New Method for Predicting the Motion Responses of A Flexible Joint Multi-Body Floating System to Irregular Waves

A new hybrid method of frequency domain and time domain is developed in this paper to predict the motion responses of a flexibly joint multi-body floating system to irregular waves. The main idea of the method is that the three-dimensional frequency method is used to obtain the hydrodynamic coefficients and the response equations are solved in time domain step by step. All the forces can be obtained at the same time. The motions and nonlinear mooring forces of a box type six-body floating system are predicted. A comparison of the theoretical method-based Solutions with experimental results has shown good agreement.

Hydrodynamic coefficients of a simplified floating system of gravity cage in waves

Numerical simulation and experimental tests were carried out to examine the hydrodynamic behaviors of a double-column floating system of gravity cage under wave conditions. A floating system of gravity cage can be treated as a small-sized floating structure when compared with the wavelengths. The main problem in calculating the wave loads on the small-sized floating structure is to obtain the reasonable force coefficients, which may differ from a submerged structure. In this paper, the floating system of gravity cage is simplified to a 2D problem, where the floating system is set symmetrically under wave conditions. The motion equations were deduced under wave conditions and a specific method was proposed to resolve the problem of wave forces acting on a small-sized floating system of gravity cage at water surface. Results of the numerical method were compared with those from model tests and the hydrodynamic coefficients Cn and Cr were studied. It is found that Cn ranges from 0.6 to 1.0 while Cr is between 0.4 and 0.6 in this study. The results are useful for research on the hydrodynamic behavior of the deep-water gravity sea cages.

Polyester mooring stiffness modeling for deepwater floating system

Polyester mooring has become increasing popular to serve as permanent station-keeping system for deepwater floating system during recent years. Comparing to the traditional steel wire mooring,polyester mooring provides significant benefits in deepwater,such as reduced installed capital expenditure (CAPEX) and smaller vertical loads on host platform. Polyester rope is a visco-elastic material,and its stiffness is nonlinear and affected by mean load,load range,loading period and loading history. There is a perception that the polyester stiffness model has significant impact on the floating system's performance. This paper presents a detailed description and comparison of two stiffness models and three analytic approaches,and provides a systematic study of the impact of polyester mooring stiffness modeling on the deepwater floating system performance.

Effect of Different pH-regulating Acids on Root Morphology and Yield of Lettuce in Floating Transplant System

[Objective] The aim was to investigate different effects of two pH-regulating acids on the root morphology and other physiological growth of Lactuca sativa L.in floating plug transplant system.[Method] HNO3 and H2SO4 were used to adjust pH condition of various nutrient concentrations in lettuce floating transplant system,the effect of two acid treatments on root traits of lettuce were investigated.[Result] These two acids made different effects on root system under a series of nutrient gradients.Under HNO3 treatment,the fresh weight of shoot and root were increased with growth of nutrient concentration;root preformed best when EC was 1.0 μs/cm.Under H2SO4 treatment,when EC was 0.8 μs/cm,the total root length and root surface area,projected area,root volume of lettuce were 344.8 cm,40.9 cm2,13.0 cm2,0.4 m3,respectively,which were significantly higher than those in HNO3 treatment.Compared the influences of acid treatments under same nutrient concentration,the result showed that H2SO4 treatment increased root/shoot ratio and all other root morphological characteristics;however,HNO3 treatment promoted the growth of shoot and lateral root,increased transplanting efficiency and facilitated realizing high yield after transplanted into open-field.[Conclusion] This study will provide theoretical reference for improving plug transplant technology of lettuce.

