Design and Numerical Analysis of a Novel Counter-Rotating Self-Adaptable Wave Energy Converter Based on CFD Technology

Chongfei Sun, Zirong Luo, Jianzhong Shang, Zhongyue Lu, Yiming Zhu and Guoheng Wu
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Chongfei Sun: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Zirong Luo: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Jianzhong Shang: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Zhongyue Lu: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Yiming Zhu: School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M17JR, UK
Guoheng Wu: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: The lack of an efficient and reliable power supply is currently one of the bottlenecks restricting the practical application of unmanned ocean detectors. Wave energy is the most widely distributed ocean energy, with the obvious advantages of high energy density and predictability. In this paper, a novel wave energy converter (WEC) for power supply of low-power unmanned ocean detectors is proposed, which is a small-scale counter-rotating self-adaptive point absorber-type WEC. The double-layer counter-rotating absorbers can achieve the torque balance of the whole device. Besides, the self-adaptation of the blade to the water flow can maintain a unidirectional continuous rotation of the single-layer absorber. The WEC has several advantages, including small occupied space, simple exchange process and convenient modular integration. It is expected to meet the power demand of low-power ocean detectors. Through modeling and CFD analysis, it was found that the power and efficiency characteristics of WEC are greatly influenced by the relative flow velocity, the blade angle of the absorber and the interaction between the upper and lower absorbers. A physical prototype of the WEC was made and some related experiments were conducted to verify the feasibility of WEC working principle and the reliability of CFD analysis.

Keywords: wave energy converter (WEC); computational fluid dynamics (CFD); counter-rotating; self-adaptive; performance characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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