Energy 60 (2013) 187e194

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Design of high-efcient and universally applicable blades of tidal

stream turbine
Baigong Wu a, b, Xueming Zhang a, b, *, Jianmei Chen a, b, Mingqi Xu a, b, Shuangxin Li a, b,
Guangzhe Li a, b
a
Institute for Advanced Energy Technology, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin Province, Peoples Republic of China
b
JiLin Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Development and Application Innovation, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin Province, Peoples
Republic of China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The tidal stream turbine is the major device we use to obtain the kinetic energy of tides. The blades of the
Received 12 January 2013 rotor are one of the essential parts which can convert tidal current energy into mechanical energy. Now
Received in revised form most horizontal-axis turbine blade design theories are mostly based on the BEM (blade element mo-
10 May 2013
mentum) theory and Glauert theory (e.g., WTperf, GHbladed). This paper comes up with a new method e
Accepted 27 July 2013
Available online 28 August 2013
Schmitz design. This method is easier, but they have the same physical philosophy. Also we change the
chord length distribution to adapt the low stream velocity. This new hydrofoil increases the startup torque,
improves the total performance of the turbine and decreases the thrust coefcient. At the same time we
Keywords:
The tidal stream turbine
consider the incipient cavitations, tip loss and airfoil loss. We compare the design results with the
Schmitz theory experimental data in the literature. This method can satisfy the requirement of the design.
Startup torque 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cavitations
Stall

1. Introduction BEM (blade element momentum) theory. Another example of BEM

With the development of the world economy, the consumption
of energy is greatly rising. However, the depletion of traditional
energy resources (e.g., fossil fuel) and the environment pollution as
a result of the fossil fuel consumption urge the global community to
seek the alternative energy resources, specially renewable re-
sources [1e3]. Tidal energy is an extremely available energy source
in the future, because it is a kind of extremely reliable, periodic,
abundant and continuous energy. Many countries start to study and
make strategic plan to develop the tidal energy [4].
Technology acquisition on tidal current power turbine optimized
design is difcult because currently, the literature on tidal current
turbine design is insufcient [5]. Most of the horizontal-axis tidal
stream turbine design theories come from the wind turbine and ship
propellers [6]. They are mostly based on the BEM (blade element
momentum) theory, rst introduced by Glauert [7]. One of the ex-
amples of BEM methods is Zhao Weiguos literature [8]. He describes
a hydraulic design and performance validation model for horizontal
marine current turbine. This method is developed by applying the
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: 86 0431 85099728.
E-mail address: zhangxm634@nenu.edu.cn (X. Zhang).
method is Lanzafame and Messinas literature [9]. In this scientic
literature, a micro wind turbine is designed and built for a series of
wind tunnel tests stems from the BEM. Also many papers are about
the analysis of the tidal turbine with the method of BEM and other
method. The example is Pengfei Lius paper [10]. He introduced that
a computational hydrodynamics method was formulated and
implemented for horizontal axis tidal turbines. This numerical tool
could be validated further for turbines.
The essence of Glauert theory is to get the axial ow induction
factor and the tangential ow induction factor. We need repeat
iteration to obtain a and a0 , then we will get the chord length and
the twist angle [11]. The procedure is very complicated. The two
coefcients denote the axial loss and the tangential loss. Even the
chord length and the twist angle we obtain may not be the optimal.
The Glauert theory and the Schmitz theory have the same philos-
ophy e the axial loss and the tangential loss. But the Schmitz theory
doesnt have an iteration procedure to obtain a or a0 , it is much
simpler. Till now, most of blade design soft wares (e.g., WTperf,
GHbladed) are based on the BEM (blade element momentum the-
ory) and Glauert theory; this paper will discuss the Schmitz theory
in the horizontal-axis tidal stream turbine blade design and its
improvement. The Schmitz theory is rstly explained by Schmitz in
the Ref [12].

0360-5442/$ e see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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188 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194

Nomenclature R blade tip radius (m)

Re Reynolds number (dimensionless)
a the axial ow induction factor (dimensionless) TSR tip speed ratio (dimensionless)
a0 the tangential ow induction factor (dimensionless) V ow speed (m/s)
CL lift coefcient (dimensionless) v the uid speed(m/s)
CD drag coefcient (dimensionless) v1 the unperturbed uid speed (m/s)
Cp pressure coefcient (dimensionless) W resultant velocity on rotating blade (m/s)
dL lift force on the element of the blade(N) W1 the inlet velocity of the upstream (m/s)
dP power on the element of the blade(W) W2 the velocity near the blade (m/s)
du the tangential force(N) W3 the velocity of the downstream (m/s)
D drag (N) Z the number of the blades (dimensionless)
g acceleration due to gravity (m/s2) a attack angle of the water ow on the blade ( )
h head of water (m) a1 inlet angle ( )
L lift (N) b the relative velocity inlet angle ( )
m mass ow(kg) lift drag ratio (dimensionless)
t chord length (mm) h power coefcient (dimensionless)
P rotor power (W) hT thrust coefcient (dimensionless)
PAT atmospheric pressure (N/m2) q pitch angle ( )
PL local pressure (N/m2) l tip speed ratio (dimensionless)
PV vapor pressure (N/m2) lA designed tip speed ratio (dimensionless)
P0 reference static pressure (N/m2) r uid density (kg/m3)
Q rotor torque (Nm) s cavitation number (dimensionless)
r radius of local blade element (m) U rotational speed of rotor (rad/s)

