Abstract
A tidal current turbine is designed and analyzed numerically by using blade element momentum theory. The rated power has a limitation because the diameter of the tidal current turbine cannot exceed the depth of sea water. This study investigates a horizontal axis tidal-current turbine with a rated power of 500 kW. NACA-6 series laminar foil shape is used for basic airfoil along the blade span. The distributions of chord length and twist angle along the blade span are obtained from the hydrodynamic optimization procedure. Prandtl's tip loss correction and angle of attack correction considering the three-dimensional effect are applied for this study. The power coefficient curve shows maximum peak at the rated tip speed ratio of 6.0, and the maximum torque coefficient is developed at the tip speed ratio of 4. The drag coefficient reaches about 0.85 at the design tip speed ratio.