Session: 09-02-01 Wave Energy: Hydrodynamics 1

Paper Number: 130270

130270 - Dynamic Performance of a Land-Based Owc Wave Energy Converter Under Focused Wave Conditions 

The survivability and energy conversion efficiency of the wave energy conversion device are the two very important factors that need to be considered in the device design process. Many researches have been carried out to improve the efficiency of the oscillation water column (OWC) device. However, there is little study on the survivability of the device. Therefore, it is very important to study the dynamic characteristics of OWC wave energy device under extreme wave conditions to get more information about the survivability of the device. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of OWC wave energy device under the action of focused waves is experimental investigated in a wave flume at the State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology. It is found that the peak value of air pressure in the air chamber is smaller than its trough value, which means that the negative pressure generated by the water column falling is greater than the positive pressure generated by the water column rising under the action of the focused wave. The overflow of the orifice is happened when the incident wave height exceeds a certain value. As a result, the air pressure oscillating is induced owing to the reduced the effective area of the orifice. The dimensionless wave load decreases with the increase of the incident wave height due to the occurrence of wave overtopping and the increasing wave nonlinearity. As with air pressure, the horizontal wave force also oscillates when the overflow happened in the orifice. Although the oscillation value is smaller than the peak value of force, the value of wave force will be maintained at a larger value, which threatening the safety of the device.

Presenting Author: Rongquan Wang Dalian University of Technology

Presenting Author Biography: Rongquan Wang obtained his PhD degree in Port, Coastal and Offshore Engineering from Dalian University of Technology (DUT) in 2019. He is currently work as an associate professor at the State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, DUT, China. His research includes wave and structure interaction, wave energy development and utilization. The main focus of his research is on hydrodynamics modelling, optimization and survivability of oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converters. The concept of dual-chamber OWC device is proposed, the hydrodynamic efficiency of the device is improved and the effective frequency bandwidth is broadened. The dynamic performance of the OWC wave energy device under the extreme wave conditions is revealed.

Authors:

Rongquan Wang Dalian University of Technology
Yuxuan Hu Dalian University of Technology
Peiwen Cong Dalian University of Technology
Dezhi Ning Dalian University of Technology