• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2019

In this study, experiments with a floater using flapping foils were performed to develop a new station keeping system that can maintain its position in waves without mooring lines. The foils applied to this system generate thrust using wave energy. In this experiment, the motion of the floater was analyzed in three different wave periods. Sixteen foils were attached to the cylindrical floater. The thrust of each foil was controlled by changing its azimuth angle, and three cases were compared. Based on the previous data, we made more precise measurements and found an optimal model for stationkeeping under each wave condition. We verified the potential of this new stationkeeping system using flapping foils, and conclusions were drawn from the results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

As increasing demands for a floating structure expanded from offshore industry facilities to living facilities, it has emerged that necessity of techniques to reduce motions of a floating structure. This study present a floating structure with porosity on the outer surface of the floater. Under each regular and irregular wave, responses of the floater was investigated in frequency domain. The proposed structure is composed of inner and outer floaters, which are connected to each other and the outer wall is perforated, and the heave and the pitch of floaters with different perforation rates (0~30%) were compared with at both the center and the edge. The results showed that pitch responses can be decreased by increasing of perforation rate of the floater. Comparing with responses of the non-perforated floater, those of the proposed floating structure were reduced to above 10% and 2%, respectively for regular and irregular wave conditions.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.16-23
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• 2021

Recently, the Korean government announced a plan to activate renewable energies, with focus on clean energy sources such as solar and wind power as the core and the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Unlike other photovoltaic (PV) systems, offshore PV installations are advantageous for large-scale expansion because of the ease of securing sites; they also enable lowering the power generation costs based on construction of large-scale power facilities of megawatt class or higher owing to low noise and landscape damage. However, any power generation should proceed with consideration of the special environmental conditions of the ocean. Above all, when installing large-scale facilities, it is important to reduce fluctuations of the structure and secure stability to actively respond to waves. This study is concerned with the development of a floating body technology that actively responds to waves so as to enable commercialization of offshore solar power. A unit platform for research and development on offshore PV generation was installed in the Saemangeum sea, and the structural fluctuations and stability were analyzed to ensure conformity with the major performance indicators.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.287-312
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• 2023

The global performance of a 15 MW floating offshore wind turbine, a newly designed semisubmersible floating foundation with multiple heave plates by CNOOC, is investigated with two independent turbine-floater-mooring coupled dynamic analysis programs CHARM3D-FAST and OrcaFlex. The semisubmersible platform hosts IEA 15 MW reference wind turbine modulated for VolturnUS-S and hybrid type (chain-wire-chain with clumps) 3×2 mooring lines targeting the water depth of 100 m. The numerical free-decay simulation results are compared with physical experiments with 1:64 scaled model in 3D wave basin, from which appropriate drag coefficients for heave plates were estimated. The tuned numerical simulation tools were then used for the feasibility and global performance analysis of the FOWT considering the 50-yr-storm condition and maximum operational condition. The effect of tower flexibility was investigated by comparing tower-base fore-aft bending moment and nacelle translational accelerations. It is found that the tower-base bending moment and nacelle accelerations can be appreciably increased due to the tower flexibility.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.411-418
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• 2018

This paper introduces a new method of ice load generation in the time domain for the station-keeping performance evaluation of Arctic offshore structures. This method is based on the ice load spectrum and mean ice load. Recently, there has been increasing interest in Arctic offshore technology for the exploration and exploitation of the Arctic region because of the better accessibility to the Arctic ocean provided by the global warming effect. It is essential to consider the ice load during the development of an Arctic offshore structure. In particular, when designing a station-keeping system for an Arctic offshore structure, a consideration of the ice load acting on the vessel in the time domain is essential to ensure its safety and security. Several methods have been developed to consider the ice load in the time domain. However, most of the developed methods are computationally heavy because they consider every ice floe in the sea ice field to calculate the ice load acting on the vessel. In this study, a new approach to generate the ice load in the time domain with computational efficiency was suggested, and its feasibility was examined. The ice load spectrum and mean ice load were acquired from a numerical analysis with GPU-event mechanics (GEM) software, and the ice load with the varying heading of a vessel was reconstructed to show the feasibility of the proposed method.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.382-392
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• 2021

