Dynamic and Power Generation Features of A Wind-Wave Hybrid System Consisting of A Spar-Type Wind Turbine and An Annular Wave Energy Converter in Irregular Waves

Combining wave energy converters(WECs)with floating offshore wind turbines proves a potential strategy to achieve better use of marine renewable energy.The full coupling investigation on the dynamic and power generation features of the hybrid systems under operational sea states is necessary but limited by numerical simulation tools.Here an aero-hydro-servo-elastic coupling numerical tool is developed and applied to investigate the motion,mooring tension,and energy conversion performance of a hybrid system consisting of a spar-type floating wind turbine and an annular wave energy converter.Results show that the addition of the WEC has no significant negative effect on the dynamic performance of the platform and even enhances the rotational stability of the platform.For surge and pitch motion,the peak of the spectra is originated from the dominating wave component,whereas for the heave motion,the peak of the spectrum is the superposed effect of the dominating wave component and the resonance of the system.The addition of the annular WEC can slightly improve the wind power by making the rotor to be in a better position to face the incoming wind and provide considerable wave energy production,which can compensate for the downtime of the offshore wind.

Geometrical Evaluation on the Viscous Effect of Point-Absorber Wave-Energy Converters

The fluid viscosity is known to have a significant effect on the hydrodynamic characteristics which are linked to the power conversion ability of the wave energy converter(WEC). To overcome the disadvantages of case-by-case study through the experiments and numerical computations employed by the former researches, the viscous effect is studied comprehensively for multiple geometries in the present paper. The viscous effect is expressed as the viscous added mass and damping solved by the free-decay method. The computational fluid dynamics(CFD) method is employed for the calculation of the motion and flow field around the floater. The diameter to draft ratio and bottom shape are considered for the geometrical evaluation on the viscous effect. The results show that a slenderer floater presents a stronger viscous effect. Through the comparisons of the floaters with four different bottom shapes, the conical bottom is recommended in terms of low viscous effect and simple geometry for manufacture. A viscous correction formula for a series of cylindrical floaters is put forward, for the first time, to help the engineering design of outer-floaters of point-absorber WECs.

Wave Extraction and Attenuation Performance of An Edinburgh Duck Wave Energy Converter

Edinburgh Duck wave energy converter(ED WEC)has excellent energy extraction performance and shows a great potential to integrate with other marine structures.This paper aims to investigate its wave energy extraction performance as a WEC and wave attenuation performance as a protection method for shoreline or marine structures.The wave and ED WEC interactions in regular waves are modeled using the Star-CCM+software and verified by comparisons with published experimental results.The motion response,energy conversion efficiency,and transmission coefficient of the ED WEC with different attack angles,rotation center,and incident wave heights are investigated.Results indicate that the ED WEC with an attack angle of 42°and a rotation center of 0.55 m below the mean water line can achieve both good wave energy extraction and wave attenuation performances.The wave energy extraction and wave attenuation performance of the ED WEC decrease significantly with the increase of wave nonlinearity characterized by the wave steepness.This paper can guide the practical application of the ED WEC at the early stage of design.

Wave Extraction and Attenuation Performance of A Hybrid System of An Edinburgh Duck WEC and A Floating Breakwater

Installing the Edinburgh Duck Wave Energy Converter(ED WEC)on a floating breakwater provides a potential solution to reduce costs and improve the reliability of the ED WEC.To investigate the interactions between the ED WEC and the breakwater,a two-dimensional numerical model of a hybrid WEC-breakwater system is established based on Star-CCM+Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)software.The wave energy extraction performance,wave attenuation performance,and wave forces on the breakwater of the hybrid system are compared with those of the corresponding single device.The effects of the initial attack angle,the distance between the WEC and the breakwater,and the incident wave height on the pitch motion,energy conversion efficiency,transmission coefficient,and wave forces on the breakwater of the hybrid system are analyzed.The results indicate that combing the ED WEC with a breakwater can improve the energy extraction performance of the ED WEC and reduce the wave forces on the breakwater in shorter-period waves.The conversion efficiency of the hybrid system with the initial attack angle of 42°is the largest in shorter-period waves,but is reduced with the increase of initial attack angle in longer-period waves.The wave attenuation performance of the hybrid system is determined by the draft of the breakwater.The distance between the WEC and the breakwater has little effect on the hybrid system.Wave energy extraction of the ED WEC of the hybrid system decreases significantly with the increase of the incident wave height.

ANALYTICAL STUDY OF WAVE MAKING IN A FLUME WITH A PARTIALLY REFLECTING END-WALL

Based on the eigenfunction expansion technique, the wave generation by a piston wave maker in a wave flume with a partially reflecting end-wall is studied. The corresponding velocity potential and wave elevation in the flume are obtained. The present analytical solution is verified by the numerical results obtained from a time-domain higher-order boundary element method in a closed flume. Numerical experiments are further carried out to study the difference between the partial/full reflection boundary and the transmission boundary and the effects of the reflection coefficient and the motion period of the wave maker on the wave height. Meanwhile, the natural frequency of the wave flume can be obtained from the analytical expression. The resonance occurs when the motion frequency is equal to the natural frequency. Even the partial reflection of the end-wall in the wave flume experiments has a great influence on the wave height, therefore, inaccurate measurements would be resulted in long-time simulations, especially when the wave frequency approaches the wave flume natural frequency. The present study can serve as a guidance for the physical experiment in wave flumes.