Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021 - 26a

DESIGN OPTIMIZATION
Physixfactor, Netherlands
PRODUCINGPRODUCING POWER,
POWER,
PROTECTING FISH WITH
ARRIEUS
PROTECTING FISH WITH A
DARRIEUS WATER TURBINE
TER TURBINE
The Netherlands employs coastal flood control structures that could also be
used to harness tidal power. Strict national and European regulations drive new
turbine designs that are inherently safe for fish passage. To develop such a rotor
design for client Water2Energy, Physixfactor used simulation to adapt a Darrieus
wind turbine for water use. Compared to conventional hydropower turbines,
experiments show that the Water2Energy vertical-axis design reduces fish
mortality rates from 20% to less than 1%.
by ALAN PETRILLO
" Here in the Netherlands, we are pretty close to the sea, " says
Helger van Halewijn, who then smiles at his understatement.
The North Sea (Noordzee) and the Dutch are inseparable.
From this intimate and turbulent relationship, the people of
the Netherlands have learned to be resilient, and also flexible.
Rather than fighting with the water, it has long been wiser to
negotiate a wary truce. The famous Dutch landscape of dykes,
canals, and polders does not stop the sea, so much as it redirects
water flow into something manageable - and useful.
This resourcefulness lives on in modern Dutch infrastructure
projects and in the people who make them possible. " We not
only want to use our dykes for flood protection. We can also use
them to address the need for energy and to protect fish and the
environment, " says Van Halewijn, the director of engineering
design consultancy Physixfactor. To achieve these goals, Dutch
company Water2Energy turned to Van Halewijn to support the
modeling of their vertical-axis water turbine (VAWT) for use
in flood-control structures. Using multiphysics simulation, he
optimized the Water2Energy VAWT to produce more electric
power while minimizing potential harm to sea life.
The technology of this tidal power project may be modern,
as is its emphasis on environmental protection, but its roots run
deep into the vulnerable (but carefully guarded) Dutch soil.
» ZEELAND AND THE DELTA WORKS:
PROTECTING A PRECARIOUS PLACE
If any region of the Netherlands can be considered closest to
26a COMSOL NEWS
Intro
Cov
ToCToC
+
-
A
➭
(and most affected by) the
sea, it may be the section with
" sea " in its name: Zeeland.
The westernmost and least
populated Dutch province is
also a river delta, where the
Scheldt, Meuse, and Rhine all
flow into the North Sea. More
than one third of Zeeland's
total area is water. Its Latin
motto of luctor et emergo, or
" I struggle and emerge, " is
illustrated on Zeeland's coat
of arms by a lion rising out of
the waves.
Even by Dutch standards,
Zeeland is especially vulnerable
to North Sea storms, and
the 1953 storm known
today as Watersnoodramp
permanently reshaped the
region. A combination of
winds, tides, and storm surge
caused the sea level to rise
more than 4 meters above
average, breaching dykes and
inundating 165,000 hectares
of land. More than 1800
people were killed and tens
of thousands were forced to
flee the area. The Netherlands
responded by building a
sophisticated system of dams
and barriers throughout the
delta region.
In the Dutch tradition,
these Deltawerken, or Delta
Works, did not completely
wall off the sea from the
land. The need for protection
against periodic storms had
to be balanced against the
region's everyday needs,
including fishery and river
access to the major ports of
Rotterdam and Antwerp,
Belgium. Therefore, the Delta
Works combined some fixed
barriers with other semiopen
structures, closing only when
there is a threatening storm
surge.
➮
http://info.hotims.com/79418-936
Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021
