Design and Experimental Research of a Lifting-Type Tidal Energy Capture Device

Abstract

In this study, in order to promote the development of far-reaching marine aquaculture equipment in an intelligent direction and solve the problems related to power supply, a tidal current energy harvesting device for a low-velocity sea area is proposed. For low-velocity waters in farming areas, the device can effectively harness tidal energy to provide a stable power supply to open sea cages. A mathematical model of the Savonius turbine blade is established, and the influence of the distance between the impeller center and the water surface on the energy capture efficiency of the turbine is analyzed through numerical simulation. Using ANSYS2021R1 software, the velocity field of the floating body is simulated, and the overall structure and anchoring system of the power generation device is designed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the power generation device, a test model is built and a physical model test is carried out. The variation in parameters related to the relative distance between the impeller and the water under different flow velocities is tested, and the test data are analyzed. The test results show that the floating body can increase the flow speed by 10%. Optimizing the blade number and order of the S-turbine can capture more than 20% of the energy. Under different flow velocities, the capture power of the impeller first increases and then decreases with increasing distance from the water. When the center of the impeller is one-quarter of the impeller diameter higher than the water surface, the output power of the impeller is at the maximum. This indicates that the proposed power generation device can effectively use tidal energy under different water depth conditions and provide a stable power supply for far-reaching marine aquaculture equipment.