Abstract
An oscillating buoy wave energy converter (WEC) integrated to an existing box-type breakwater is introduced in this study. The buoy is installed on the existing breakwater and designed to be much smaller than the breakwater in scale, aiming to reduce the construction cost of the WEC. The oscillating buoy works as a heave-type WEC in front of the breakwater towards the incident waves. A power take-off (PTO) system is installed on the topside of the breakwater to harvest the kinetic energy (in heave mode) of the floating buoy. The hydrodynamic performance of this system is studied analytically based on linear potential-flow theory. Effects of the geometrical parameters on the reflection and transmission coefficients and the capture width ratio (CWR) of the system are investigated. Results show that the maximum efficiency of the energy extraction can reach 80% or even higher. Compared with the isolated box-type breakwater, the reflection coefficient can be effectively decreased by using this oscillating buoy WEC, with unchanged transmission coefficient. Thus, the possibility of capturing the wave energy with the oscillating buoy WEC integrated into breakwaters is shown.
Highlights
Breakwaters are commonly constructed at a distance from the coastline, aiming to reduce coastal erosion or provide safe harborage
Hydrodynamic performance of an oscillating buoy wave energy converter (WEC) installed in front of an existing fixed box-type breakwater was studied systematically with respect to the geometrical and power take-off (PTO) parameters, based on potential-flow theory
The present study reveals that the maximum efficiency of the energy extraction can be 80% or even higher
Summary
Breakwaters are commonly constructed at a distance from the coastline, aiming to reduce coastal erosion or provide safe harborage. Due to simplification in structures, the box-type breakwater is most widely applied It works by reflecting incident waves in a large extent, so that the leeward transmitted waves can be reduced greatly. Each breakwater has several hinged floating modules, through whose relative motion the wave energy can be captured He and Huang [10] integrated the classical oscillating water column (OWC) WEC into the floating breakwater structure. The buoy in front of the breakwater can capture more wave energy than an isolated oscillating buoy WEC, as a result of the superposition of incident and reflected waves. At this preliminary design stage, this study will focus on the hydrodynamic performance of this system.
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