Abstract: A prototype of a 300 kW variable speed marine current turbine, SEAFLOW, has been realized and brought into operation in the framework of the project “World’s first pilot project for the exploitation of marine current at a commercial scale” funded by EC.
In order to develop and realize the turbine, a dynamic simulation model based on the Blade Element Method (BEM) has been developed. A speed control algorithm and a plant management concept have been elaborated based on these simulations for a safe operation under normal and extreme current conditions.
A follow up project, “SEAGEN”, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), concerning the development of a prototype of a MW size machine based on a twin rotor concept has been started in August 2005 in close cooperation with the company MCT Ltd, Bristol, UK.
The paper illustrates the different simulation approaches and methods used to develop the turbine model and the recent new techniques applied to improve it: the multi-body simulation and the actuator disc method.
The results of the simulations will be used to develop the control of the machine and to validate the experimental results.
