Fluid Mechanics 101 Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the Fluid Mechanics 101 Podcast, I discuss the challenges in tidal stream turbine design with Wouter Remmerie. Wouter Remmerie is a founder and owner of AirShaper. AirShaper is an online platform that allows you to carry out aerodynamics CFD simulations in the cloud, with no expert knowledge of CFD, aerodynamics or specific software.   

Checkout the abbreviated podcast (with video clips and diagrams) here: https://youtu.be/c3VaPgTJh88

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Timetamps 

0:00 Introduction 

3:11 Aidan's CFD Background 

4:48 Wind Rotors and Tidal Rotors 

9:30 Aeroplane Tip Vortices 

12:10 Rotor Tip Vortices 

14:30 Turbine Farm Layout 

17:40 Downstream spacing 

21:21 Marine life growth 

24:30 Rotor power and size 

28:59 Tidal Sites around the World 

34:41 Lateral Blockage 

39:55 Spacing research (MeyGen) 

41:45 Ducted Turbines 

43:12 Support Structures 

45:28 Cavitation 

49:39 Outro  

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Follow Wouter Remmerie on: 

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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/AirShaper 

Web https://www.airshaper.com 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AirShaper 

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/airshaper

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More Information: 

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Dr Aidan Wimshurst's Doctoral Thesis https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a91acd6f-dc86-4cad-bf5e-b042e81840dc 

Dr Aidan Wimshurst's Research on ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aidan-Wimshurst

In this episode of the Fluid Mechanics 101 Podcast, I discuss new research in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) that is being carried out to model steam bubbles in water-cooled nuclear reactors with Dr Giovanni Giustini. Dr Giovanni Giustini is a research fellow in the Nuclear Engineering Research Group at Imperial College London. His research focusses on interface capturing methods that can be used to track steam bubbles in boiling water, which have direct application to water-cooled nuclear reactors. 

Some useful timestamps for the discussion are: 

02:41 An Introduction to Dr Giovanni Giustini and Nuclear Engineering

09:34 How do Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) work? What are the differences between them? 

12:10 What is a Generation 4 Nuclear Reactor? 

15:16 Are we looking at nuclear fission? 

17:28 How is CFD used in the Nuclear Reactor design and analysis? 

18:33 Not all reactors use water as a coolant. But most of them do! 

19:48 The problem with steam bubbles in the primary circuit of a Nuclear Reactor.

25:50 The generation of steam bubbles under accident or fault conditions. 

28:40 Why are steam bubbles difficult to model in CFD? 

30:36 How do you model the presence of steam in water in a CFD model? 

34:04 The limits of a continuum representation when studying phase change processes. 

36:45 Developing new phase change models for CFD.

38:14 What are the differences between air bubbles and steam bubbles? 

42:17 Developing new experiments to support steam bubble research.

43:03 What CFD code does Giovanni use to develop new models? 

45:32 How is the research unit structured? Is it all doctoral students? 

49:00 What does the future look like for CFD in the nuclear industry?

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 Links and Further Information

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2020 NIRAB (Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board) report

https://www.nirab.org.uk/our-work/annual-reports

UK Government 'The ten point plan for a green industrial revolution'

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution

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Follow Dr Giovanni Giustini on:

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Google Scholar

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a1vPILAAAAAJ&hl=en

Research Gate 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giovanni-Giustini

... and read his Doctoral thesis:

https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1/44077

In this episode of the Fluid Mechanics 101 Podcast, I discuss challenges and opportunities in Tidal Stream Energy with Dr Chris Vogel. Dr Chris Vogel is a departmental lecturer at the University of Oxford in the Department of Engineering Science. His research focusses on Wind and Tidal Turbine energy extraction. 

Some useful timestamps for the discussion are: 

02:25 An Introduction to Dr. Chris Vogel and Tidal Stream Energy

06:50 What is tidal range / barrage technology? 

12:05 What are tidal stream turbines and what are some of the challenges with this technology? 

13:45 What are the different options for installation of tidal stream turbines? 

16:40 Some examples of sites where tidal stream turbines are already installed and operational.  

18:53 A discussion of challenges faced by tidal stream turbines. 

24:00 The effect of blockage on tidal turbine rotor loading and design. 

29:47 One of the challenges faces by tidal stream turbines: blade deformation 

35:17 Investigating tidal turbine blade deformation with a fluid-structure interaction analysis

41:49 Dr Chris Vogel's roles and resposibilities as a lecturer at the University of Oxford. 

46:20 The interface between research groups, academia and industry. How large is the tidal energy community?

54:37 What contribution can tidal stream energy make to a low-carbon electricity network and help to meet climate change targets? 

01:00:44 Closing thoughts

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 Links and Further Information

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The MeyGen Site in Scotland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeyGen

OpenFAST - An open source wind turbine simulation tool, developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory

https://www.nrel.gov/wind/nwtc/openfast.html

Dr Chris Vogel's paper on Tidal Turbine Blade Deformation: 

F. Zilic, C. Vogel and R. Willden, 'Hydrodynamic analysis of turbine control through blade-deformation', Developments in Renewable Energies Offshore, September 2020. DOI: 10.1201/9781003134572-67

Dr Chris Vogel on Research Gate: 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher_Vogel5

Dr Chris Vogel's Doctoral thesis:

http://www2.eng.ox.ac.uk/civil/publications/theses/vogel