Gomes, L. Rocha, E. Santos
Numerical Analysis of a Savonius Turbine Inserted in Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter
For all the simulations, the constant rotor angular velocity is ω’ = 15.5 rad/s and the turbine rotor tip speed ratio is λ
= 2. In this problem, the time-averaged equations of mass conservation and balance of momentum in the x and y
coordinates are addressed and solved applying the Finite Volume Method (FMV) discretization seen in Versteeg and
Malalasekera (2007), Patankar (1980) and Maliska (2004). In this sense, these equations are respectively:
∂𝑢𝑖
=0 (1)
∂𝑥𝑖
∂𝑢𝑖 ∂𝑢𝑖 ∂𝑝𝑖 𝜕 𝜕𝑢𝑖
𝜌 +𝜌𝑢𝑗 =− + (𝜇 ) + 𝜌𝑔𝑖 (2)
∂t ∂𝑥𝑗 ∂𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑗
where xi and xj [m] are the spatial coordinates, ui and uj [m/s] are the velocity components and gi [m/s2] is the gravity. The
constant thermophysical air density and dynamic viscosity properties are respectively: ρ = 1.18415 kg/m³ and µ =1.7894
× 10-5 kg/m∙s.
According to Menter et. al. (2003) and Wilcox (2004), for k-ω SST turbulence model, a turbulent viscosity is given
by:
𝜌̅ 𝛼1 𝑘 (3)
𝜇𝑡 =
𝑚𝑎𝑥(𝛼1 𝜔, 𝑆𝐹2 )
The turbulent kinetic energy generation is expressed by:
3
𝜕𝑘 𝜕(𝑢𝑖 𝑘) 𝑘 ⁄2 𝜕 𝜕𝑘 (4)
+ = 𝑃̃𝑘 − + [(𝜇 + 𝜎𝑘 𝜇𝑡 ) ]
𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝐿𝑇 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑖
where ui [m/s] is the horizontal direction velocity, 𝑃̃𝑘 is a term that prevent the turbulence generation in stagnation regions
and LT is the turbulent length scale of a Cartesian grid.
The specific dissipation rate is calculated by:
𝜕𝜔 𝜕(𝑢𝑖 𝜔) 𝛼 𝜕 𝜕𝜔 𝜎𝜔2 𝜕𝑘 𝜕𝜔 (5)
+ = ( ) 𝑃̃𝑘 − 𝛽𝜔2 + [(𝜇 + 𝜎𝜔 𝜇𝑡 ) ] + 2(1 − 𝐹1 )
𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥𝑖 µ𝑡 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜔 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑖
The F1 and F2 blending functions seen in Eq. (4) and (6) are calculated by:
4
√𝑘 500𝑣 4𝜌𝜎𝜔2 𝑘 (6)
𝐹1 = tanh {{𝑚𝑖𝑛 [𝑚𝑎𝑥 ( ∗ ′ 2 ) , ]} }
𝛽 𝜔𝑦 𝑦 𝜔 𝐶𝐷𝑘𝜔 𝑦 2
where CDkω is given by:
1 𝜕𝑘 𝜕𝜔 (7)
𝐶𝐷𝑘𝜔 =max (2𝜌𝜎𝜔2 , 10−10 )
𝜔 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑖
and
2
2√𝑘 500𝑣 (8)
𝐹2 = tanh [[𝑚𝑎𝑥 ( ∗ ′ 2 )] ]
𝛽 𝜔𝑦 𝑦 𝜔
In Eq. (3) – (8), k is the turbulent kinetic energy [m²/s²], v [m/s] is the velocity in y direction, ω is the specific
dissipation rate, µt is the turbulent viscosity, α1 = 5/9, β = 0.09, β1 = 3/40, β2 = 0.0828, σ2 = 0.44, σk = 0.85, σω = 0.5 and
σω2 = 0.856.
2.1 Power coefficient
The available power in the problem used to calculate the power coefficient in the Savonius turbine is calculated by
(Cresesb, 2008):
26th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
November 22-26, 2021. Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
1 3
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 𝜌 ∙ 𝐴𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 ∙ 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒 (9)
2
where Aduct [m²] is the OWC device duct cross section area without a turbine presence and Vcte is the constant velocity at
the inlet of the domain.
