• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.280-294
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• 2022

This study reviews the recent development and research results of a fixed oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converter (WEC). The OWC WEC can be divided into fixed and floating types based on the installation location and movement of the structure. In this article, the study on a stationary OWC WEC, which is close to commercialization through the accumulation of long-term research achievements, is divided into five research categories with a focus on primary energy conversion research. These research categories include potential-flow-based numerical analysis, wave tank experiments, computational fluid dynamics analyses toward investigation of fluid viscous effects, U-shaped OWC studies that can amplify water surface displacement in the OWC chamber, and studies on OWC prototypes that have been installed and operated in real sea environments. This review will provide an overview of recent research on the stationary OWC WEC and basic information for further detailed studies on the OWC.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.66-77
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• 2018

This paper presents a parametric study on an oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converter (WEC). This OWC has been planned for installation in the breakwaters on isolated islands located away from the mainland. Both a numerical analysis and a model experiment are utilized for determining a proper conceptual design for this purpose. Various design parameters, including the configurations and dimensions, are evaluated through the numerical analysis, which is based on a potential flow theory, and several design concepts are then selected as candidates. The model experiment using a 2D wave flume is conducted to evaluate the effects of the design parameters and compare the performances of the candidates. Based on the overall results of the numerical analysis and model experiment, a conceptual design of the OWC WEC applicable to a breakwater is selected.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.242-252
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• 2018

It is well known that an Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter (OWC-WEC) is one of the most efficient wave absorber equipment. This device transforms the vertical motion of water column in the air chamber into the air flow velocity and produces electricity from the driving force of turbine as represented by the Wells turbine. Therefore, in order to obtain high electric energy, it is necessary to amplify the water surface vibration by inducing resonance of the piston mode in the water surface fluctuation in the air chamber. In this study, a new type of OWC-WEC with a seawater channel is used, and the wave deformation by the structure, water surface fluctuation in the air chamber, air outflow velocity from the nozzle and seawater flow velocity in the seawater channel are evaluated by numerical analysis in detail. The numerical analysis model uses open CFD code OLAFLOW model based on multi-phase analysis technique of Navier-Stokes solver. To validate model, numerical results and existing experimental results are compared and discussed. It is revealed within the scope of this study that the air flow velocity at nozzle increases as the Ursell number becomes larger, and the air velocity that flows out from the inside of the air chamber is larger than the velocity of incoming air into the air chamber.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.253-262
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• 2018

Oscillating Water Column (OWC) Wave Energy Converters (WEC) harness electricity through a Power-Take-Off (PTO) system from the induced-airflow by seawater oscillating inside a chamber. In general, an air chamber with a relatively small cross-sectional area is required compared to seawater chamber to obtain high-velocity air in the PTO system, and in order to simulate an accurate air flow rate in the air chamber, a three-dimensional study is required. In this study, the dynamic response of OWC-WEC that is equipped with the channel of seawater exchange for the case of irregular waves has been numerically studied. The open source CFD software, OLAFLOW for the simulation of wave dynamics to the openFOAM and FOAM-extend communities, was used to simulate the interaction between the device and irregular waves. Based on the numerical simulation results, we discussed the fluctuation characteristics of three dimensional air flow in the air-chamber, wave deformation around the structure and the seawater flow inside the channel of seawater exchange. The numerical results the maximum air flow velocity in the air-chamber increases as the Ursell value of the significant wave increases, and the velocity of airflow flowing out from the inside of air chamber to the outside is greater than the speed of flowing into the air chamber from the outside.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.296-304
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• 2021

Research on the development of marine renewable energy is actively in progress. Various studies are being conducted on the development of wave energy converters. In this study, a numerical analysis of wave-energy extraction performance was performed according to the body shape and scale of the sloped oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converter (WEC), which can be connected with the breakwater. The sloped OWC WEC was modeled in the time domain using a two-dimensional fully nonlinear numerical wave tank. The nonlinear free surface condition in the chamber was derived to represent the pneumatic pressure owing to the wave column motion and viscous energy loss at the chamber entrance. The free surface elevations in the sloped chamber were calculated at various incident wave periods. For verification, the results were compared with the 1:20 scaled model test. The maximum wave energy extraction was estimated with a pneumatic damping coefficient. To calculate the energy extraction of the actual size WEC, OWC models approximately 20 times larger than the scale model were calculated, and the viscous damping coefficient according to each size was predicted and applied. It was verified that the energy, owing to the airflow in the chamber, increased as the incident wave period increased, and the maximum efficiency of energy extraction was approximately 40% of the incident wave energy. Under the given incident wave conditions, the maximum extractable wave power at a chamber length of 5 m and a skirt draft of 2 m was approximately 4.59 kW/m.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.225-243
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• 2014

