Hydrodynamic performance of semi-submersible FOWT combined with point-absorber WECs

Abstract

The numerical investigation is carried out for a hybrid platform for wind and wave energy conversion in the offshore. The analyses are for the DeepCWind semi-submersible as main hull of the Floating Offshore Wind Turbine having 20.0 meters draft, whereas the Wave Energy Converters are conical point-absorbers of diameter within 5.0 – 10.0 meters. The investigation is focused towards the linear hydrodynamic interaction of the wind platform and wave energy devices; the turbine is considered to be non-operative. The wave diffraction/ radiation approach is considered for the evaluation of single-and multi-body hydrodynamic coefficients. The numerical investigation is performed to determine devices’ Response Amplitude Operators and response spectra. Performance parameters are also evaluated, such as wave converters’ capture width, absorbed power and array’s q-factor. The study presents a preliminary investigation on the hydrodynamic performance of the hybrid platform, it currently oversimplifies the mechanical coupling created by the Power Take-Offs and connection constraints. © 2021 the Author(s).