Wave energy conversion by multiple bottom-hinged surging WEC

Abstract

The power capture and performance of arbitrary array of submerged bottom-hinged deflectors of finite width is analysed for two different configurations. The bottom-hinged deflectors are modelled as non-zero thickness and rotated at small angle in the vertical plane about an axis located in the seabed orthogonal to the direction of the wave propagation. The numerical study is performed on the hydrodynamic performance of the flapping deflector type oscillating wave surge converter (OWSC). Three-dimensional boundary element method is used to calculate hydrodynamic coefficients in frequency domain. A parametric study was made by comparing two geometrically different deflectors, i.e., rectangular and wedge cross-section for power capture assessment. Further, the analysis is performed for arbitrary array configurations of OWSC with oblique incident wave heading angles and the power take off (PTO) system is modelled as a linear damper and spring. The study for multiple arrays of the flap-type wave energy converters is essential for economical design of project in order to exploit more renewable energy from the ocean waves. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.