• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.20 no.2 s.69
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• pp.22-28
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• 2006

The motion and wave drift forces of floating BBDB (backward-bent duct buoy) wave energy absorbers in regular waves are calculated, taking account of the oscillating surface-pressure due to the pressure drop in the air chamber above the oscillating water column, within the scope of the linear wave theory. A series of model tests has been conducted in order to order to verify the motion and time mean wave drift force reponses in regular waves at the ocean engineering basin, MOERI/KORDI. The pneumatic damping through an orifice-type duct for the BBDB wave energy device are deducted from experimental research. Numerical simulation for motion and drift force responses of the BBDB wave energy device, considering pneumatic damping coefficients, has been carried out, and the results are compared with those of model tests.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.53-58
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• 2012

An experimental study on the hydrodynamic performance of a backward bent duct buoy (BBDB) was performed in a 2D wave tank. The BBDB is one of the promising oscillating water column (OWC) types of floating wave energy converters. Two different corner-shaped BBDBs (sharp-corner and round-corner) were used to measure the maximum chamber surface elevations and body motions for various incident wave conditions, and their hydrodynamic characteristics were compared. In order to investigate the effect of the pneumatic pressure inside the chamber, the heave and pitch angle interacted with elevations were compared for both open chamber and partially open chamber BBDBs. From the comparison study, the deviation in the chamber surface elevations between the two shapes of BBDBs was found to be significant near the resonance period, which may be explained by viscous energy loss. It was also found that the pneumatic pressure noticeably affected the chamber surface elevation and body motions.

• 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 the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.318-328
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• 1991

The present paper describes the experimental study on the fixed-type wave-energy conversion system, consisting of the OWC-type wave-energy absorbing chamber and the duct for the air turbine. For simplicity, a screen of wire mesh was employed in place of an air turbine in order to simulate its effects on OWC chamber. Experiments were performed at the towing tank in regular waves with the frequency range of 0.22-0.75Hz. Comparison wish the numerical prediction using a potential flow-based method [4] was made to validate the capability of numerical code. It was shown that the agreements between measured and calculated results are quite good, giving a confidence in prediction method. Simulation of air turbine using a wire-mesh screen was successful, at least in a qualitative sense, to investigate the inter action between the OWC chamber and an air turbine. Results also showed that the effects of a wire-mesh screen on chamber efficiency are negligible, and the present model can be effectively utilized for the practical use in ocean waves with the frequency range under 0.3Hz.

• 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 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.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.597-601
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• 2013

Recently, many studies about the wave power generation system for the marine structure as the hybrid form in linked with the original features have been made of. Of these, the wave power generation system using oscillating water column(OWC) has function to convert wave energy to electrical energy with original function of the break water structure. In this type of generation system, it is important to make the flow of sea water as much as possible without loss. Output characteristics of wave power generation system depending on entrance section were described in the paper. Also, flow quantity changing with entrance section, velocity of sea water and output of wells turbine were measured by simulating OWC wells turbine model in break water, one of the general marine structure. Finally, entrance section was suggested to enhance the energy conversion efficiency based on the results of simulation.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.268-273
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• 2004

A study on experimental method of the model test for the impulse turbine is carried out. the wave simulator is used to reproduce the real wave condition. It controls two parameter correspond to wave height and wave frequency. The optimum design which is reported by T. Setoguchi is manufactured and tested for the validation of our test facilities. The comparison of model test show that our facilities produce little bit higher efficiency at maximum efficiency point. To increase the efficiency of turbine, the new rotor with negative tip clearance is designed and being tested.

• 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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• 2019.11a
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• pp.150-152
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of the wave field changes due to the coastal structure on the hydrodynamic performance of the OWC wave energy, converter are analyzed using a three-dimensional numerical wave tank technique (NWT). The OWC device is simulated numerically by introducing a linear pressure drop model, considering the coupling effect between the turbine and the OWC chamber in the time domain. The flow distribution around the chamber is different due to the change of reflection characteristics depending on the consideration of the breakwater model. The wave energy captured from the breakwater is spatially distributed on the plane of the front of the breakwater, and the converted pneumatic power increased when concentrated in front of the chamber. The change of the standing wave distribution is repeated according to the relationship between the incident wavelength and the length of the breakwater, and the difference in energy conversion performance of the OWC was confirmed.