2. The mathematical model
We apply Schmitz theory to set up a mathematical model to
design the turbine blade. The Schmitz theory is explained in the
Appendix A [12]. As showed in Figs. A.1 and A.2, Eq. (A.7) is
f b dP 2prr 2 w21 sin 2a1  bsin2 bdr. We obtain
f(0) f(a1) 0. According to Rolles Theorem, in the closed interval
[0, a1], there is at least one point in (0, a1) at which
f 0 b 2 sin b sin3b  2a1 0. According to the First Deriva-
tive Theorem for Local Extreme Values [13], if we want to obtain the
Extreme Values, we can differentiate Eq. (A.6) and keep the deriva-
tion zero. We obtain that when b 2a1 =3 2 arctanR=lA r=3,
important that the blades of tidal stream turbines start rotating at
the low speed. And only few published work on tidal stream startup
has been found just like the wind turbine [16]. When blades dont
rotate, the high attack angle and the low Re limit the lift force
produced by the blades [17]. We can calculate it approximately. The
airfoil lift coefcients at high a can be approximated by the at
plate equation [5], CL 2sinacosa.
From the primary design results in Table 1, we use the lognormal
function to obtain the chord length distribution tting function. We
obtain the chord length distribution as Eq. (4).
100
t 25 p eln 0:65927 =2
x 2

f 0 b is equal to 0. According to the reference [14], we know the value

(4)
2px
of the b determines the axial loss and the tangential loss. At the
critical point the output power is the largest. So the best relative From the Ref. [14], we obtain dL rn2 tdrCL =2. As the Fig. A.2
velocity inlet angle is shows, the total torque is

2 arctanR=lA r ZR ZR ZR
b (1) rv2 tCL sin br
3 Q dU*rdr dL sin b*rdr dr
2
If we get the relative velocity inlet angle b and let it equal to 2a1/ 0 0 0
3, we get the optimal twist angle distribution and the chord length Z1
distribution as Eqs. (2)e(3). rv2 tCL R sin b
dx (5)
2
q b  a a is attack angle (2) 0

When the blades are still, the attack angle a p/2q, the
16pr
a  relative velocity inlet angle b 90 and the pitch angle tting
t sin2 1 (3) function is q 2 48:79ex=0:2797 . We obtain
CL 3
We select NACA63-815 as our airfoil. When we obtain the chord
Z1  
length distribution, the twist angle distribution and the shape of rv2 R 100 2
25 p eln 0:65927 =2
x
Q
the airfoil, we can design the geometry of the blade [15]. 2 2px
0 (6)
 !
2p  2 48:79ex=0:2797
3. The layout of the blade  sin dx
180

3.1. The correction of chord length of the blade From Eq. (6), we know the root region (about 30% of the blades)
generate the 66.89% of the torque before they begin to rotate.
The speed of the tidal stream in most region of China is slow, but When the blades are rotating, CL is almost the same, according to
the turbine is difcult to generate power at low speed. So it is Eq. (5), b q a 3:5 48:79ex=0:2797 , we obtain
 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194 189

Table 1
The result of the design.

r/R r (mm) t (mm) t (mm) t0 (mm) (CL 1.242) 0 (correction) Pitch angle
(CL 0.8) (CL 1.242) (correction) distribution ( )

0.1 40 143 92.3 142.3 63.457 138.592 43.4

0.2 80 190 122.4 129.6 83.306 134.914 33.9
0.3 120 191 123.1 116.9 91.161 131.721 26.5
0.4 160 177 113.7 104.2 92.174 126.809 21.1
0.5 200 159 102.3 91.5 94.167 122.162 17
0.6 240 142 91.6 78.8 95.308 116.507 13.9
0.7 280 128 82.3 66.1 96.104 110 11.5
0.8 320 115 74.3 53.4 96.598 101.726 9.6
0.9 360 105 67.6 40.7 96.936 91.635 8.1
1.0 400 96 61.8 28 97.190 77.865 6.8

Fig. 1. The Cp distributions of section 1 to section 6.

