Investigation on the Oscillating Buoy Wave Power Device

An oscillating buoy wave power device (OD) is a device extracting wave power by an oscillating buoy. Being excited by waves, the buoy heaves up and down to convert wave energy into electricity by means of a mechanical or hydraulic device. Compared with an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave power device, the OD has the same capture vvidth ratio as the OWC does, but much higher secondary conversion efficiency. Moreover, the chamber of the OWC, which is the most expensive and difficult part to be built, is not necessary for the OD, so it is easier to construct an OD. In this paper, a nu-merical calculation is conducted for an optimal design of the OD firstly, then a model of the device is built and, a model test is carried out in a wave tank. The results show that the total efficiency of the OD is much higher than that of the OWC and that the OD is a promising wave power device.     

Capture Performance of A Multi-Freedom Wave Energy Converter with Different Power Take-off Systems

Among the wave energy converters (WECs), oscillating buoy is a promising type for wave energy development in offshore area. Conventional single-freedom oscillating buoy WECs with linear power take-off (PTO) system are less efficient under off-resonance conditions and have a narrow power capture bandwidth. Thus, a multi-freedom WEC with a nonlinear PTO system is proposed. This study examines a multi-freedom WEC with 3 degrees of freedom: surge, heave and pitch. Three different PTO systems (velocity-square, snap through, and constant PTO systems) and a traditional linear PTO system are applied to the WEC. A time-domain model is established using linear potential theory and Cummins equation. The kinematic equation is numerically calculated with the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. The optimal average output power of the PTO systems in all degrees of freedom are obtained and compared. Other parameters of snap through PTO are also discussed in detail. Results show that according to the power capture performance, the order of the PTO systems from the best to worst is snap through PTO, constant PTO, linear PTO and velocity-square PTO. The resonant frequency of the WEC can be adjusted to the incident wave frequency by choosing specific parameters of the snap through PTO. Adding more DOFs can make the WEC get a better power performance in more wave frequencies. Both the above two methods can raise the WEC’s power capture performance significantly.     

基于多星融合高度计数据的中国海波浪能资源评估

Wave energy resources are abundant in both offshore and nearshore areas of the China's seas. A reliable assessment of the wave energy resources must be performed before they can be exploited. First, for a water depth in offshore waters of China, a parameterized wave power density model that considers the effects of the water depth is introduced to improve the calculating accuracy of the wave power density. Second, wave heights and wind speeds on the surface of the China's seas are retrieved from an AVISO multi-satellite altimeter data set for the period from 2009 to 2013. Three mean wave period inversion models are developed and used to calculate the wave energy period. Third, a practical application value for developing the wave energy is analyzed based on buoy data. Finally, the wave power density is then calculated using the wave field data. Using the distribution of wave power density, the energy level frequency, the time variability indexes, the total wave energy and the distribution of total wave energy density according to a wave state, the offshore wave energy in the China's seas is assessed. The results show that the areas of abundant and stable wave energy are primarily located in the north-central part of the South China Sea, the Luzon Strait, southeast of Taiwan in the China's seas; the wave power density values in these areas are approximately 14.0–18.5 k W/m. The wave energy in the China's seas presents obvious seasonal variations and optimal seasons for a wave energy utilization are in winter and autumn. Except for very coastal waters, in other sea areas in the China's seas, the energy is primarily from the wave state with 0.5 m≤H s≤4 m, 4 s≤T e≤10 s where H s is a significant wave height and T e is an energy period; within this wave state, the wave energy accounts for 80% above of the total wave energy. This characteristic is advantageous to designing wave energy convertors(WECs). The practical application value of the wave energy is higher which can be as an effective supplement for an energy consumption in some areas. The above results are consistent with the wave model which indicates fully that this new microwave remote sensing method altimeter is effective and feasible for the wave energy assessment.     

