Multidisciplinary Design for Performance: Ocean Wave Energy Conversion

摘要

The multidisciplinary conversion of ocean wave power for a site off the Australian East Coast is considered. An Oscillating Water Column (OWC) capture device with a parabolic collector wall converts incident wave power to pneumatic power while subsequent covnersion to electricity is facilitated by a new air turbine-generatr unit. A simple methodology is presented for estimating the air turbine's output and longer-term productiivty, according to its sizing. Consequently, a methodology is defined which can be used in determining the optimal turbine diameter for a given wave climate and capture device performance. It is predicted that a 0.73m turbine on the 10m wide Australian plant will have a rated capacity of 300kW and will export 770MWh annually at an average rate of 86kW.