Publications

Journal Article

Experimental Performance Comparison of Ducted and Freestream Hydrokinetic Turbines

authors

K. Naik, M. Mangano, B. G. Knight, S. Seraj, Y. Liao, J. Park, Y. Pan, J. R. R. A. Martins, K. J. Maki, and J. Sun

journal

Renewable Energy, 123308, 2025

doi

10.1016/j.renene.2025.123308

PDF 
@article{Naik2025,
  author = {Naik, Kartik and Mangano, Marco and Knight, Bradford G. and Seraj, Sabet and Liao, Yingqian and Park, Jeongbin and Pan, Yulin and Martins, Joaquim R. R. A. and Maki, Kevin J. and Sun, Jing},
  doi = {10.1016/j.renene.2025.123308},
  journal = {Renewable Energy},
  note = {(In press)},
  pages = {123308},
  title = {Experimental Performance Comparison of Ducted and Freestream Hydrokinetic Turbines},
  year = {2025}
}
Google Scholar

Hydrokinetic energy’s high energy density and predictable nature make it an effective and reliable renewable resource. Ducted hydrokinetic turbines (HKT) offer benefits such as improved flow conditioning and higher power efficiency for the same reference area compared to an equivalent conventional freestream turbine. We designed and constructed an HKT system to characterize the performance of freestream and ducted turbines at various speeds and blade pitch angles in a state-of-the-art tow tank. When comparing the respective optimal blade pitch settings, the ducted turbine’s power efficiency is 19% higher than that of the freestream one. Our ducted turbine measured a peak power coefficient of C_P=0.47 despite unfavorable Reynolds number effects. This system’s power and thrust characterization indicates that ducted turbines, with an improved design and more favorable operating conditions, would likely exceed the measured C_P=0.47, laying the ground for further design optimization studies.