Motion Performance and Mooring System of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

The development of offshore wind farms was originally carried out in shallow water areas with fixed （seabed mounted） structures. However, countries with limited shallow water areas require innovative floating platforms to deploy wind turbines offshore in order to harness wind energy to generate electricity in deep seas. The performances of motion and mooring system dynamics are vital to designing a cost effective and durable floating platform. This paper describes a numerical model to simulate dynamic behavior of a new semi-submersible type floating offshore wind turbine （FOWT） system. The wind turbine was modeled as a wind block with a certain thrust coefficient, and the hydrodynamics and mooting system dynamics of the platform were calculated by SESAM soRware. The effect of change in environmental conditions on the dynamic response of the system under wave and wind loading was examined. The results indicate that the semi-submersible concept has excellent performance and SESAM could be an effective tool for floating wind turbine design and analysis.

Dynamic analysis of multibodies system with a floating base for rolling of ro-ro ship caused by wave and slip of heavy load

Common effect of wave and slip of internal heavy load will make rolling of the roll-on ship serious. This is one of the important reasons for overturn of ro-ro ships. The multibodies System with a floating base is composed of ro-ro ship and slipping heavy load. This paper takes the rolling angle of the ship and the transverse displacement of the heavy load on desk as two freedoms. Making use of analysis of apparent gravitation and apparent buoyancy, the wave rolling moment is derived. By use of dynamic method of multibodies system with a floating base, dynamic equations of the system are established. Taking a certain channel ferry as an example, a set of numerical calculation have been carried out for rolling response of the ship and displacement response of the slipping heavy load under common effect of synchro-slipping heavy loads and wave.

Experiment Study of Dynamics Response for Wind Turbine System of Floating Foundation

The floating foundation is designed to support a 1.5 MW wind turbine in 30 m water depth. With consideration of the viscous damping of foundation and heave plates, the amplitude-frequency response characteristics of the foundation are studied. By taking into account the elastic effect of blades and tower, the classic quasi-steady blade-element/momentum（BEM） theory is used to calculate the aerodynamic elastic loads. A coupled dynamic model of the turbine-foundationmooring lines is established to calculate the motion response of floating foundation under Kaimal wind spectrum and regular wave by using the FAST codes. The model experiment is carried out to test damping characteristics and natural motion behaviors of the wind turbine system. The dynamics response is tested by considering only waves and the joint action of wind and waves. It is shown that the wind turbine system can avoid resonances under the action of wind and waves. In addition, the heave motion of the floating foundation is induced by waves and the surge motion is induced by wind. The action of wind and waves is of significance for pitch.

LOW TEMPERATURE ALUMINUM FLOATING ELECTROLYSIS IN HEAVY ELECTROLYTE Na_3AlF_6-AlF_3-BaC1_2-NaCl BATH SYSTEM

Multiple regression equations of liquidus temperature, electrical conductivity and bath density of the Na_3AlF_6-AlF_3-BaC1_2-NaCl system were obtained from experiments by using orthogonal regression method. The experiments were carried out in 100A cell with low melting point electrolyte, the influences of cathodic current density, electrolytic temperature, density differences of bath and liquid aluminum on current efficiency (CE) were studied; when the electrolyte cryolite ratio was 2.5, w(BaC1_2) and w(NaCl) were 48% and 10%, respectively, CE reached 90% and specific energy consumption was 10.97k Wb/kg/kg. Because of the fact that aluminum metal obtained floated on the surface of molten electrolyte, this electrolysis method was then defined as low temperature aluminum floating electrolysis. The results showed that the new low temperature aluminum electrolysis process in the Na_3AlF_6-AlF_3-BaC1_2-NaCl bath system was practical and promising.

Effects of incident wind/wave directions on dynamic response of a SPAR-type floating offshore wind turbine system

As a promising renewable energy,offshore wind energy currently is gaining more attention,by which the economic and efficient operation of floating wind turbine systems is a potential research direction.This study is primarily devoted to the analysis of dynamic response of the NREL-5 MW reference wind turbine supported by an OC3-Hywind SPAR-type platform using a recompiled code which combines FAST with WAMIT.To verify the reliability of the recompiled code,the free decay motions of a floating wind turbine system in still water are examined with satisfactory results.After that,thirteen scenarios with different angles between wind and wave from 0°to 90°are investigated.The dynamic responses of the turbine system in various degrees of freedom(DOFs)for different incident wind/wave directions are presented in both time and frequency domains via the fast Fourier transform.

