Abstract
The BladeRunner Energy hydrokinetic turbine A kw-scale prototype of the BladeRunner system was tested at the Tanana River Test Site in Nenana, AK in the fall of 2021 and the summer of 2022. The BladeRunner hydrokinetic turbine uses a flexible torsional cable to connect a submerged trailing rotor to a floating generator housing that is supported by a single mooring line. The BladeRunner design is highly material-efficient owing to the use of only tensile members for load transfer. There is a direct transfer of drag loads from the rotor to the torsional cable to the generator housing to the mooring line. The design is also debris resilient resulting from the rotor’s ability to deflect vertically and horizontally in the water column due to the flexible torsional cable. The BladeRunner also incorporates a unique blade geometry that balances efficiency with debris shedding characteristics. This presentation will share images and video of field testing along with performance data and comparisons to CFD performance predictions. This work is funded by the DOE ARPA-e SHARKS program.