Abstract
Incident flow measurement is key in the tidal industry for conducting power performance assessments. This paper explores the use of a horizontally mounted Nortek Signature 500 Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) as a means for incident flow measurement onboard a utility-scale tidal turbine. This study shows that the measurement range of an ADCP mounted horizontally in highly dynamic tidal flow (up to 4 m/s) is less than the maximum range stated by the manufacturer. The ability for the horizontal ADCP to accurately resolve velocities in a multi-beam configuration is also analysed. Effects from both vertical shear and beam selection result in incident flow velocities that differ from a single horizontal beam recording. The maximum measurement range of the instrument is found to depend on current speed and on the proportion of data loss that is acceptable to the user. The ability of the ADCP to record data from the free-stream velocity two equivalent diameters upstream of the O2, as set out by IEC TS 62600-200, is considered. It is found that at this distance, there is 90% data loss. Accepting only 10% data loss across all flow speeds resulted in a maximum range of 31 m for a Nortek Signature 500 in this study. While some limitations of an ADCP deployed horizontally in highly energetic tidal flow are identified, the benefits of mounting the sensor close to the rotor facing horizontally into the incoming flow mean that valuable data are still produced for tidal turbine operators.