Experimental investigation on the hydrodynamic performance of a new type floating Oscillating Water Column device with dual-chambers

摘要

A comprehensive experimental study is carried out to investigate the efficiency of a novel floating dual-chamber Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter device in terms of converting the energy of the waves to pneumatic power. The influence of the power take-off damping as well as the wave characteristics on the hydrodynamic performance is investigated. The significant hydrodynamic performance of the introduced novel concept has been proven in the wide range of wave frequencies for both regular and random wave conditions. It is found that the fore and rear chambers of the device have the dominant role in absorbing energy of the waves in a specific range of wave periods. Their mutual interactions have a significant effect on the enhancement of the overall hydrodynamic performance.