To perform the power transmitted to the turbine, Pturbine, the same author presents the following equation:
1 3
1 𝑉𝑎𝑡 𝑉𝑎𝑡 2
𝑃𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 = ∙ 𝜌 ∙ 𝐴𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 ∙ 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒 ∙ [ ∙ (1 + ) ∙ (1 − ( ) )] (10)
2 2 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒
where Vat is the air velocity after flowing through the Savonius turbine blades.
The power coefficient, Cp, that represents the ratio between the turbine’s shaft transmitted power and the airflow
available power without the turbine presence is:
1 𝑉𝑎𝑡 𝑉𝑎𝑡 2 𝑃𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝐶𝑝 = [ ∙ (1 + ) ∙ (1 − ( ) )] = (11)
2 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒 𝑉𝑐𝑡𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒
To perform the calculations, the CpRMS (Root Mean Square) was used, which according to Letzow et al. (2020), Gomes
(2014) and Marjani et al. (2006) is obtained by:
𝑡
1
𝐶𝑝 𝑅𝑀𝑆 =√ ∙ ∫ 𝐶𝑝 2 𝑑𝑡 (12)
𝑡
0
2.2 Geometric Variation
The geometric investigation performed here is based on the Constructal Design method seen in Bejan (2000), Dos
Santos et al. (2017) and Gonzales et. al. (2021). The method is based on a physical principle, Constructal Law, and used
to improve any flow system with finite dimensions. Its principle has application in several knowledge areas as the
generation and evolution of geometrical configurations in nature, social organization and engineering. In conjunction with
Constructal Design, the exhaustive search method was used as an optimization method, which is a method widely used
in recent works, see Letzow et. al. (2020). It is worth mentioning that Constructal Design is not an optimization method,
but a method for geometrical investigation and it has been used for definition of search space of geometric possibilities
(Dos Santos et al., 2017; Gonzales et al., 2021). In this sense, several simulations for different geometric variations are
performed in the present study.
The geometric evaluation of the present work is performed in the range 0.18 ≤ H2/H1 ≤ 0.81 with an increment of
ΔH2/H1 = 0.09. These variations were chosen in order to provide an understanding about the influence of the duct
placement over the performance of the idealized OWC device.
2.3 Numerical verification and mesh independence test
Initially, a numerical verification of the spatial and time averaged power coefficient obtained in the study of Akwa
(2010) is performed, which analyzed a transient, incompressible, two-dimensional and turbulent airflow of a rectangular
free domain with a rotating Savonius turbine inside it. In this check, the results were compared for different Tip Speed
Ratios (λ): 0.75; 1.00; 1.25 and 2.00. All thermophysical properties were considered constant and an undisturbed air
velocity was adopted at the domain inlet of Vcte = 7 m/s as well as atmospheric pressure in the geometry air outlet. The
Reynolds number for the study was RED = 867,000. Figure 3 illustrates the effect of the Tip Speed Ratio (λ) over the
average power coefficient (CP) obtained with the present model and that predicted by Akwa (2010).
A. Santos, F. Teixeira, L. Isoldi, J. Souza, M. Gomes, L. Rocha, E. Santos
Numerical Analysis of a Savonius Turbine Inserted in Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter
Figure 3. Comparison between the effect of λ over Cpaveraged obtained with the present numerical model and that
predicted by (Akwa, 2010).
Considering the difficulties in predicting the Cp coefficient due to the complexity of turbulent flows and the vortex
shedding generated, which led several uncertainties for prediction of flow parameters as the power coefficient, and the
fact that authors used another software, obtained results can be considered satisfactory for the study continuity.
After numerical verification, the OWC device geometry, containing the same rotational moving mesh Savonius
turbine configuration, was proposed and a mesh independence test was performed for the first geometric variation
analyzed, with H2/H1 = 0.18. A total of four meshes were tested, evaluating the mean total relative difference pressure
into OWC duct over a time interval of 0.5 s, calculated by:
𝜀 𝜀+1
(𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 − 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 )
Relative difference = 100 × | 𝜀 | (13)
𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝜀 𝜀+1
where 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 is the mesh analyzed total pressure [Pa], 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 is the subsequently analyzed mesh total pressure and ε = 1
to 4.
