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Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting has attracted considerable attention because of its prospects in self-powered electronic applications. There are a many low-velocity waters in nature, such as rivers, seas and oceans, which contain abundant hydrokinetic energy. In this paper, an optimal geometric piezoelectric beam combining magnetic excitation is identified and applied to a vortex-induced vibration energy harvester (ViVEH) for low velocity water flow, which is composed of a continuous variable-width piezoelectric beam carrying a cylindrical bluff body. The finite element simulation and experiment are first carried out to study the harvesting characteristics of the designed variable-width beam ViVEH without considering the magnetic excitation. The influence of the width-ratio and flow velocity on the harvesting voltage is studied in detail. The optimal structure, a ViVEH equipped with triangular piezoelectric beam, is then obtained by the superior energy harvesting performance for low velocity water flow. From the experimental results, at a flow velocity of 0.6 m/s, the highest root mean square (RMS) voltage and RMS voltage per unit area are 19.9 V and 0.07 V/mm 2 , respectively. Furthermore, magnetic excitation is introduced to improve the scavenging performance of the optimal triangular beam ViVEH, different polarity arrangements are compared, and the optimal case, the arrangement of horizontal repulsion and vertical attraction (HR-VA), is obtained. This case can scavenge the highest power of 173 μW at a flow velocity of 0.5 m/s, which is increased by 127% compared to a conventional constant-width beam ViVEH with no magnetic excitation.

This paper presents a method of measuring gas flow velocity based on the thermal time-of-flight method. The essence of the solution is an analysis of the time shift and the shape of voltage signals at the transmitter and at a temperature wave detector. The measurements used a probe composed of a wave transmitter and a detector, both in the form of thin tungsten wires. A rectangular signal was used at the wave transmitter. The time-of-flight of the wave was determined on the basis of the time shift of two selected characteristic points of the voltage waveform at the transmitter and the wave detector. To obtain the correct velocity indication, a correction in the form of a simple power function was applied. From the measurements performed, the relative uncertainty of the method was obtained, from approx. 4% of the measured value at an inflow velocity of 6.5 cm/s to 1% for an inflow velocity of 50 cm/s and higher.

The vertical axis hydrokinetic turbine is increasingly being used as a renewable energy device to harness tidal energy. In coastal regions with low tidal flow velocities, vertical-axis hydrokinetic turbines often exhibit low energy conversion efficiency, limiting their engineering applications. However, research in this field lacks systematic reviews and reliable solutions for improving efficiency. The paper, based on the traditional vertical axis hydrokinetic turbines, utilized numerical calculations and experimental methods to investigate the effects of blade helicity and airfoil curvature on the energy conversion efficiency of vertical axis hydrokinetic turbines in low flow velocity conditions. Additionally, an improved vertical-axis turbine model is proposed to enhance energy conversion efficiency in low-flow environments. The results indicate that increasing the blade helical angle and airfoil curvature can better optimize the flow conditions around the turbine, significantly improving the energy conversion efficiency of vertical axis turbines. The airfoil blade with a 20% curvature performs best at blade angle, with its power coefficient curve reaching higher peak values at several azimuth angles. At this point, the maximum efficiency reaches 24.42%. Compared to the conventional straight-blade design, the improved turbine model exhibits 6.13% increase in average energy capture efficiency, 3.70% increase in average dynamic torque, and 11.1% improvement in self-starting performance. Comparative analysis reveals that vertical-axis helical blade turbines exhibit superior hydrodynamic performance under low-flow conditions, effectively overcoming the limitations of conventional straight-blade turbines, including poor self-starting capability and low efficiency. This research provides valuable insights into improving the performance of vertical-axis turbines in low-flow environments and suggests innovative solutions for optimizing turbine design.

By combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and surrogate model method (SMM), the relationship between turbine performance and airfoil shape and flow characteristics at low flow rate is revealed. In this paper, the flow velocity tidal energy airfoil model is designed based on the Kriging model, and the original airfoil with a relative thickness of 12% and a relative curvature of 2.5% is obtained. The parameter optimization is carried out by setting the 4th CST equations through the surrogate model; the maximum lift-drag ratio is the optimization goal, the optimization design variable is 10, the maximum number of iterations is 100, and the maximum number of sub-optimization iterations is 200. The results show that the hydrodynamic performance of the airfoil with thinner thickness and more curvature is better, the maximum thickness part is shifted forward by 4.58%, and the lift-drag ratio is improved by 4.03%. The flow field and the efficiency are more stable, which provides an engineering reference for the optimal design of hydraulic turbine airfoils under low flow velocity. It supplements the research on the performance of turbine blades in low velocity.

The mechanisms controlling the dependence on low-velocity flow of the piloted ignition of a solid material under external radiant heating is investigated through a numerical modeling. The poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was used as the fuel. The objective of the present study is to gain insight into the intrinsic ignition mechanisms of a solid fuel, as well as to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamical characteristics of the ignition process near the extinction limit. For this purpose, a two-dimensional numerical model has been developed using the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS5) code, in which both solid-phase and gas-phase reactions are calculated. Two radiant heat flux, which are 16 and 25 kW/m2 were studied, and an external air flow was varied from 3 to 40 cm/s. The simulation results showed that transient gas reaction flashed before a continuous flame was attached to the sample surface for gas flow velocities lower than a critical value. As the flow velocity is reduced, the flashing time, which is defined as the time when any flame is seen above the sample surface, decreases, while the duration of flashing increases. The solid surface temperature and mass flow rate increase rapidly during flashing. The ignition time, which is defined as the time when a continuous flame is attached to the fuel surface, decreases, reaches a minimum, and then increases until ignition cannot occur. Mechanisms were considered to explain the ‘‘V-shaped” dependence of ignition time on flow-velocity, and two regimes were identified each having a different controlling mechanism: the mass transport regime where the ignition delay is controlled by the mixing of oxygen and pyrolyzate; and the heat transfer regime where the ignition delay is controlled by changes in convection heat losses and critical mass flux for ignition. With the decrease of the airflow velocity, the critical mass flux shows a trend of decreasing and then increasing, which is dominated by the mixing of the pyrolyzate and the oxidizer, while the critical temperature monotonically decreases, which is dominated by a reduction of the net heat flux at the fuel surface. The results provide further insight into the ignition behavior of solid fuel under low-velocity flow environment, and guidance about fire safety in microgravity environments.

This paper describes a study to expand the knowledge as to whether a thermal wave anemometer can be used to measure the velocity of flowing gases or gas mixtures in situ. For this purpose, several series of measurements were performed in laboratory conditions using both the previously used probe and other probes of similar design. The probes were not modified mechanically or electrically in any way. The obtained results were compared with each other, and on this basis, the optimal, though purely empirical, form of the calibration function was determined (4). The analysis of the relative differences between the measured and set velocity values showed that they do not exceed 1% in the velocity range from 0.05 to 2.5 m/s. Lowering the sensitivity of the method for velocities below approx. 0.05 m/s results in a rapid increase in the observed deviations, reaching 15% for 0.015 m/s. The conducted research also revealed an increased resistance of the proposed measurement method to small flow disturbances, both longitudinal and transverse, and a reduced sensitivity to non-optimal positioning of the probe in relation to the flow direction, relative to the methods using both detectors.

