Nearshore oscillating wave surge converters and the development of Oyster

Oscillating wave surge converters (OWSCs) are a class of wave power technology that exploits the enhanced horizontal fluid particle movement of waves in the nearshore coastal zone with water depths of 10–20 m. OWSCs predominantly oscillate horizontally in surge as opposed to the majority of wave devices, which oscillate vertically in heave and usually are deployed in deeper water. The characteristics of the nearshore wave resource are described along with the hydrodynamics of OWSCs. The variables in the OWSC design space are discussed together with a presentation of some of their effects on capture width, frequency bandwidth response and power take-off characteristics. There are notable differences between the different OWSCs under development worldwide, and these are highlighted. The final section of the paper describes Aquamarine Power’s 315kW Oyster 1 prototype, which was deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre in August 2009. Its place in the OWSC design space is described along with the practical experience gained. This has led to the design of Oyster 2, which was deployed in August 2011. It is concluded that nearshore OWSCs are serious contenders in the mix of wave power technologies. The nearshore wave climate has a narrower directional spread than the offshore, the largest waves are filtered out and the exploitable resource is typically only 10–20% less in 10m depth compared with 50m depth. Regarding the devices, a key conclusion is that OWSCs such as Oyster primarily respond in the working frequency range to the horizontal fluid acceleration; Oyster is not a drag device responding to horizontal fluid velocity. The hydrodynamics of Oyster is dominated by inertia with added inertia being a very significant contributor. It is unlikely that individual flap modules will exceed 1MW in installed capacity owing to wave resource, hydrodynamic and economic constraints. Generating stations will be made up of line arrays of flaps with communal secondary power conversion every 5–10 units.

Power take-off and damping of an oscillating wave surge converter

The European Union has set a target of 20% for the share of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption in 2020. These renewable energy targets are priority objectives for the Europe 2020 strategy for inclusive growth. In line with the European Union renewable energy policies, the Northern Ireland Executive has a target to deliver 40% renewable electricity by 2020. Currently, Northern Ireland imports 98% of the energy it uses in the form of fossil fuels. Locally produced energy and electricity is needed to ensure sustainable development. The aim of this research is to develop part of a strategy for the mechanical power take-off system for a flap type wave energy converter. Aquamarine Power Ltd’s Oyster flap was the device used for simulation and testing purposes. In this paper the state-of-the-art of wave energy converters is reviewed and a 40th scale test model was developed and built.

A Two Dimensional Experimental Investigation of Slamming of an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter

This paper describes a series of experiments undertaken to investigate the slamming of an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter in extreme sea states. These two-dimensional experiments were undertaken in the Wave Flume at Ecole Centrale Marseille. Images from a high speed camera are used to identify the physics of the slamming process. A single pressure sensor is used to record the characteristic of the pressure. Finally numerical results are compared to the output from the experiments.

Numerical Study of Wave Slamming on an Oscillating Flap

Bottom hinged Oscillating Wave Surge Converters (OWSCs) are efficient devices for extracting power from ocean waves. There is limited knowledge about wave slamming on such devices. This paper deals with numerical studies of wave slamming on an oscillating flap to investigate the mechanism of slamming events. In our model, the Navier–Stokes equations are discretized using the Finite Volume method with the Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach for interface capturing. Waves are generated by a flaptype wave maker in the numerical wave tank, and the dynamic mesh method is applied to model the motion of the oscillating flap. Basic mesh and time step refinement studies are performed. The flow characteristics in a slamming event are analysed based on numerical results. Various simulations with different flap densities, water depths and wave amplitudes are performed for a better understanding of the slamming.

Derivation of Wave Loads for the Design of Oscillating Wave Surge Converters

This paper deals with the problem of estimating wave pressure loads acting on Oscillating Wave Surge Converters (OWSC) for assessment of fatigue on their components. Recent wave loading data issued from experimental testing of a 25th scale model of a box-shaped OWSC are here used to review the accuracy of the predictions made by an engineering method previously developed to derive wave pressure loads on OWSCs from experimental data. Predictions are shown underestimate wave pressure loads, and other methods subsequently developed are presented. A simplistic experimental method taking in consideration variations of the wetted surface area of the flap is shown to lead to relatively good estimates of wave pressure loads that could be used for fatigue calculations.

The Characteristics of Wave Impacts on an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter

Wave impacts on an oscillating wave surge converter are examined using experimental and numerical methods. The mechanics of the impact event are identified experimentally with the use of images recorded with a high-speed camera. It is shown that it is the device that impacts the wave rather than a breaking wave impacting the device. Numerical simulations using two different approaches are used to further understand the issue. Good agreement is shown between numerical simulations and experimental measurements at 25th scale.

The structural response of an oscillating wave surge converter to wave slamming

This paper describes the problems in experimentally obtaining hydrodynamic loads on an oscillating wave surge converter during slamming events, with the aim of furthering understanding of full scale hydrodynamic loads that flap type devices must be designed to withstand. Including how hydro-elastic effects and structural response are linked and why they are essential to the measurement of impulsive hydrodynamic loads. A combined experimental and numerical structural response study carried out on a 40th scale Oyster model drew conclusions on the structural vibration observed in the strain gauge load cell measurement. A further structural response study on a piezo electric load measurement device gave an insight into the advantages it could bring to reducing hydro-elastic effects.

