Numerical Geometric Evaluation of an L-Shaped Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter Under the Realistic Sea State Found in Rio Grande-RS
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study conducts a numerical investigation of the geometry of the oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converter under realistic irregular wave conditions found off the coast of Rio Grande, southern Brazil. Two OWC models were compared: the conventional design and the L-shaped configuration (L-OWC). The OWC structure consists of a hydropneumatic chamber and an air duct, where a turbine is coupled to an electric generator. Additionally, in the L-shaped chamber configuration, a water intake duct is considered. The constructal design method was employed for the geometric evaluation of the devices. For the L-OWC, the influence of the height-to-length ratio of the water intake duct on the obtained hydropneumatic power available was analyzed. In parallel, for the conventional OWC, the free-board submergence was investigated. Subsequently, the optimal geometry for each OWC model was selected to study the height-to-length ratio of the hydropneumatic chamber. Numerical simulations were performed using ANSYS Fluent software. Thus, the performance of the converters was improved by approximately 35.76 times for the L-OWC and 3.78 times for the conventional OWC. However, it is noteworthy that the optimal configuration of the conventional OWC achieved a performance 2.62 times higher than the optimal L-OWC geometry.
Source: Processes
DOI: 10.3390/pr13123942
Authors: Maycon da Silveira Paiva, Ana Paula Giussani Mocellin, Elizaldo Domingues dos Santos, Luiz Alberto Oliveira Rocha, Bianca Neves Machado, Liércio André Isoldi
Language: English
Topic: Wave and Wind Energy Systems
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4417045335
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