As the economic matters are involved, applying the WEC, which is used for controlling waves as well as utilizing the wave energy on existing breakwater, is preferred rather than installing exclusive WEC. This study examines the OWC mounted on a pressurized air chamber floating breakwater regarding the functionality of both breakwater and wave-power generation. In order to verify the performance as a WEC, the velocity of air flow from pressurized air chamber to WEC has to be evaluated properly. Therefore, numerical simulation was implemented based on BEM from linear velocity potential theory as well as Boyle's law with the state equation to analyze pressurized air flow. The validity of the obtained values can be determined by comparing the previous results from numerical analysis and empirically obtained values of different shapes. In the actual numerical analysis, properties of wave deformation around OWC system mounted on fixed type and floating type breakwaters, motions of the structure with air flow velocities are investigated. Since, the wind power generating system can be hybridized on the structure, it is expected to be applied on complex power generation system which generates both wind and wave power energy.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-106
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• 2017

The study explores a novel design of wave energy converter (WEC) that utilizes the interaction between an inside heaving vertical cylinder with an outside fixed hollow cylinder. This design originates from the oscillating water column (OWC) type WEC but replaces the pneumatic power take off (PTO) through the Wells turbine with the hydrodynamic PTO through the inside heaving cylinder. To effectively evaluate the maximum power output, the system has been modeled in the hydrodynamic software AQWA (developed by ANSYS Inc) that has accumulated extensive offshore industry users. Ranges of the PTO parameters have been examined to make sure that proper linear damping can be implemented to simulate the PTO force. Comparing the efficiency of the pneumatic PTO with the hydrodynamic PTO, it appears that the hydrodynamic PTO is more promising than the traditional Wells turbine for an OWC system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.305-314
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• 2017

Ocean wave energy harvesting is still too expensive despite developing a variety of wave energy converter (WEC) devices. For the cost-effective wave energy harvesting, it can be an effective measure to use existing breakwaters or newly installed breakwaters for both wave control and energy harvesting purposes. In this study, we investigated the functionality of both breakwater and wave-power generator for the oscillating water column (OWC)-type wave energy converter (WEC) installed in a pneumatic floating breakwater, which was originally developed as a floating breakwater. In order to verify the performance of the breakwater as a WEC, the air flow velocity from air-chamber to WEC has to be evaluated properly. Therefore, air flow velocity, wave transformation and motion of floating structure was numerically implemented based on BEM from linear velocity potential theory without considering the compressibility of air within the chamber. Air pressure, meanwhile, was assumed to be fluctuated by the motions of structure and the water level change within air-chamber. The validity of the obtained values can be determined by comparing the previous results from the numerical analysis for different shapes. Based on numerical model results, wave transformation characteristics around OWC system mounted on the fixed and floating breakwaters, and motions of the structure with air flow velocities are investigated. In summary, all numerical results are almost identical to the previous research considering air compressibility. Therefore, it can be concluded that this analysis not considering air compressibility in the air chamber is more efficient and practical method.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.21-41
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• 2023

Decarbonization and energy transition can be considered as a main concern even for the oil industry. One of the initiatives to reduce emissions under studies considers the use of renewable energy as a complimentary supply of electric energy of the production platforms. Wind energy has a higher TRL (Technology Readiness Level) than other types of energy converters and has been considered in these studies. However, other types of renewable energy have potential to be used and hybrid concepts considering wind platforms can help to push the technological development of other types of energy converters and improve their efficiency. In this article, a preliminary hydrodynamic assessment of a new concept of hybrid wind and wave energy conversion platform was performed, in order to evaluate the potential of wave power extraction. A multiple OWCs (Oscillating Water Column) WEC (Wave Energy Converter) design was adopted for the analysis and some simplifications were adopted to permit using a frequency domain approach to evaluate the mean wave power estimation for the location. Other strategies were used in the OWC design to create resonance in the sea energy range to try to maximize the potential power to be extracted, with good results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.59-60
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• 2018

The oscillating-water-column wave energy converter represents the complex physical characteristics associated with the water column, turbines, generator, and power converter. This study focuses on the derivation of the physical relationship between the water column and turbine based on the 1/ 4 scale model test. The aerodynamic characteristics of the OWC ducted turbine were simulated using an orifice. The turbine effect, a key element in the OWC-chamber performance evaluation, can be represented by the flow rate and pressure drop through the orifice. The turbine effect of OWC-WEC was confirmed to have a non-linear relationship from the measured flow rate and pressure drop in the model test.