A team of engineering researchers led by Dr Aristides Kiprakis have conducted a study that challenges the rules which currently govern the layout of tidal turbines.
Experiments carried out by the team at the School’s Flowave Ocean Energy Research Facility have shown for the first time through physical tests that arranging tidal turbines in a close formation – or ‘array’ – results in increased power capture.
Dr Kiprakis’ team’s findings are showcased in a paper titled "Experimental Assessment of Flow, Performance and Loads for Tidal Turbines in a Closely-Spaced Array” (https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/1977) which has been published in the MDPI Energies journal, and recently won an Editor’s Choice Award.
The team’s experimental methods and findings will be useful for further scale-testing of turbine arrays elsewhere, for refining computer models of arrays and for assessing their performance taking into account factors such as forces exerted on the turbines by sea waves.