Oscillating Wave Surge Converter-Type Attachment for Extracting Wave Energy While Reducing Hydroelastic Responses of Very Large Floating Structures

Author(s):  
H. P. Nguyen ◽  
C. M. Wang

Abstract This paper presents an oscillating wave surge converter (OWSC)-type attachment, comprising a submerged vertical flap connected to the fore edge of a very large floating structure (VLFS) with hinges and linear power take-off (PTO) systems, for extracting wave energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of VLFS. In terms of reductions in hydroelastic responses of VLFS, the OWSC-type attachment is better than the recently proposed raft wave energy converter (WEC)-type attachment for relatively short waves (T < 7 s) and better than the conventional anti-motion device comprising a submerged vertical flap rigidly connected to the fore edge of VLFS for all wave periods. Importantly, the horizontal wave force acting on the submerged flap for the OWSC-type attachment is smaller than that for the conventional anti-motion device, leading to a more economical mooring system. In terms of wave energy extraction, the OWSC-type attachment is better than the raft WEC-type attachment for intermediate and long waves (T ≥ 7 s). In addition, for maximizing power production, the required flap length for the OWSC-type attachment is much smaller than the required pontoon length for the raft WEC-type attachment (about λ/10 as compared to about λ/3, where λ is the incident wavelength).

Author(s):  
Pedro C. Vicente ◽  
Anto´nio F. O. Falca˜o ◽  
Paulo A. P. Justino

Floating point absorbers devices are a large class of wave energy converters for deployment offshore, typically in water depths between 40 and 100m. As floating oil and gas platforms, the devices are subject to drift forces due to waves, currents and wind, and therefore have to be kept in place by a proper mooring system. Although similarities can be found between the energy converting systems and floating platforms, the mooring design requirements will have some important differences between them, one of them associated to the fact that, in the case of a wave energy converter, the mooring connections may significantly modify its energy absorption properties by interacting with its oscillations. It is therefore important to examine what might be the more suitable mooring design for wave energy devices, according to the converters specifications. When defining a mooring system for a device, several initial parameters have to be established, such as cable material and thickness, distance to the mooring point on the bottom, and which can influence the device performance in terms of motion, power output and survivability. Different parameters, for which acceptable intervals can be established, will represent different power absorptions, displacements from equilibrium position, load demands on the moorings and of course also different costs. The work presented here analyzes what might be, for wave energy converter floating point absorber, the optimal mooring configuration parameters, respecting certain pre-established acceptable intervals and using a time-domain model that takes into account the non-linearities introduced by the mooring system. Numerical results for the mooring forces demands and also motions and absorbed power, are presented for two different mooring configurations for a system consisting of a hemispherical buoy in regular waves and assuming a liner PTO.


2018 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 1351-1355
Author(s):  
Xin He ◽  
Yougang Tang ◽  
Liqin Liu ◽  
Ruoyu Zhang

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Zhao ◽  
Chen ◽  
Bi ◽  
Cui

This study on hydrodynamic coefficients of a column-stabilized fish cage under wave action plays an important role in the anti-wave design of cages. The regular wave test was used to study the horizontal wave force of the jacket and column-stabilized fish cage under different wave heights, periods, and incident angles; the finite element model of the jacket and the column-stabilized fish cage was established according to the test model. On the basis of the calculation of the finite element model, combined with the wave force obtained from the experiment, the hydrodynamic coefficients of the structure was fitted by the least squares method, and then the drag force, inertial force, and total force of the structure under different conditions were calculated. The results show that the hydrodynamic coefficients of the jacket and netting under the wave condition were more obvious with the change of the KC number and wave incident angles. And as the wave height increased, the drag force, the inertial force, and the proportion of the drag force to the horizontal wave force both increased. When the wavelength was large, the same trend occured as the wave period increased. When the wave incident angles were different, the forces of the jacket and the column-stabilized fish cage were always small in lateral low-frequency waves, which is consistent with the change law of hydrodynamic coefficients of the jacket and netting.


2013 ◽  
Vol 716 ◽  
pp. 566-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Crowley ◽  
R. Porter ◽  
D. V. Evans

AbstractA novel design concept for a wave energy converter (WEC) is presented and analysed. Its purpose is to balance the theoretical capacity for power absorption against engineering design issues which plague many existing WEC concepts. The WEC comprises a fully submerged buoyant circular cylinder tethered to the sea bed by a simple mooring system which permits coupled surge and roll motions of the cylinder. Inside the cylinder a mechanical system of pendulums rotate with power generated by the relative rotation rates of the pendulums and the cylinder. The attractive features of this design include: making use of the mooring system as a passive component of the power take off (PTO); using a submerged device to protect it from excessive forces associated with extreme wave conditions; locating the PTO within the device and using a PTO mechanism which does not need to be constrained; exploiting multiple resonances of the system to provide a broad-banded response. A mathematical model is developed which couples the hydrodynamic waves forces on the device with the internal pendulums under a linearized framework. For a cylinder spanning a wave tank (equivalent to a two-dimensional assumption) maximum theoretical power for this WEC device is limited to 50 % maximum efficiency. However, numerical results show that a systematically optimized system can generate theoretical efficiencies of more than 45 % over a 6 s range of wave period containing most of the energy in a typical energy spectrum. Furthermore, three-dimensional results for a cylinder of finite length provide evidence that a cylinder device twice the length of its diameter can produce more than its own length in the power of an equivalent incident wave crest.


1972 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 862-866
Author(s):  
E. R. Johnson

The special case of horizontal wave forces on large vertical cylinders in deep water is considered. The typical application for such a case is the calculation of horizontal forces on column stabilized floating ocean platforms. Existing literature discussing horizontal wave forces on cylinders does not generally agree on how to predict these forces. Since for large diameter cylinders in deep water the maximum force is completely inertial, the problem of deriving a solution is considerably simplified. In this study, an expression for the maximum horizontal wave force on large diameter circular cylinders mounted vertically in deep water has been analytically derived. Experimental model studies were also conducted and the resulting measured forces were within 20 percent of predicted forces. An example of how to predict horizontal wave forces using the methods of this report is given.


1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (182) ◽  
pp. 341-348
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Osawa ◽  
Yoshinori Nagata ◽  
Syogo Miyajima ◽  
Hisaaki Maeda

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1444
Author(s):  
Dan Yu ◽  
Keyi Wang ◽  
Yeqing Jin ◽  
Fankai Kong ◽  
Hailong Chen ◽  
...  

In this work, the hydrodynamic performance of a novel wave energy converter (WEC) configuration which combines a moonpool platform and a javelin floating buoy, called the moonpool–javelin wave energy converter (MJWEC), was studied by semianalytical, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and experimental methods. The viscous term is added to the potential flow solver to obtain the hydrodynamic coefficients. The wave force, the added mass, the radiation damping, the wave capture, and the energy efficiency of the configuration were assessed, in the frequency and time domains, by a semianalytical method. The CFD method results and the semianalytical results were compared for the time domain by introducing nonlinear power take-off (PTO) damping; additionally, the viscous dissipation coefficients under potential flow could be confirmed. Finally, a 1:10 scale model was physically tested to validate the numerical model and further prove the feasibility of the proposed system.


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