Energy flux method for wave energy converters

Scarlett, Gabriel Thomas and McNatt, James Cameron and Henry, Alan and Arredondo-Galeana, Abel (2024) Energy flux method for wave energy converters. Energies, 17 (19). 4991. ISSN 1996-1073 (https://doi.org/10.3390/en17194991)

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Abstract

Hydrodynamic tools reveal information as to the behaviour of a device in the presence of waves but provide little information on how to improve or optimise the device. With no recent work on the transfer of power (energy flux) from a wave field through the body surface of a wave energy converter (WEC), we introduce the energy flux method to map the flow of power. The method is used to develop an open-source tool to visualise the energy flux density on a WEC body surface. This energy flux surface can also be used to compute the total power capture by integrating over the surface. We apply the tool to three WEC classes: a heaving cylinder, a twin-hulled hinged barge, and pitching surge devices. Using the flux surfaces, we investigate power efficiency in terms of power absorbed to power radiated. We visualise the hydrodynamic consequence of sub-optimal damping. Then, for two pitching surge devices with similar resonant peaks, we reveal why one device has a reduced power performance in a wave spectrum compared to the other. The results show the effectiveness of the energy flux method to predict power capture compared to motion-based methods and highlight the importance of assessing the flux of energy in WECs subjected to different damping strategies. Importantly, the tool can be adopted for a wide range of applications, from geometry optimisation and hydrodynamic efficiency assessment to structural design.

ORCID iDs

Scarlett, Gabriel Thomas, McNatt, James Cameron, Henry, Alan and Arredondo-Galeana, Abel ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2408-7062;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)