This project involves the design of a novel coreless hydrokinetic turbine. The goal was to develop a power plant that can harvest energy from a river or tidal basin to meet the energy needs of remote areas. The turbine was designed as a rotating tube with blades extending inwards in contrast with a traditional windmill-like design. This turbine is enclosed in an outer casing, similar to that of a jet engine, and drives three generators. Performance optimization was conducted through simulations using ANSYS Fluent, MATLAB, and XFOIL. An operational small-scale prototype was built for concept demonstration through physical water tunnel tests. The deliverables include design specifications for a hydrokinetic power plant capable of producing enough electricity to sustain remote communities.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Chu, Jillian Sze-en
• Kim, Alexander Soonho
• Pagliuca, Joseph Michael

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042219-170908

Advisor

• Guceri, Selcuk

Year

• 2019

Date created

• 2019-04-22

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright