Numerical design study of multipoint mooring systems for the floating wave energy converter in deep water with a sloping bottom

Shuo Huang, Songwei Sheng, Arnaud Gerthoffert, Yu Cong, Tianyu Zhang and Zhenpeng Wang

Renewable Energy, 2019, vol. 136, issue C, 558-571

Abstract: The use of a floating wave energy converter (WEC) in the deep water zones around islands is increasing, but conventional mooring configurations often do not provide suitable station keeping options. This paper focus on the assessment of a suitable mooring design for floating WECs in deep water locations, with a sloping seabed. The mooring study considers a 50-year return period to assess the survival rate for three mooring designs i) catenary mooring systems, ii) synthetic cable (polyester) taut mooring system, and iii) suspended anchoring point mooring system. Furthermore, the variations of bathymetry conditions around the oceanic islands are considered, as well as factors directly influencing these deep-water mooring installations (e.g. anchor uplift forces, weight of mooring system). The coupled motion dynamics of the WEC and the mooring system are studied using a potential theory in a time-domain model, and the power production is also considered. The Chinese 100 kW Sharp Eagle WEC [22] is used as the reference design. The deployment site has a water depth of 200–700 m and the angle of the slope ranges from 30° to 90°. The paper is investigating the effects of (i) the features of the seabed condition; (ii) the mooring line material, size and layout; and (iii) the installation and maintenance costs. The outcomes of the studies for the three different mooring designs are compared and an additional fatigue analysis has been implemented to obtain fatigue damage criteria for the mixed catenary mooring system. A cost analysis has been implemented, and recommendations provided discussing the most suitable mooring design configuration.

Keywords: Catenary; Deep water; Floating wave energy converter; Mooring system; Suspended anchoring point; Seabed slope (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:136:y:2019:i:c:p:558-571

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.01.027

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