A Study on Current Characteristics Based on Design and Performance Test of Current Generator of KRISO's Deep Ocean Engineering Basin

Abstract

To build an environment facility of a large-scale ocean basin, various detailed reviews are required, but it is difficult to find data that introduces the related research or construction processes on the environment facility. The current generator facility for offshore structure safety evaluation tests should be implemented by rotating the water of the basin. However, when the water in the large basin rotates, relatively large flow irregularities may occur and the uniformity may not be adequate. In this paper, design and review were conducted to satisfy the performance goals of the DOEB through computational numerical analysis on the shape of the waterway and the flow straightening devices to form the current in the large tank. Based on this, the head loss, which decreases the flow rate when the large tank water rotates through the water channel, was estimated and used as the pump capacity (impeller) design data. The impeller of the DOEB current generator was designed through computational numerical analysis (CFD) based on the lift surface theory from the axial-type impeller shape for satisfying the head loss of the waterway and maximum current velocity. In order to confirm the performance of the designed impeller system, the flow rate and flow velocity performance were checked through factory test operation. And, after installing DOEB, the current flow rate and velocity performance were reviewed compare with the original design target values. Finally, by measuring the current velocity of the test area in DOEB formed through the current generator, the spatial current distribution characteristics in the test area were analyzed. Through the analysis of the current distribution characteristics of the DOEB test area, it was confirmed that the realization of the maximum current velocity and the average flow velocity distribution, the main performance goals in the waterway design process, were satisfied.