Impact Analysis of Air Gap Motion with Respect to Parameters of Mooring System for Floating Platform

In this paper, the impact analysis of air gap concerning the parameters of mooring system for the semi-submersible platform is conducted. It is challenging to simulate the wave, current and wind loads of a platform based on a model test simultaneously. Furthermore, the dynamic equivalence between the truncated and full-depth mooring system is still a tuff work. However, the wind and current loads can be tested accurately in wind tunnel model. Furthermore, the wave can be simulated accurately in wave tank test. The full-scale mooring system and the all environment loads can be simulated accurately by using the numerical model based on the model tests simultaneously. In this paper, the air gap response of a floating platform is calculated based on the results of tunnel test and wave tank. Meanwhile, full-scale mooring system, the wind, wave and current load can be considered simultaneously. In addition, a numerical model of the platform is tuned and validated by ANSYS AQWA according to the model test results. With the support of the tuned numerical model, seventeen simulation cases about the presented platform are considered to study the wave, wind, and current loads simultaneously. Then, the impact analysis studies of air gap motion regarding the length, elasticity, and type of the mooring line are performed in the time domain under the beam wave, head wave, and oblique wave conditions.

Dynamic Response Analysis of a Floating Mooring System

An innovative floating mooring system with two or more independent floating mooring platforms in the middle and one rigid platform on each side is proposed for improving efficiency and safety in shallow water. For this new system, most of collision energy is absorbed through the displacement of floating platforms. In order to illustrate the validity of the system, a series of model tests were conducted at a scale of 1:40. The coupled motion characteristics of the floating mooring platforms were discussed under regular and irregular waves, and the influences of wave direction and other characteristics on dynamic response of the system were analyzed. The results show that the mooring system is safest at 0° of wave incident angle, whereas the most dangerous mooring state occurs at 90° of wave incident angle. Motion responses increase with the increase of wave height, but are not linearly related to changes in wave height.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of gastroretentive floating drug delivery system of ofloxacin

This study aimed to develop hydrophilicmatrix based controlled release gastroretentive drug delivery system of ofloxacin and conducting its in vitro and in vivo evaluations.Effervescent floating gastroretentive drug delivery system of ofloxacin was prepared utilizing Boxe Behnken statistical design with 3 factors,3 levels and 15 experimental trials.Formulation optimization was done by setting targets on selected responses.In vivo studies were carried out for the optimized formulation with 12 healthy human volunteers and obtained pharmacokinetic parameters were compared with themarketed once daily formulation,“Zanocin OD”.Optimized formulation showed satisfactory controlled in vitro drug release for more than 12 h with excellent buoyancy properties(floating lag time<1 min,floating duration>16 h).Optimized and marketed formulations were found to have similar in vitro release profile(f2¼79.22)and also were found to be bioequivalent.Serum ofloxacin concentration was well maintained above its reported minimum inhibitory concentrations for most of the pathogens for sufficiently longer duration.Cmax and AUC values of optimized formulation were found to be significantly higher than of marketed product despite their bioequivalence.Bettertherapeutic effect can be expected since ofloxacin exhibits concentration dependent killing.Hence,gastroretention can be a promising approach to enhance bioavailability of ofloxacin with narrow absorption window in upper GIT.

Some Remarks about the Deployment of Floating PV Systems in Brazil

Floating photovoltaic systems installed in water bodies such as natural lakes or dams reservoirs, have attracted increased worldwide attention since 2011 and have already been deployed in several countries, including Japan, South Korea and USA. In Brazil, pilot-projects were announced in the reservoirs of hydroelectric power plants of Balbina （State of Amazonas） and Sobradinho （State of Bahia）. Several advantages, not necessarily valid in Brazil, are mentioned for deploying this kind of technology, such as an increase in energy generation, reduction of water losses through evaporation, low environmental impact, no occupation of land etc. In this article, several of these allegations are analyzed preliminarily under the Brazilian point of view, and relevant considerations are presented. It is concluded that the technical and economic advantages of floating photovoltaic systems are not yet clear in Brazil and that pilot projects, such as those under way, should be used to clarify several important aspects related to them.

