Geometrical investigation of a U-shaped oscillating water column wave energy device

•The hydrodynamics of a U-OWC device is numerically investigated.•The effect of geometric parameters on the hydrodynamic performance are discussed.•The larger vertical duct height, the higher hydrodynamic efficiency.•The hydrodynamic efficiency increases with the vertical duct width in some extent.•...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied ocean research 2020-04, Vol.97, p.102105-10, Article 102105
Main Authors: Ning, De-zhi, Guo, Bao-ming, Wang, Rong-quan, Vyzikas, Thomas, Greaves, Deborah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
Construction
Efficiency
Free surfaces
Height
HOBEM
Hydrodynamic efficiency
Hydrodynamics
Mathematical models
Nonlinear wave interactions
Nonlinear waves
Nonlinearity
Parameters
Pressure
U-OWC
Water column
Wave energy
Wave power
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Summary:•The hydrodynamics of a U-OWC device is numerically investigated.•The effect of geometric parameters on the hydrodynamic performance are discussed.•The larger vertical duct height, the higher hydrodynamic efficiency.•The hydrodynamic efficiency increases with the vertical duct width in some extent.•The hydrodynamic efficiency increases with the front wall thickness of the vertical duct. Hydrodynamic performance of a fixed U-shaped oscillating water column (U-OWC) wave energy converter is numerically investigated. Based on the time-domain higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM), a two-dimensional fully nonlinear numerical model is implemented to simulate the nonlinear wave interaction with a U-OWC device. In the model, the inner-domain-source method is adopted to generate incident waves and a linear pneumatic model is used to determine the air pressure which is imposed on the free surface inside the chamber. The numerical model is well validated against the published experimental data of the free surface elevation at the chamber centre, air pressure inside the chamber and hydrodynamic efficiency. Further, the present model is applied to study the effects of geometrical parameters (including the vertical duct height, vertical duct width and wall thickness) on the hydrodynamic performances of the U-OWC device. The results indicate that geometrical parameters of the vertical duct have significant influence on the air pressure inside the chamber and the hydrodynamic efficiency. The hydrodynamic efficiency and air pressure inside the chamber are found to increase with the increase of both vertical duct height and thickness of wall I. However, the increasing rate of the efficiency slows down gradually with the thickness of wall I increasing, which indicates that a comprehensive consideration of the construction cost and hydrodynamic performance is needed in the design and construction of a U-OWC device.
ISSN:0141-1187
1879-1549
DOI:10.1016/j.apor.2020.102105