Dinamica dos fluidos computacional para posicionamento de sensor e estimação paramétrica em embarcação

Abstract

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) sensors measure water inflows and are essential to evaluate the Flow Curve (FC) of rivers. The FC is used to calibrate hydrological models responsible for planning the electrical dispatch of power plants in several countries. Therefore, errors in those measures propagate to the final energy cost evaluation. This work proposes the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the design of a small Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV), optimized to operate with an ADCP sensor. Based on the simulations, it is possible to estimate parameters of its physical model, an important step for the implementation of automatic control in the vehicle, as well as to determine the ideal position of the sensor, so that it suffers minimal flow disturbances. The method proves to be a valuable tool, allowing the generation of relevant information for the project even before prototypes are manufactured. The analyzes were validated with the aid of practical tests in the final ASV model, called AERO4RIVER.