190 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194

Fig. 2. The Cp distributions of section 7 to section 10. s is cavitation number, x/c is the location of the chord,eCp is pressure coefcient.

rv2 CL R
Z1
 100 2

where
Q0 25 p eln 0:65927 =2 sin bdx
x
1 9x2 (7)
2 2px 2Q U 2
0 h Ql (9)
pR2 rv3 pR2 rv2
From Eq. (7), we get the tip region (50% of the blades) generate
the 53.6% of all the torque, and the root region (30% of the blades) Eq. (9) tells us if we want to keep the power coefcient h and the
only generate 30.3% of it. tip speed ratio l as designed, we should keep the total torque Q
The output power is dened as invariable. First, we make the chord length distribution in trape-
zium. The chord length tting formula is t 0 155  127x.
1 When the blades are still, the total torque Q increased by 24.2%.
P Q *U rpR2 v3 h (8) But when the blades are rotating, Q0 keeps the same. That is to say
2
the startup velocity decreases by 11.4%.

Fig. 3. The with different section of blade A. Section 1 to section 10 stands for the
section of the blade. Fig. 4. The with different section of blade B.
 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194 191

Fig. 5. The Cl with different section of blade A. Cl is the lift coefcient.

Most startup torque is generated near the root region of the

blade, and most power extracting torque comes from the tip region,
it is also mentioned in the literature [16]. When we change the
chord length of the root regions, the out power varies little, but the
startup torque increases a lot. So we should revise the chord length
distribution to keep good startup performance and good power
performance. The rest part we call the correction of the blade A and
the trapezium blade B.

3.2. The attack angle design

Cavitations occur on the blade when the pressure goes down to

the vapor pressure of the uid [6]. The cavitations coefcient
denition is

P0  Pv P rgh  Pv
s AT (10)
0:5rV 2 0:5rV 2
And the pressure coefcient [18] is

PL  P0
Cp (11)
0:5rV 2
From Eqs. (10) and (11), we know when Cp  s, cavitations will
occur. The pressure distribution predictions from XFoil seems to be
good from the Mollands literature [19]. We take advantage of XFoil

Fig. 7. The ow chart.

Fig. 6. The Cl with different section of blade B. Fig. 8. The stereogram of the blade A.
192 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194

Fig. 9. The stereogram of the blade B.

to get the pressure distributions to predict the cavitations. The

cavitations coefcient equals to 1.77 from the Eq. (10). The pressure
Fig. 10. Comparison of chord length distribution.
distributions from section 1 to section 10 are shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Figs. 3 and 4 indicate the highest occurs while a 8 . In order
to avoid the cavitations and achieve high , Cpmax must be smaller presents in Figs. 10 and 11. We nd that the pitch angle is smaller
than 1.77. We assume the attack angle equals to 5.5 . The designed l than that in Ref. [19]. The chord length of the blade A in the root of
equals to 3, and the rated speed is 1.73 m/s. the blade is longer than blade B, and it is shorter than the blade B in
Stall and separation occur when the blade sectional effective the tip. Both attack angles are smaller than that in Ref. [19].
angle of attack reaches high value [20]. From Figs. 5 and 6, we know
if the attack angle is larger than 9 , the lift coefcient will decline.
4.2. Comparison of the power coefcient
Also the stall and separation occur more easily while the Re is low
[20]. Figs. 5 and 6 shows a varies from 0 to 9 , and the value of CL
When we calculate the power coefcient, we consider the tip
increases all the time. We keep the attack angle smaller than 9 to
loss. When l > 2, the tip loss [14] is dened as
avoid the stall and separation effectively.
1:84
3.3. The blade parameters design program h0 (12)
zl

The XFOIL is an interactive program for the design and analysis The rotating loss derives from the drag. If we keep the attack
of subsonic isolated airfoils [21]. It is used as airfoil analyzer during angle constant, the rotating loss [14] is dened as
the optimization; it is a good tool at the small attack angle [19]. The
l
generation and the optimization processes are showed in Fig. 7. h00 1  (13)
First we use the designed CL (the designed CL of the NACA63-815
is 0.8) to initialize t and a, then we select the reasonable a and CL From Eqs. (12) and (13), (A.11), we get the power coefcient as
that the is the largest and the cavitations wont happen. Then we below:
will correct the t to enlarge the startup torque. The chord length
of section 1 is changed to 142.3 mm, but the lift coefcient varies   Z1  
1:84 l
little. The change of the chord length is according to the required h 1 1  4lx sin 2a1  bsin2 bdx (14)
startup torque and the perimeter of the circle of hub. Above all, we zl
0
get the suitable blade data. After the data is changed into three-
dimensional, we will get the stereogram from modeling software. From Section 2 we know when b 2a1/3, we obtain the highest
The stereogram of the blade is displayed in Figs. 8 and 9. power coefcient. So

