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Abstract:With the prospect to deploy hydrokinetic energy converters in areas with heavy boat traffic, a study was conducted to observe and assess the depth range of cavitating flow produced by ferryboats in narrow channels. This study was conducted in the vicinity of Finnhamn Island in Stockholm Archipelago. The objectives of the survey were to assess whether the sonar systems were able to observe and measure the depth of what can be cavitating flow (in a form of convected cloud cavitation) produced by one specific type of ferryboats frequently operating in that route, as well as investigate if the cavitating flow within the wake would propagate deep enough to disturb the water column underneath the surface. A multibeam and a dual-beam sonar systems were used as measurement instruments. The hypothesis was that strong and deep wake can disturb the optimal operation of a hydrokinetic energy converter, therefore causing damages to its rotors and hydrofoils. The results showed that both sonar system could detect cavitating flows including its strength, part of the geometrical shape and propagation depth. Moreover, the boat with a propeller thruster produced cavitating flow with an intense core reaching 4 m of depth while lasting approximately 90 s. The ferry with waterjet thruster produced a less intense cavitating flow; the core reached depths of approximately 6 m, and lasted about 90 s. From this study, it was concluded that multibeam and dual-beam sonar systems with operating frequencies higher than 200 kHz were able to detect cavitating flows in real conditions, as long as they are properly deployed and the data properly analyzed.

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Measurements of tidal current water velocities is an important first step in evaluating the potential for a tidal site to be used as a renewable energy resource. For this reason, on site measurements are performed at the inlet of a fjord situated at the coast of Norway. The site has an average width of 580 m and a depth of 10–15 m which is narrow and shallow enough to give rise to water velocities that can be of use for energy conversion. With the use of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) cross-section measurements are conducted along four transects. The measurements covered flood and ebb currents around one tide and the data give a first approximation of the magnitude and distribution of the flow field. Depth averaged mean current velocities are calculated along the transects for horizontal bins with sizes in the order of 50 × 50 m. Maximum mean velocity for the flood currents were 1.31 m/s and 1.46 m/s for the ebb currents. The measurements show that even a small amount of data can give an indication of the potential and characteristics of the site.