A study on the interference effects for tidal current power rotors

Due to global warming, the need to secure an alternative resource has become more important nationally. With the high tidal range of up to 9.7 m on the west coast of Korea, numerous tidal current projects are being planned and constructed. To extract a significant quantity of power, a tidal current farm with a multi-arrangement is necessary in the ocean. The rotor, which initially converts the energy, is a very important component because it affects the efficiency of the entire system, and its performance is determined by various design variables. The power generation is strongly dependent on the size of the rotor and the incoming flow velocity. However, the interactions between devices also contribute significantly to the total power capacity. Therefore, rotor performance considering the interaction problems needs to be investigated for generating maximum power in a specific field. This paper documents a performance study of devices considering the interference between rotating rotors with axial, transverse and diagonal arrangements.