 Z1  l

sin3 2a1 =3
h 1  1:84
zl
1 4lx2 dx
sin2 a1
0
(15)

 Z1  l



. 
4lx2 1 l x2 sin3 2 arctan a1 x1
2
1  1:84
zl
1 3 dx

0

4. Hydrodynamic analysis of the blade

4.1. Comparison of chord length and attack angle From the above formula, we know h has relationship with
airfoil, the number of blades, the pitch angle and the tip speed ratio.
To verify the validity of the method, we compare the chord We do not use the axial ow induction factor a and the tangential
length and attack angle with the literature [19]. The comparison ow induction factor a0.
 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194 193

(4) The investigation of this paper provides a useful method for the
design of the tidal turbine. The follow-up research will focus on
the anti-cavitations hydrofoil and control of the stall phenomena.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the project of National Programs for

Science and Technology Development in the 11th Five-Year Period
(No. 2008BAA15B03), project of Special Fund for Marine Renewable
Energy (No. GHME2010ZC05, No. GHME2011CL02), the Funda-
mental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 12QNJJ008).
Also we thank Doctor Zhanglu; with his help we revised the draft.

Appendix A. Schmitz theory

The part of the blade between radius r and radius r dr is

Fig. 11. Comparison of pitch angle distribution.
To verify the validity of the method, we compare the results
with the literature [6,22]. From Table 1 we can get the tting
function
showed in Fig. A.1.
Fig. A.2 shows the direction of the blade forces and the veloc-
ities. We assume the blade is the reference system. W1 stands for
the inlet velocity of the upstream. W2 stands for the velocity near
the blade. W3 stands for the velocity of the downstream. They are
not the same and change gradually. When they are in the con-
ventional terrestrial system, the velocity is V1, V2, and V3.
According to the momentum theory,

0 151:80863  11:59325ex=0:54256 (16) dL$Dt mw1  w3 (A.1)

The lift force on the element of the blade (or on the annulus) is
96:24  77:645ex=0:11498 (17)
m
We use the Eq. (15) to calculate the power coefcient. When the dL w1  w3 (A.2)
Dt
inlet velocity equals to 1.73 m/s, the power coefcient is 42.15%,
while that in literature is 46% (l 6). This illustrates this method is And the mass ow rate is
practicable.
m=Dt 2prrV2 dr (A.3)
The tangential force is
4.3. Comparison of the thrust coefcient
du dL sin b (A.4)
We calculate the thrust and the thrust coefcient through the
Schmitz theory as follows. The power of the element of the blade is

Z1 dP du*r U (A.5)
sin2 2a1 =3cos2a1 =3
hT 4 xdx (18) Also we get
sin2 a1
0
v1 R
When TSR equals to 3, we obtain hT 0.41959, while that in tan a1 (A.6)
Ur r lA
literature is 0.8(l 6). Although the design h is a little lower, there
is a lower hT. That is to say this support structure can support the From Eqs. (A.3)e(A.5) we get
extra loads [14].
dP 2prr 2 w21 sin 2a1  bsin2 bdr (A.7)
5. Conclusions Z1
P 2prx2 lR2 w21 sin 2a1  bsin2 bdx (A.8)
Tidal stream power is an easy assessable and reliable form of
energy in comparison to other emerging renewable energy [23,24], 0

it is important for the island [25]. The purpose of this study is to

apply Schmitz theory to design blade, also the author is working on x r=R
the low velocity hydrofoil. The major conclusions that can be From the Fig. A.2, we obtain
derived from the paper presented are summarized as follows:
v1 w1 sin a1 (A.9)
(1) A model based on the Schmitz theory is presented. This pro-
From the literature [5], we obtain
cedure is demonstrated successfully in design.
(2) This program has a good consideration of the startup torque, a
Pideal rv31 pR2 =2 (A.10)
simple method of designing the horizontal-axis tidal stream
turbine, particularly if sitting turbines in the low tidal.
(3) We have a full consideration of the cavitations, stall and sep- Z1
P
aration. Before ascertain a, the Cp distribution should be h 4x2 l sin 2a1  bsin2 bdx (A.11)
Pideal
smaller than the s, especially that on the leading edge. 0
194 B. Wu et al. / Energy 60 (2013) 187e194
Fig. A.1. The blade element (R is blade tip radius, r is radius of local blade element, dr is
the element of the blade).
Fig. A.2. The blade forces and velocity (dU stands for the tangential force, dL stands for
the lift force on the element of the blade, b is the inow angle, Ur is the rotational
speed. W1 stands for the inlet velocity of the upstream. W2 stands for the velocity near
the blade. W3 stands for the velocity of the downstream. When they are in the con-
ventional terrestrial system, the velocity is V1, V2, and V3).
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