Abstract
To estimate the response of wave energy converters to different sea environments accurately is an ongoing challenge for researchers and industry, considering that there has to be a balance between guaranteeing their integrity whilst extracting the wave energy efficiently. For oscillating wave surge converters, the incident wave field is changed due to the pitching motion of the flap structure. A key component influencing this motion response is the Power Take-Off system used. Based on OpenFOAM, this paper includes the Power Take-off to establish a realistic model to simulate the operation of a three-dimensional oscillating wave surge converter by solving Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. It examines the relationship between incident waves and the perturbed fluid field near the flap, which is of great importance when performing in arrays as neighbouring devices may influence each other. Furthermore, it investigates the influence of different control strategy systems (active and passive) in the energy extracted from regular waves related to the performance of the device. This system is estimated for each wave frequency considered and the results show the efficiency of the energy extracted from the waves is related to high amplitude pitching motions of the device in short periods of time.
Highlights
The Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (OWSC) is one of the most promising operating devices that use Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) technology in terms of its energy absorption capabilities and hydrodynamic performance [1]
The pitching motion of the WEC device combined with a hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO), which connects the flap to its base, captures the energy from nearshore ocean surface waves [2]
The use of fully nonlinear viscous models, such as the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach combined with Volume of Fluid (VoF) method to handle the free surface, has previously been shown to be satisfactory to understand the hydrodynamic behaviour of OWSC devices performing in adverse sea conditions [6,17,35]
Summary
The Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (OWSC) is one of the most promising operating devices that use Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) technology in terms of its energy absorption capabilities and hydrodynamic performance [1]. IInniittiiaalleexxppeerriimmeennttaall ssttuuddiieess rreeggaarrddiinngg tthhee rreessppoonnssee ooffaaffllaapp--ttyyppeessuurrffaaccee--ppiieerrcciinngg WWEECC ttoowwaavveess aarreerreeppoorrtteedd iinn [[55,,66]]..TThheesseewweerreeeeaarrllyyeessttiimmaattiioonnssoofftthheeppoowweerroouuttppuuttaannddppeerrffoorrmmaanncceeoofftthheeeenneerrggyy ddeevviiccee uunnddeerr tthhee aaccttiioonn ooff ssmmaallll aammpplliittuuddee rreegguullaarr wwaavveess. The spring and damper coefficients are adjusted to achieve the maximum power absorption for each wave frequency, by tuning the stiffness to the natural frequency of the WEC device [29,30]. In this condition, the damping coefficient of the PTO is considered as the radiation damping coefficient of the device. The conclusion includes a brief summary and the implications of this study, as well as recommendations for further studies
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