The mesh chosen to be evaluated as the independent one was the fourth. The results of the mesh independence test
performed are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Mesh independence test results
Mesh Mesh size Pressure [Pa] Relative difference
1 116,505 436.140 8.908 × 10-2
2 125,516 435.751 4.855 × 10-2
3 134,702 435.963 2.593 × 10-2
-----
4 146,660 435.850
The finite volumes independent mesh y+ values ranged on average to less than 1, including in the surfaces of the
turbine. Figure 4 illustrates the chosen mesh for the study, detailing its refinement in the Savonius turbine airfoils region.
All the cases were solved with a pressure-based solver, SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Linked Equations) algorithm for
pressure-velocity coupling, second order spatial discretization for the pressure, second order Upwind for momentum and
First Order Upwind for turbulent kinetic energy. The transient formulation used was First Order Implicit. These simulation
configurations were adopted due to the better conservation equations and the k-ω SST turbulence modeling convergence.
The simulations were performed in a computer with an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor @ 4.09 GHz and 16
GB of RAM memory. The GMSH software was used to construct all the computational meshes and the Ansys FLUENT
18.1 commercial software was used to solve the conservation equations, where the converged residual solution adopted
is 1 × 10-5, with a time step of Δt = 0.00175 s and the total simulations flow time of t = 1.75 s.
26th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
November 22-26, 2021. Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Figure 4. Independent mesh with Savonius turbine airfoils detail.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After the mesh independence test, all simulations were performed varying the OWC device duct placement, H2 / H1,
as mentioned in the previous item of this work. The results for the available RMS hydropneumatic power of the OWC
device without and containing a Savonius turbine were calculated in the time interval of 0.68 s ≤ t ≤ 1.75 s in order to
guarantee the stabilization of the flow throughout the domain. The geometry simulations without the Savonius turbine are
important to obtain the available power used in the calculation of the power coefficient of the device. Moreover, these
simulations allowed performing the comparison between the effect of the ratio H2/H1 over the performance of the device
with and without the turbine and evaluating whether the use of different geometric domains of the OWC device are
important for future design recommendations with the same imposed conditions in this study.
Figure 5 illustrates the velocity field for different positions of turbine duct placed in lateral face chamber of the OWC.
All fields are captured for the instant time of t = 1.75 s.
Figure 5. Velocity magnitude fields for the flow with inserted turbine at t = 1.75 s.
It can be evaluated through the velocity fields in the analyzed model that, in spite of high similarity between the fields,
there was a difference in the variation H2/H1 = 0.81. This difference is caused by the lower air flow recirculation at the
top of the hydropneumatic chamber. Moreover, the velocity fields also indicated a detachment of the boundary layer in
the two corners for lower magnitudes of H2/H1 forcing the fluid flow to pass in the central region of turbine. As the ratio
H2/H1 increases, the detachment is dominant in the lower corner of the duct, forcing the flow to focus over the
advancement blade of Savonius turbine. This behavior is the main responsible here for improvement of device
performance.
A. Santos, F. Teixeira, L. Isoldi, J. Souza, M. Gomes, L. Rocha, E. Santos
Numerical Analysis of a Savonius Turbine Inserted in Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter
These differences can be best observed when a comparison between the RMS available hydropneumatic power for
different OWC device geometry ratio is performed. In order to show the influence of turbine duct position with a rotational
turbine over the device power, Figure 6 shows the effect of the ratio H2/H1 over the RMS available power (black line)
and RMS turbine power (red line).
Figure 6. RMS available hydropneumatic power comparison by the RMS Savonius turbine power.
