Hydrodynamic Investigation of a Dual-Cylindrical OWC Wave Energy Converter Integrated into a Fixed Caisson Breakwater

Chang Wan, Can Yang, Qinghe Fang, Zaijin You, Jing Geng and Yongxue Wang
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Chang Wan: College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Can Yang: College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Qinghe Fang: Key Lab of Structures Dynamic Behavior and Control of the Ministry of Education, School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
Zaijin You: College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Jing Geng: College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Yongxue Wang: State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology (DUT), Dalian 116024, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: A fixed dual cylindrical oscillating water column (OWC) acting as a breakwater-type wave energy converter (WEC) is proposed to harvest the wave energy effectively for shallow offshore sites. An analytical model is developed to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics and the energy capture capacity of the cylindrical OWC device in severe waves. Based on the linear potential flow theory, the analytical solutions of the velocity potential in diffraction mode are solved by matching the Eigen-function expansion technique, and the continuous conditions of the velocity potential and fluid velocity between the computational sub-domains are involved in solving the problem for determining a solution. The proposed model is verified against the published data. The effects of the wave height, the angle of chamber clapboard and the radius of the inner and outer cylindrical column on the energy conversion efficiency are investigated in this paper. To improve the energy conversion performance and obtain a faster prediction for structural optimization of the cylindrical OWC, the geometrical parameters are further discussed in the analytical model. The results indicate that the geometrical parameters of the chamber have significant effects on the wave energy absorption efficiency. It is found that the effective frequency bandwidth of the dual cylindrical column can be broadened by improving the angle of the chamber clapboard and the inner–outer cylinder diameter ratio.

Keywords: oscillating water column; wave energy; analytical study; dual cylindrical caisson; air chamber (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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