In recent years, floating offshore wind turbines have attracted more attention as a new renewable energy resource while bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines reach their limit of water depth. Various projects have been proposed with the rapid increase in installed floating wind power capacity, but the economic aspect remains as a biggest issue. To figure out sensible approaches for saving costs, a comparison analysis of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) between floating and bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines was carried out. The LCOE was reviewed from a social perspective and a cost breakdown and a literature review analysis were used to itemize the costs into its various components in each level of power plant and system integration. The results show that the highest proportion in capital expenditure of a floating offshore wind turbine results in the substructure part, which is the main difference from a bottom-fixed wind turbine. A floating offshore wind turbine was found to have several advantages over a bottom-fixed wind turbine. Although a similarity in operation and maintenance cost structure is revealed, a floating wind turbine still has the benefit of being able to be maintained at a seaport. After emphasizing the cost-reduction advantages of a floating wind turbine, its LCOE outlook is provided to give a brief overview in the following years. Finally, some estimated cost drivers, such as economics of scale, wind turbine rating, a floater with mooring system, and grid connection cost, are outlined as proposals for floating wind LCOE reduction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-110
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• 2017

This paper presents the study of the bending behavior of mooring chain links for keeping the position of the offshore floating structures. In general, chain links have been thought as the axial members due to the fundamental boundary condition. But, the flexural stiffness can be induced to the contact surface between chain links when friction occurs at the surface of the chain links due to high tensile force. Especially, the mooring chains for offshore floating platforms are highly tensioned. If the floater suffers rotational motion and the mooring chain links are highly tensioned, the rotation between contact links, induced by the floater rotation, generates the bending moment and relevant stresses due to the unexpected bending stiffness. In 2005, the mooring chain links for the Girassol Buoy Platform were failed after just 5 months after facility installation, and the accident investigation research concluded the chain failure was mainly caused by the fatigue due to the unexpected bending stress fluctuation. This study investigates the pattern of the induced bending stiffness and stresses of the highly tensioned chain links by nonlinear finite element analysis.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 2015

The present study developed a numerical simulation tool for the coupled dynamic analysis of multiple turbines on a single floater (or Multiple Unit Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (MUFOWT)) in the time domain, considering the multiple-turbine aero-blade-tower dynamics and control, mooring dynamics, and platform motions. The numerical tool developed in this study was designed based on and extended from the single-turbine analysis tool FAST to make it suitable for multiple turbines. For the hydrodynamic loadings of floating platform and mooring-line dynamics, the CHARM3D program developed by the authors was incorporated. Thus, the coupled dynamic behavior of a floating base with multiple turbines and mooring lines can be simulated in the time domain. To investigate the effect of asymmetric aerodynamic loading on the global performance and mooring line tensions of the MUFOWT, one turbine failure case with a fully feathered blade pitch angle was simulated and checked. The aerodynamic interference between adjacent turbines, including the wake effect, was not considered in this study to more clearly demonstrate the influence of the asymmetric aerodynamic loading on the MUFOWT. The analysis shows that the unbalanced aerodynamic loading from one turbine in MUFOWT may induce appreciable changes in the performance of the floating platform and mooring system.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.367-375
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• 2020

This paper presents an integrated analysis about dynamic performance of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) OC4 DeepCwind with semi-submersible platform under real sea environment. The emphasis of this paper is to investigate how the wave mean drift force and slow-drift wave excitation load (Quadratic transfer function, namely QTF) influence the platform motions, mooring line tension and tower base bending moments. Second order potential theory is being used for computing linear and nonlinear wave effects, including first order wave force, mean drift force and slow-drift excitation loads. Morison model is utilized to account the viscous effect from fluid. This approach considers floating wind turbine as an integrated coupled system. Two time-domain solvers, SIMA (SIMO/RIFLEX/AERODYN) and FAST are being chosen to analyze the global response of the integrated coupled system under small, moderate and severe sea condition. Results show that second order mean drift force and slow-drift force will drift the floater away along wave propagation direction. At the same time, slow-drift force has larger effect than mean drift force. Also tension of the mooring line at fairlead and tower base loads are increased accordingly in all sea conditions under investigation.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.379-387
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• 2017

In this study, a pile-guide mooring system (PGMS) was designed for an offshore liquefied natural gas bunkering terminal (LNG-BT), which is an essential infrastructure for large LNG-fuelled ships. The PGMS consisted of guide piles to restrict five motions of the floater, except for heave, as well as a seabed truss structure to support the guide piles and foundation piles to fix the system to the seabed. Singapore port was considered for a case study because it is a highly probable ports for LNG bunkering projects. The wave height, current speed, and wind speed in Singapore port were investigated to calculate the environmental loads acting on the hull and PGMS. A load and resistance factor approach was used for the structural design, and a finite element analysis was performed for design verification. The steel usage of the PGMS was analyzed and compared with the material usage of a gravity-based structure under similar LNG capacity and water depth criteria. This paper also describes the water depth limit and wave conditions of the PGMS based on estimation of the initial investment and the present value profit difference. It suggests a suitable LNG-BT support system for various design conditions.