The results obtained for the best geometry were 1,166.76 W for the power available in the equipment without a turbine
and 686.85 W for the equipment containing the turbine. These comparative results of Fig. 5 show the importance of design
investigation in this kind of problem, since a difference of 46.80% is noticed when the best and worst configurations are
compared for the OWC with Savonius turbine geometry variation. Other important aspect is the achievement of similar
effects of degrees of freedom over RMS turbine power and RMS available power. Thus, it can be stated that the
complexity of adding a moving mesh modeling the Savonius turbine did not significantly affect the influence of OWC
device duct position over the device performance, as well as, the optimal configuration, for the present investigated
conditions. Therefore, for the present conditions, the simulation of the problem without turbine led to the same optimal
geometrical configurations and effect of studied degrees of freedom than that reached for the simulation with turbine. It
is worth to mention that the simulation without turbine reduces dramatically the computational effort.
As previously stated, the best result was obtained when H2/H1 = 0.81, which conducts to a power coefficient of CpRMS
= 0.554. Concerning the comparison between the cases with different geometries, the best and worst case difference
obtained was 8.84%. These results confirms that with lower air flow recirculation due to the positioning of the duct on
the equipment hydropneumatic chamber, it induces a higher value for the power coefficient for this geometric
configuration of the OWC device. Its also important to note that the CpRMS results in all simulated cases are below the
Betz limit of 0.59, according to Kramm et. al. (2016) and Akwa (2010). The maximum CpRMS obtained here is slight
inferior to that predicted by the Betz limit, which indicates that the enclosure can increase the turbine performance in
comparison with a free turbine.
4. CONCLUSIONS
In this work, turbulent, incompressible and transient air flow is simulated inside a two-dimensional domain that
mimics an OWC device containing a Savonius turbine. The OWC turbine duct is arranged in the horizontal direction,
next to the hydropneumatic chamber, in a similar form studied in Letzow et al. (2020) and found in other literature works.
The geometry is analyzed in order to obtain, as performance indicator, the RMS power coefficient by varying the OWC
turbine duct position with a fixed OWC chamber area through the Constructal Design, applying the exhaustive search
method for an OWC geometric variation, with one degree of freedom. Constant velocity inlet the device and a rotational
moving mesh mimics a Savonius turbine rotor, inside the OWC turbine duct, with constant angular velocity.
Results indicated that, for this study, the once optimized ratio is obtained for (H2/H1)o = 0.81 and conducted to once
maximized Cp of (CpRMS)m = 0.554. For the worst ratio, H2/H1 = 0.18, it is obtained a CpRMS = 0.505. Results showed that
the location of the duct in the upper part of the hydropneumatic chamber induced the air flow to focus on the advancement
26th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
November 22-26, 2021. Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
blade of Savonius turbine, improving the device performance. Results also evidenced that the greater complexity of the
model containing the rotational moving mesh with the Savonius turbine does not led to different recommendations about
the design for the optimal configuration. Moreover, the effect of the ratio H2/H1 over the device performance (power take
off in the turbine and available power for the cases with and without turbine) was also similar for the present investigated
conditions. This observation can be interesting since the computational effort required for the simplified model is several
times inferior to that required for the model with the inserted turbine. In spite of this fact, the implementation of the model
is important for prediction of power converted in the OWC device. For the continuity of the present work, it is
recommended the investigation of new geometric variations, as the placement of the OWC in the superior surface of the
chamber and the ratio height/length of the chamber for different positions of the duct. Figure 7 illustrates the effect of
H2/H1 over CpRMS obtained in this paper.
Figure 7. CpRMS variation according to the degree of freedom H2 / H1.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author A.L.G. Santos thanks CNPq for the doctorate scholarship (Process: 440010/2019-5). The author F.B.
Teixeira thanks CNPq for the doctorate scholarship (Process: 165619/2018-0). The authors J.A. Souza, L.A. Isoldi, L.A.O.
Rocha and E.D. dos Santos thanks CNPq – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for research
grant (Processes: 304699/2019-5, 306012/2017-0, 307791/2019-0, 306024/2017-9). The authors A.L.G. Santos and E.D.
dos Santos thanks CNPq for the financial support in the CNPq/Equinor Energia Ltda Call Nº 38/2018 (Process:
440010/2019-5).
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7. RESPONSIBILITY NOTICE
The authors are the only responsible for the printed material included in this paper.
