Investigation on the hydrodynamic scaling effect of an OWC type wave energy device using experiment and CFD simulation

Saishuai Dai, Sandy Day, Zhiming Yuan and Haibin Wang

Renewable Energy, 2019, vol. 142, issue C, 184-194

Abstract: This paper presents a study of the effect of model scale on the performance of a fixed Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type Wave Energy Converter (WEC). Tank tests at two different scales, including the effect of scaling of the test tanks to minimise the bias introduced by different wave blockage effects. CFD simulations based on Reynolds Average Navier Stokes (RANS) method were then carried out for both scaled OWCs to investigate whether CFD simulation is able to reproduce the scale effect. Comparison between the tank test results and the CFD simulation results suggests that CFD simulation is capable of reproducing the hydrodynamic scaling effect with a good accuracy. Results also suggest that the hydrodynamic scaling effect is mainly introduced by the Reynolds number effect for cases investigated in the current study.

Keywords: Tank test; CFD simulation; Scale effect; Wave energy; Oscillating water column (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:142:y:2019:i:c:p:184-194

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.066

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