Hydrodynamic Analysis and Selection of Airfoil for Efficient Hydrokinetic Turbine Design

Author: Mehedi Hassan Rifat, Md. Kutub Uddin, Farhana Arzu
DOI: doi.org/10.70279/bmj-v8-1036
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Hydrokinetic turbines harness the energy of moving water in rivers, canals and artificial currents without requiring dams. The most critical aspect of maximizing power production is optimizing rotor design, which includes selecting the ideal hydrofoil. The performance of hydrokinetic turbines is determined by the lift-to-drag ratio of the selected foils, with high lift forces at low flow rates being essential for blade design. In this study, the hydrodynamic characteristics of ten different high-lift airfoils were analyzed through Structural Analysis Software QBlade (XFOIL Analysis), by measuring lift and drag coefficients and their ratios to identify the most appropriate airfoils for enhancing hydrokinetic turbine efficiency. The selected airfoils include several commonly used in wind turbines, as the operational principles of wind turbine and hydrokinetic turbine are similar. Due to water's higher Reynolds number (Rn) and broader angle of attack (AoA), a wide range of Rn and AoA were considered. The results show that NACA 4412, S1223 and FX74 offered superior lift coefficients, but FX74 and E421 surpassed other airfoils due to their higher lift-to-drag ratios, achieving 243.01 and 242.22 respectively at Rn 5,000,000, making them highly efficient for water energy harnessing. Symmetrical airfoils showed lower lift and glide ratios, making them less efficient than cambered profiles.