FVCOM-CFD model-based study of hydraulic turbine arrays in Mount Putuo tidal current energy test site

In recent years, China has started to vigorously promote the research of tidal energy power generation technology; and during site testing of tidal energy converters, the distributed tidal energy converters will produce a certain effect on the flow field of the sea area. In this paper, on the basis of a tidal current energy test site established in the sea area between Mount Putuo Island and Hulu Island in Zhoushan city, Zhejiang Province, a far-field mathematical model of a three-dimensional FVCOM model was established, and in conjunction with the TSE evaluation method optimized by incorporating flow characteristic parameters. Compared to traditional assessment methods, the research aims to mitigate the influence of shallow water high-flow-speed regions and complex terrain in the test site area. Use the analysis results as CFD input conditions to perform pseudo-instantaneous numerical simulation to investigate the impact of different deployment angles on the power characteristics of hydraulic turbines, thereby providing ideas for optimizing the arrayed arrangements of tidal energy converters. •Combining FVCOM model far-field simulation and CFD local wake analysis to study the design of turbine arrays.•Combining various optimization methods to avoid the complex impacts of bathymetric changes, the spatial distribution of tidal energy is studied.•Two distinct triangular tidal turbine arrays were compared for their effects on wake flow distribution and power characteristics.