Evaluation of the Performance of Optimized Horizontal-Axis Hydrokinetic Turbines

This review examines various methods for the design and optimization of horizontal-axis hydrokinetic turbines. A detailed analysis is presented of the results from numerical and experimental studies on small axial hydrokinetic turbines optimized through different methodologies. The influence of individual components of the flow passage on the turbine’s efficiency is emphasized. The energy performance of the studied turbines is compared with that of modern commercial hydrokinetic turbines. It is demonstrated that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be used to optimize the geometry of the flow passage, achieving a higher power coefficient compared to commercial hydrokinetic turbines. All of this contributes to the future development of more efficient axial hydrokinetic turbines suitable for operation at lower flow velocities.