A Floating Island Treatment System for the Removal of Phosphorus from Surface Waters

The goal of this project was to design, build, and test a pilot-scale floating modular treatment system for total phosphorus （TP） removal from nutrient-impaired lakes in central Florida, USA. The treatment sys-tem consisted of biological and physical-chemical treatment modules. First, investigations of prospective biological and physical-chemical treatment processes in mesocosms and in bench-scale experiments were conducted. Thirteen different mesocosms were constructed with a variety of substrates and combi-nations of macrophytes and tested for TP and orthophosphate （PO4-^3） removal efficiencies and potential areal removal rates. Bench-scale jar tests and column tests of seven types of absorptive media in addition to three commercial resins were conducted in order to test absorptive capacity. Once isolated process testing was complete, a floating island treatment system （FITS） was designed and deployed for eight months in a lake in central Florida. Phosphorus removal efficiencies of the mesocosm systems averaged about 40%-50%, providing an average uptake of 5.0 g.m ^2.a ^1 across all mesocosms. The best-performing mesocosms were a submerged aquatic vegetation （SAV） mesocosm and an algae scrubber （AGS）, which removed 20 and 50 mg.m ^2.d ^1, respectively, for an average removal of 5.5 and 12.0 g.m ^2.a ^1 for the SAV and AGS systems, Of the absorptive media, the best performance was alum residual （AR）, which reduced PO4-^3 concentrations by about 75% after 5 min of contact time. Of the commercial resins tested, the PhosX resin was superior to the others, removing about 40% of phosphorus after 30 rain and 60% after 60min. Under baseline operation conditions during deployment, the FITS exhibited mean PO4-^3 removal efficiencies of 53%; using the 50th and 90th percentile of PO4-^3 removal during deployment, and the footprint of the FITS system, yielded efficiencies for the combined FITS system of 56% and 86%, respectively, and areal phosphorus removal rates between 8.9 and 16.5 g.m ^2.a ^1

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.

Numerical Simulation of the Spreading Dynamic Responses of the Multibody System with a Floating Base

To simulate the dynamic responses of the multibody system with a floating base when the upper parts spread with a certain sequence and relative speed, the homogeneous matrix method is employed to model and simulate a four-body system with a floating base and the motions are analyzed when the upper parts are spread sequentially or synchronously. The rolling, swaying and heaving temporal variations are obtained when the multibody system is under the conditions of the static water along with the wave loads and the mean wind loads or the single pulse wind loads, respectively. The moment variations of each joint under the single pulse wind load are also gained. The numerical results showed that the swaying of the floating base is almost not influenced by the spreading time or form when the upper parts spread sequentially or synchronously, while the rolling and the heaving mainly depend on the spreading time and forms. The swaying and heaving motions are influenced significantly by the mean wind loads. The single pulse wind load also has influences on the dynamic responses. The torque of joint 3 and joint 4 in the single pulse wind environment may be twice that in the windless environment when the system spreads with 60 s duration.

Hydrodynamic Performance of A Dual-Floater Integrated System Com-bining Hybrid WECs and Floating Breakwaters

