Abstract
This study investigates methods to quantify the effects of turbulence on power generation from hydrokinetic current energy converters (CECs) in natural settings with high Reynolds numbers on the order of 106. In Alaska and other similar riverside locales, deployments are complicated by debris, such as trees, root balls and other large objects. The presence of debris requires a means of mitigating the impacts of such debris on any installed CECs. One method to protect infrastructure is to employ a debris diverter to physically impede and divert trees from impacting CECs installed downstream. UAF researchers designed and demonstrated such a system on the Tanana River over multiple open water seasons beginning in 2009 to present. While effective at diverting debris, this Research Debris Diversion Platform (RDDP), leads to a reduction of average velocity immediately downstream of the platform, which translates to a proportional reduction in CEC power output. The RDDP also increases the percentage of turbulent kinetic energy, which may significantly impact power generation. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between mean and turbulence velocity components and electrical power generation by a CEC deployed downstream of the RDDP during the summer of 2016. Our results show several trends between velocity components and the CEC power output. This is the first step in understanding how different scales of turbulence may affect the power output of CECs. An improved understanding of the relationship between the scale of turbulent eddies and CEC power output will improve predictions of available power used to determine the optimal location for CEC deployment placement in rivers, potentially leading to methods to improve the efficiency of CECs. In remote regions with permanently islanded microgrids, such as communities in Alaska, such improvements could help reduce the dependence on costly