Hydrodynamic Performance of a Dual-Pontoon WEC-Breakwater System: An Analysis of Wave Energy Content and Converter Efficiency

Haoyu Ding ()
Additional contact information
Haoyu Ding: Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-19

Abstract: A dual-pontoon WEC-breakwater system is proposed to optimise space utilisation and reduce construction costs by integrating wave energy converters (WECs) with breakwaters. Previous parametric studies on the dimensions and layout of WECs have primarily used potential flow theories, often neglecting the viscous effects in wave–pontoon interactions. In this research, I employ a fully nonlinear viscous model, OpenFOAM ® , to address these limitations. I examine multiple parameters, including the gap width between the pontoons, the draft, and the structure breadth, to assess their impact on the functional performance of this hybrid system. Furthermore, I discuss the accurate hydrodynamic performance of waves interacting with multiple floating structures and explore how various parameters influence the dual-pontoon WEC-breakwater integrated system’s functionality. I discuss a novel analysis of the effective frequency bandwidth, considering both wave energy conversion efficiency and wave attenuation efficiency, to reflect the overall performance of the integrated system. This paper investigates wave–structure interactions and suggests optimisation strategies for the WEC-breakwater integrated system.

Keywords: wave energy converter; breakwater; hybrid system; wave-structure interaction (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/16/4046/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/16/4046/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:16:p:4046-:d:1456680

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().