Velocity field in the wake of a hydropower farm equipped with Achard turbines

The study consists of experimental and numerical investigations related to the water flow in the wake of a hydropower farm, equipped with three Achard turbines. The Achard turbine is a French concept of vertical axis cross-flow marine current turbine, with three vertical delta-blades, which operates irrespective of the water flow direction. A farm model built at 1:5 scale has been tested in a water channel. The Achard turbines run in stabilized current, so the flow can be assumed to be almost unchanged in horizontal planes along the vertical z-axis, thus allowing 2D numerical modelling, for different farm configurations: the computational domain is a cross-section of all turbines at a certain z-level. The two-dimensional numerical model of that farm has been used to depict the velocity field in the wake of the farm, with COMSOL Multiphysics and FLUENT software, to compute numerically the overall farm efficiency. The validation of the numerical models with experimental results is performed via the measurement of velocity distribution, by Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry, in the wake of the middle turbine within the farm. Three basic configurations were studied experimentally and numerically, namely: with all turbines aligned on a row across the upstream flow direction; with turbines in an isosceles triangular arrangement pointing downstream; with turbines in an isosceles triangular arrangement pointing upstream. As long as the numerical flow in the wake fits the experiments, the numerical results for the power coefficient (turbine efficiency) are trustworthy. The farm configuration with all turbines aligned on a same row leads to lower values of the experimental velocities than the numerical ones, while the farm configurations where the turbines are in isosceles triangular arrangement, pointing downstream or upstream, present a better match between numerical and experimental data.