The high investment and low return of wave energy converters(WECs)seriously hamper their large-scale commercial application.The integration of WECs and floating breakwaters is conducive to enhance the competitiveness of wave energy conversion.The objective of this paper is to investigate the hydrodynamic performance of a WEC-breakwater integrated system combining an upstream oscillating water column(OWC)and a downstream oscillating buoy(OB)via numerical simulations and physical experiments.A nonlinear numerical wave flume using Star-CCM+software is employed to obtain calculated results,where a tiny transverse gap is set between the flume wall and the block surface to simulate a similar two-dimensional(2D)model.The corresponding physical experiments are also carried out in a practical wave flume to verified the numerical results.The comparison of the isolated and hybrid system shows that the hybrid design leads to the decreased conversion efficiency of each WEC,but improves the transmission performance of the hybrid system.The wave resonance between two devices causes the abrupt reduction of OWC efficiency and a positive correlation exists with the OB efficiency.The total efficiency of the hybrid system is raised by an optimal opening ratio,a shallow OWC draft and a short spacing distance.Except for the OWC draft,other design parameters have weak effect on the wave attenuation of the hybrid system.This paper can help understand hydrodynamics of the hybrid WECs integrated with breakwaters and improve their performances.

A Method Based on Multi-Body Dynamic Analysis for A Floating Two-Stage Buffer Collision-Prevention System Under Ship Collision Loads

The collision of ships poses a great threat to the piers in navigable waters.The kinetic energy of the moving ship can be consumed not only with the structural deformation,but also with tensile force from the proposed Floating Two-stage Buffer Collision-Prevention System(FTBCPS).The actual anti-collision effect of the current designed FTBCPS can be evaluated by the dynamic simulation.The construction method of 3D model is introduced,and the system initial state is defined.The transformation matrix and the basic kinematics vector are given,and the system basic dynamics equation is then created.The mechanical analysis on each component is carried out,and the detailed process of numerical simulation is also given.The simulation results indicate that collision direction and collision position have a great influence on the system kinematic response.Bridge pier faces the greatest threat when a ship hits the floater on the front beam in a nearly vertical direction,or on the side beam in a larger course angle.The study shows that the current designed FTBCPS can make full use of the fracture tensile property of polyester ropes and keep the tensile force acted on pier within its bearable range at the same time.The collision direction has a significant effect on the dynamic response of the colliding bodies,but no failure appeared in the simulations,which indicates that the current designed FTBCPS can protect bridge piers of all cases for the 5000-t ship with a velocity smaller than 5 m/s in navigable waters.

Investigation on Effects of Mooring Line Fractures and Connector Failures for A Hybrid Modular Floating Structure System

The present work reports a Hybrid Modular Floating Structure(HMFS)system with typical malfunction conditions.The effects of both fractured mooring lines and failed connectors on main hydrodynamic responses(mooring line tensions,module motions,connector loads and wave power production)of the HMFS system under typical sea con-ditions are comparatively investigated.The results indicate that the mooring tension distribution,certain module motions(surge,sway and yaw)and connector loads(Mz)are significantly influenced by mooring line fractures.The adjacent mooring line of the fractured line on the upstream side suffers the largest tension among the remaining mooring lines,and the case with two fractured mooring lines in the same group on the upstream side is the most dangerous among all cases of two-line failures in view of mooring line tensions,module motions and connector loads.There-fore,one emergency strategy with appropriate relaxation of a proper mooring line has been proposed and proved effective to reduce the risk of more progressive mooring line fractures.In addition,connector failures substantially affect certain module motions(heave and pitch),certain connector loads(Fz and My)and wave power production.The present work can be helpful and instructive for studies on malfunction conditions of modular floating structure(MFS)systems.

Effects of Distiller's Grain Substrate with Acid Regulation on the Growth of Tobacco Seedlings in Floating Breeding System

In order to reduce the use of peat resources and realize the sustainable development of tobacco, the pH of distiller s grain substrate was adjusted with humic acid, and the effects of various distiller s grain substrates on the growth of tobacco seedlings were studied to find out the method of cultivating high-quality tobacco seedlings by using distiller s grain substrate. The results showed that when 60% of humic acid was added to the distiller s grain substrate made from coarse distiller s grains, fine distiller s grains, perlite and vermiculite, both the pH and electrical conductivity decreased significantly and were similar to that of the conventional substrate. Moreover, the emergence rate of tobacco seedlings, the rate of strong tobacco seedlings, leaf number, stem height, root growth and quality of tobacco seedlings were good.