aAssistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sree Sastha College of Engineering, Chennai, India
bProfessor, Head of Institution, KGiSL Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India
cAssociate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
dAssistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P S V College of Engineering & Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
Online published on 14 December, 2015.
A rising demand for electrical energy is emerging as one of the major issues today. Renewable energy gives a good alternative to conventional energy. Hydropower is a well-known category in the stream of renewable energy to reduce the demand for electrical energy. Hydrokinetic energy technologies are comparatively newer than other hydropower systems. It has high energy density and good probability over other types of renewable energy. A considerable amount of renewable energy in the form of kinetic energy is available in natural flowing water, such as river stream, tidal current, and water flow in the artificial channel. Land water resource and offshore ocean energy sectors are the credible resource for this kind of energy harness. Dams and diversions are not needed for the hydrokinetic energy conversion system. Verities of technologies and developments were identified for electric power generation from hydrokinetic energy. This paper reviews the current level of hydrokinetic technology for energy conversion applications, starting with a set of basic meaning related to this technology. The hydrokinetic energy theory is reviewed according to their concepts, method of function, applications, and advantages and disadvantages. Finally, a detailed assessment of popular turbine systems, along with its classification and qualitative comparison is presented.
Hydrokinetic energy converters, turbines, hydrokinetic turbine rotors, axial turbines
