CFD Analysis of the Performance of a Double Decker Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

The Double Decker Turbine (DDT) is a recent design introduced for oscillating water column (OWC) devices. Its major contribution the combination of two typical solutions in just one prototype: self-rectifying performance, to deal with bidirectional flow, and twin-turbine concept, allowing use unidirectional turbines. This achieved by set concentric turbines, called external internal turbines (ExT—InT). In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical model developed study detail performance DDT, where geometrical components both have been taken from previous works authors. ANSYS-Fluent code was first executed means URANS simulation realizable k-ε turbulence obtain curve turbine under steady conditions. Results obtained reveal its potential respect other current state-of-the-art OWC Wave Energy Conversion. Following non-steady analysis, we assumed sinusoidal input chamber which also resulted promising results. Finally, flow analysis inside DDT allowed authors envisage geometric improvements that could enhance efficiency on future works.