Biography
Dr James McNaughton is a postdoctoral research assistant in tidal stream energy in the Department of Engineering Science. He has a degree in degree in mathematics from Royal Holloway, University of London, and an MSc (Theoretical and Applied Fluid Dynamics) and PhD (Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, for tidal stream energy) from the University of Manchester.
Following his studies, James worked in the offshore renewable energy industry, first as a Hydrodynamics and Performance Engineer for Alstom Ocean Energy and then as a Research Engineer at the EDF Energy R&D UK Centre.
He joined the Department of Engineering Science as a PDRA in tidal stream energy in March 2018. James is a member of the BSI committee for development of standards in marine energy and a member of the IEC maintenance team for tidal turbine performance measurements in the field.
Research Interests
James has worked in offshore renewable energy for the last 10 years, with a particular focus on tidal stream energy. His work has included CFD code development for modelling of tidal rotors, validation of unsteady loading using blade element modelling, and offshore performance testing of a 1 MW tidal turbine installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
His current research focusses on understanding constructive interference for multi-rotor tidal turbine systems as well as improving methods for tidal turbine performance assessments. He is designing and testing experimental turbines to understand the flow physics within fences of closely spaced rotors and validate numerical design tools.
Research Groups
Related Academics
Selected Publications
- A Pérez-Ortiz, AGL Borthwick, J McNaughton, A Avdis (2017) Characterization of the tidal resource in Rathlin Sound, Renewable Energy, 114:229-243
- A Pérez-Ortiz, AGL Borthwick, J McNaughton, HCM Smith, Q Xiao (2017) Resource characterization of sites in the vicinity of an island near a landmass, Renewable Energy, 103:265-276
- J McNaughton, F Billard, A. Revell (2014) Turbulence modelling of low Reynolds number flow effects around a vertical axis turbine at a range of tip-speed ratios, J. Fluid Structure, 47:124-138.
- J McNaughton, I Afgan, DD Apsley, S Rolfo,T Stallard, PK Stansby (2014), A simple sliding-mesh interface procedure and its application to the CFD simulation of a tidal-stream turbine. Int. J. Numerical Methods Fluids, 74:250–269.
- I Afgan, J McNaughton, S Rolfo, DD Apsley, T Stallard, PK Stansby (2013) Turbulent flow and loading on a tidal stream turbine by LES and RANS, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow, 43:96-108