Development and validation of Fluid Structure Interaction Methods for an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter

The term fatigue loads on the Oyster Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (OWSC) is used to describe hydrostatic loads due to water surface elevation with quasi-static changes of state. Therefore a procedure to implement hydrostatic pressure distributions into finite element analysis of the structure is desired. Currently available experimental methods enable one to measure time variant water surface elevation at discrete locations either on or around the body of the scale model during tank tests. This paper discusses the development of a finite element analysis procedure to implement time variant, spatially distributed hydrostatic pressure derived from discretely measured water surface elevation. The developed method can process differently resolved (temporal and spatial) input data and approximate the elevation over the flap faces with user defined properties. The structural loads, namely the forces and moments on the body can then be investigated by post processing the numerical results. This method offers the possibility to process surface elevation or hydrostatic pressure data from computational fluid dynamics simulations and can thus be seen as a first step to a fluid-structure interaction model.

Determination of Non-linear Damping Coefficients of bottom-hinged Oscillating Wave Surge Converters Using Numerical Free Decay Tests

Linear wave theory models are commonly applied to predict the performance of bottom-hinged oscillating wave surge converters (OWSC) in operational sea states. To account for non-linear effects, the additional input of coefficients not included in the model itself becomes necessary. In ocean engineering it is
common practice to obtain damping coefficients of floating structures from free decay tests. This paper presents results obtained from experimental tank tests and numerical computational fluid dynamics simulations of OWSC’s. Agreement between numerical and experimental methods is found to be very good, with CFD providing more data points at small amplitude rotations.
Analysis of the obtained data reveals that linear quadratic-damping, as commonly used in time domain models, is not able to accurately model the occurring damping over the whole regime of rotation amplitudes. The authors
conclude that a hyperbolic function is most suitable to express the instantaneous damping ratio over the rotation amplitude and would be the best choice to be used in coefficient based time domain models.

The Vertical Distribution and Evolution of Slam Pressure on an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter

The accurate definition of the extreme wave loads which act on offshore structures represents a significant challenge for design engineers and even with decades of empirical data to base designs upon there are still failures attributed to wave loading. The environmental conditions which cause these loads are infrequent and highly non-linear which means that they are not well understood or simple to describe. If the structure is large enough to affect the incident wave significantly further non-linear effects can influence the loading. Moreover if the structure is floating and excited by the wave field then its responses, which are also likely to be highly non-linear, must be included in the analysis. This makes the description of the loading on such a structure difficult to determine and the design codes will often suggest employing various tools including small scale experiments, numerical and analytical methods, as well as empirical data if available.
Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are a new class of offshore structure which pose new design challenges, lacking the design codes and empirical data found in other industries. These machines are located in highly exposed and energetic sites, designed to be excited by the waves and will be expected to withstand extreme conditions over their 25 year design life. One such WEC is being developed by Aquamarine Power Ltd and is called Oyster. Oyster is a buoyant flap which is hinged close to the seabed, in water depths of 10 to 15m, piercing the water surface. The flap is driven back and forth by the action of the waves and this mechanical energy is then converted to electricity.
It has been identified in previous experiments that Oyster is not only subject to wave impacts but it occasionally slams into the water surface with high angular velocity. This slamming effect has been identified as an extreme load case and work is ongoing to describe it in terms of the pressure exerted on the outer skin and the transfer of this short duration impulsive load through various parts of the structure.
This paper describes a series of 40th scale experiments undertaken to investigate the pressure on the face of the flap during the slamming event. A vertical array of pressure sensors are used to measure the pressure exerted on the flap. Characteristics of the slam pressure such as the rise time, magnitude, spatial distribution and temporal evolution are revealed. Similarities are drawn between this slamming phenomenon and the classical water entry problems, such as ship hull slamming. With this similitude identified, common analytical tools are used to predict the slam pressure which is compared to that measured in the experiment.

On the use of OpenFOAM to model Oscillating wave surge converters

The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) toolbox OpenFOAM is used to assess the applicability of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers to the simulation of Oscillating Wave Surge Converters (OWSC) in significant waves. Simulation of these flap type devices requires the solution of the equations of motion and the representation of the OWSC’s motion in a moving mesh. A new way to simulate the sea floor inside a section of the moving mesh with a moving dissipation zone is presented. To assess the accuracy of the new solver, experiments are conducted in regular and irregular wave traces for a full three dimensional model. Results of acceleration and flow features are presented for numerical and experimental data. It is found that the new numerical model reproduces experimental results within the bounds of experimental accuracy.

Wave Interaction with an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter, Part 1: Viscous Effects

Bottom hinged oscillating wave surge converters are known to be an efficient method of extracting power from ocean waves. The present work deals with experimental and numerical studies of wave interactions with an oscillating wave surge converter. It focuses on two aspects: (1) viscous effects on device performance under normal operating conditions; and (2) effects of slamming on device survivability under extreme conditions. Part I deals with the viscous effects while the extreme sea conditions will be presented in Part II. The numerical simulations are performed using the commercial CFD package ANSYS FLUENT. The comparison between numerical results and experimental measurements shows excellent agreement in terms of capturing local features of the flow as well as the dynamics of the device. A series of simulations is conducted with various wave conditions, flap configurations and model scales to investigate the viscous and scaling effects on the device. It is found that the diffraction/radiation effects dominate the device motion and that the viscous effects are negligible for wide flaps.