Exploitable wave energy assessment based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data—A case study in the East China Sea and the South China Sea

Wave energy resources assessment is a very important process before the exploitation and utilization of the wave energy. At present, the existing wave energy assessment is focused on theoretical wave energy conditions for interesting areas. While the evaluation for exploitable wave energy conditions is scarcely ever performed.Generally speaking, the wave energy are non-exploitable under a high sea state and a lower sea state which must be ignored when assessing wave energy. Aiming at this situation, a case study of the East China Sea and the South China Sea is performed. First, a division basis between the theoretical wave energy and the exploitable wave energy is studied. Next, based on recent 20 a ERA-Interim wave field data, some indexes including the spatial and temporal distribution of wave power density, a wave energy exploitable ratio, a wave energy level, a wave energy stability, a total wave energy density, the seasonal variation of the total wave energy and a high sea condition frequency are calculated. And then the theoretical wave energy and the exploitable wave energy are compared each other; the distributions of the exploitable wave energy are assessed and a regional division for exploitable wave energy resources is carried out; the influence of the high sea state is evaluated. The results show that considering collapsing force of the high sea state and the utilization efficiency for wave energy, it is determined that the energy by wave with a significant wave height being not less 1 m or not greater than 4 m is the exploitable wave energy. Compared with the theoretical wave energy, the average wave power density, energy level, total wave energy density and total wave energy of the exploitable wave energy decrease obviously and the stability enhances somewhat. Pronounced differences between the theoretical wave energy and the exploitable wave energy are present. In the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the areas of an abundant and stable exploitable wave energy are primarily located in the north-central part of the South China Sea, the Luzon Strait,east of Taiwan, China and north of Ryukyu Islands; annual average exploitable wave power density values in these areas are approximately 10–15 k W/m; the exploitable coefficient of variation(COV) and seasonal variation(SV)values in these areas are less than 1.2 and 1, respectively. Some coastal areas of the Beibu Gulf, the Changjiang Estuary, the Hangzhou Bay and the Zhujiang Estuary are the poor areas of the wave energy. The areas of the high wave energy exploitable ratio is primarily in nearshore waters. The influence of the high sea state for the wave energy in nearshore waters is less than that in offshore waters. In the areas of the abundant wave energy, the influence of the high sea state for the wave energy is prominent and the utilization of wave energy is relatively difficult. The developed evaluation method may give some references for an exploitable wave energy assessment and is valuable for practical applications.     

A Calculation Method for Incidence and Reflection of Irregular Waves Along Seawalls

Some researches have been made in this aspect.In the method by Walton Jr.(1992),incidentwaves are supposed to be the overlapping result of M component waves with different frequencies whichmay take different directions,the direction of incident waves should be available in advance,but in fact thedirection of incident waves is not available.In our study,incident waves are supposed to be composed ofM overlapping component waves with different frequencies,and different frequencies have different direc-tions.Based on the irregular wave reflection theory,the calculation formulas of wave direction,complexamplitude of incident waves,and complex amplitude of reflected waves in surface which are composed ofcomponent waves are derived by means of discrete Fourier transform.Then,the frequency spectra of inci-dent waves and reflected waves and the reflection coefficient of waves with corresponding frequencies areobtained.Verification of the method and the calculation results from in-situ measured data indicate thatt     

Wave Decay and Its Characteristics in Surf Zone

In accordance with the similarity between breaking waves and hydraulic jumps, the expressions for estimating wave decay and wave energy dissipation in the surf zone are derived based on the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics. Using the numerical solution of cnoidal wave theory, the various kinematic properties of waves in the surf zone, including the relative wave crest height, wave energy, and radiation stress are discussed. The values calculated with the method proposed in this paper are in good agreement with the experimental data gained by other researchers. The present expressions can be used in the studies of sediment transport on gently sloping beaches, especially on muddy beaches.     

