Abstract
Oscillating water column (OWC) systems are among the most credited solutions for an effective conversion of the notable energy potential conveyed by sea waves. Despite a renewed interest, however, they are often still at a demonstration phase and additional research is required to reach industrial maturity. Within this framework, this study provides a wave-to-wire model for OWC systems based on an impulse air turbine. The model performs a comprehensive simulation of the system to estimate the attendant electric energy production for a specific sea state, based on analytical models of the primary (fixed chamber) and secondary (air turbine) converters coupled with the tertiary converter (electric generator). A rigid piston model is proposed to solve the hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and hydrodynamics of the chamber, in a coupled fashion with the impulse turbine aerodynamics. This is solved with a novel method by considering the cascades as sets of blades, each one consisting of a finite number of airfoils stacked in the radial direction. The model was applied for two Mediterranean sites located in Tuscany and Sardinia (Italy), which were selected to define the optimal geometry of the turbine for a specified chamber. For each system, the developed analytical wave-to-wire model was applied to calculate the performance parameters and the annual energy production in environmental conditions typical of the Mediterranean Sea. The selected impulse turbines are able to convert 13.69 and 39.36 MWh/year, with an efficiency of 4.95% and 4.76%, respectively, thus proving the interesting prospects of the technology.
Highlights
The global energy demand is constantly increasing and is still mainly supplied by fossil fuels, which are cost-effective but are strongly related to the well-known negative impact on the environment.At present, renewable energy sources are progressively gaining importance in the global energy scenario
In 2019, Henriques et al presented wave-to-wire models to analyze the dynamics and the control of air turbines and electric generators for the oscillating water column (OWC) plant installed in the breakwater of the Bay of Biscay, located in Mutriku, in Spain [70]
A wave-to-wire model was proposed for one chamber of the plant and the effects of the control strategies on the energy conversion and power output quality and reliability were evaluated in irregular sea states
Summary
The global energy demand is constantly increasing and is still mainly supplied by fossil fuels, which are cost-effective but are strongly related to the well-known negative impact on the environment. The development of technologies for the exploitation of wave energy can be fostered by the design of reliable and resilient wave energy converters (WECs) with affordable and competitive construction, operational, and maintenance costs. These systems should be designed to convert the maximum amount of energy for a specific location. More advanced evaluations of the system operation can be performed with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiments These models should be able to simulate all the different stages of the wave energy conversion chain that characterize the specific WEC. In the remainder of this introduction section, a brief overview on the state of the art on the OWC device and air turbines (Section 1.1) and a literature review of the existing wave-to-wire models for OWC systems (Section 1.2) are provided
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