Defining Optimum Operational Speeds for Tidal Turbines
It is crucial for OpenHydro to obtain precise current, wave and turbulence information as they are delivering two of the world’s first grid connected tidal arrays.
Tidal turbine manufacturer OpenHydro Technology Ltd, a DCNS company, have opted for Nortek’s Signature instrumentation to aide in their understanding of the environment in which its 16 meter diameter tidal turbines operate.
Two such turbines have already been deployed on EDF’s Paimpol-Bréhat project in France. Two more turbines are in the final stages of completion and will be deployed in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia later this summer.
With OpenHydro’s turbines being deployed on such a large scale, its requirement for understanding local currents could not be more pressing.
Understanding the flow field around each turbine is crucial to understanding the optimum operational speeds and the loads on the turbine itself. Furthermore, quantifying these currents improves understanding of how the turbine structure affects the currents and thus the local environment.
OpenHydro chose Nortek’s Signature500 current profiler for its measurement range capabilities and high-end performance specifications.
“The Nortek Signature500 is a superb measurement device which performs very well. The devices have been easily integrated into our system thanks to their usability and the data recorded so far has been of excellent quality,” said Hamish Kerr, Oceanographic Engineer at Open Hydro.
OpenHydro hope to utilize the very fast sampling and concurrent capabilities of the Signature500 to define current velocities to an unprecedented degree.