The research on tidal-current energy-capture technology mainly focuses on the conditions of high flow velocity, focusing on the use of differential pressure lift, while the average flow velocity in most sea areas of China is less than 1.5 m/s, especially in the marine aquaculture area, where tidal-current energy is needed to provide green energy locally. Due to the low flow velocity of this type of sea area, it seriously affects the effect of differential pressure lift, which is conducive to exerting the effect of impact resistance. In this regard, the coupling effect of the differential pressure lift and the impact resistance on the blade torque is comprehensively considered, this research puts forward the design method of the lift-–drag-composite thin-plate arc turbine blade. Based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory and Bernoulli’s principle, the turbine dynamic model was established, and the nonlinear optimization method was used to solve the shape parameters of the turbine blades, and the thin-plate arc and NACA airfoil blade turbines were trial-produced under the same conditions. A model experiment was carried out in the experimental pool, and the Xiangshan sea area in Ningbo, East China Sea was taken as the experimental sea area. The results of the two experiments showed the same trend, indicating that the energy-harvesting performance of the lift–drag-composite blade was significantly better than that of the lift blade under the conditions of low flow velocity and small radius, which verified the correctness of the blade design method, and can promote the research and development of tidal energy under the conditions of low flow velocity and small radius.

Offshore development tends to aim for high production with fewer wells, which leads to large well spacing and wide range of low-pressure gradient. Compared with onshore, the low-velocity nonlinear flow, matrix stress sensitivity, and CO2 miscibility have significant impacts on the injection optimization design. However, existing studies rarely examine the impact of these characteristics on injection parameters, including injection fluid selection, injection rate and timing. Therefore, we first establish a 3D embedded discrete fracture model for compositional simulation. Multiple mechanisms, including low-velocity nonlinear flow, matrix and fracture stress sensitivity are considered comprehensively. After evaluating the sweep area, injection capacity, and production performance of different injection fluid (H2O, CO2, N2), a fluid selection strategy was proposed. The cumulative oil production under a certain water cut/gas-oil ratio is taken as the objective function. Then the injection rate and timing are studied. Results show that, when the injection rate of CO2 and H2O is high, the fluid breakthrough comes early. When the injection rate is low, the reservoir pressure is poorly maintained, resulting strong matrix stress sensitivity, and low CO2 miscibility efficiency. Therefore, there is an optimal CO2 and H2O injection rate. In comparison with the traditional Darcy flow, the optimal H2O injection rate is higher. The maximum difference reaches 11.1% with matrix permeability of 5 × 10−3 μm2. As the matrix permeability increases, optimal CO2 injection timing is gradually advanced. While the optimal H2O injection timing is gradually delayed. The proposed 3D-EDFM compositional simulator can serve as an effective and reliable method for injection-production optimization. [Display omitted]

To adapt to the low-velocity water flow closely related to human life, the natural energy can be efficiently harvested and used to power monitoring devices. Herein, a triboelectric soft fishtail (TE-SFT) driven by flow-induced vibration (FIV) effect is proposed based on the soft material synthesis technology. Specifically, inspired by the fishtail fin, a bluff body with the cross-section of fishtail-shaped is designed, and has a preferable vortex effect by fluid simulation. In power generation part, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is designed to act as an inertial pendulum structure by geometric method. Under the FIV effect, the TE-SFT driven by fishtail-shaped bluff body swings like a fish in the water and then brings the inertial pendulum to acquire the oscillation for harvesting energy from low-velocity water flow. The TE-SFT attains an open-circuit voltage ( V OC ) of 200 V to 313 V at the flow velocities of 0.24 to 0.89 m/s. Additionally, after 30 days of water immersion, the V OC of TE-SFT retains 96.81%. In demonstration, the TE-SFT is applied to power the temperature and humidity sensor through harvesting water flow energy. This work also provides a way for self-powered system based on the TENG and soft bionic fish in water environment.

This article presents an experimental stand for the generation of gas flows with very low velocities. The constant volume air flow was generated in the measurement area with the use of a Mariotte bottle and a water piston (water column in a tank). The air-flow velocity was determined from the change in the height of the water piston with time, which was measured via the difference between the pressure above the water surface and the pressure at the bottom of the water column. The tests were carried out in the mean velocity range of 0.35–66 cm/s. The five different velocities of air flowing out of the measurement pipe, measured with the particle image velocimetry method were compared with the results from the water piston method. The differences did not exceed 7%.