Information System for Ocean Wave Resources and Its Application to Wave Power Utilization

An information system for ocean wave resources and its application to wave power utilizationare indtroduced.It can manage,analyze and process the data in the monthly report of ocean wave observa-tion records of the State Ocean Administration,and can provide various kinds of curves and numericalcharacters of statistics.This system has been put into utility in Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion(GIEC),the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1996.An application example is given of theinverstigation and analysis on ocean wave resource of the Nan Ao Island,Guangdong Province,where a100 kW onshore OWC(oscillating water column)wave power station will be built.The wave power distri-bution is obtained in different wave directions for different wave periods.It is found that 70 percent of thewave power comes from the direction of ENE,and more than 95 percent of the wave power is related withdirection E.The average wave power density is about 3 kW/m,and more than 80 percent of the wavepower is distributed in the     

Numerical Simulation of Wave Height and Wave Set-Up in Nearshore Regions

Based on the time dependent mild slope equation including the effect of wave energy dissipation, an expression for the energy dissipation factor is derived in conjunction with the wave energy balance equation, and then a practical method for the simulation of wave height and wave set-up in nearshore regions is presented. The variation of the complex wave amplitude is numerically simulated by use of the parabolic mild slope equation including the effect of wave energy dissipation due to wave breaking. The components of wave radiation stress are calculated subsequently by new expressions for them according to the obtained complex wave amplitude, and then the depth-averaged equation is applied to the calculation of wave set-up due to wave breaking. Numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data, showing that the expression for the energy dissipation factor is reasonable and that the new method is effective for the simulation of wave set-up due to wave breaking in nearshore regions.     

The assessment of ocean wave energy along the coasts of Taiwan

The wave energy resource around the coasts of Taiwan is investigated with wave buoy data covering a 3-year period(2007~2009).Eleven study sites within the region bounded by the 21.5oN~25.5oN latitudes and 118oE~122oE longitudes are selected for analysis.The monthly moving-average filter is used to obtain the low-frequency trend based on the available hourly data.After quantifying the wave power and annual wave energy,the substantial resource is the result of Penghu buoy station,which is at the northeastern side of Penghu Island in the Taiwan Strait.It is investigated that the Penghu sea area is determined to be the optimal place for wave energy production according to its abundant resource of northeasterly monsoon waves,sheltering of the Taiwan Island,operation and maintenance in terms of seasonal conditions,and constructability of wave power devices.     

Piezoelectric Energy Analysis on Diverse Buoy Coupling with Hydrodynamic Parameters

This paper mainly describes the influence factors of the captured energy power by huge wave energy harvesters, in which the vertical motion of buoy can transform ocean’s potential energy into piezoelectric energy power by undulating waves. Firstly, related environmental coefficients are analyzed by means of the incident wave theory. Besides, the geometric structural parameters are also analyzed and compared under optimal environmental coefficients with semi-analytical solutions. Thirdly, the numerical results also show the impact trend of hydrodynamic parameters and geometric volume on motion, voltage and power with qualitative agreement. The numerical simulation confirms that the improved structure parameters could markedly deliver sufficient power under the same conditions with long-time stability.     

近45 年南海-北印度洋波浪能资源评估

利用 ERA-40海表10 m 风场驱动第三代海浪数值模式(WAVEWATCH-,Ⅲ简称 WW3),得到南海–北印度洋1957年9月~2002年8月的海浪资料,计算该海域的波浪能,分析波浪能流密度的四季分布特征、不同能级出现的频率及波浪能流密度的稳定性,为海浪发电、海水淡化等选址提供依据.研究发现,南海–北印度洋海域蕴藏着较为丰富的波浪能:(1)南海–北印度洋大部分海域的年平均波浪能流密度在2 kW/m 以上,大值区位于南海、孟加拉湾、索马里附近海域.(2)南海–北印度洋海域波浪能流密度大于2 kW/m 和大于4 kW/m 出现的频率都较高.(3)南海–北印度洋的波浪能流密度具有较好的稳定性,春季、秋季、冬季的稳定性好于夏季,南海的稳定性好于北印度洋     

1957～2002年南海—北印度洋海浪场波候特征分析

利用ERA-40海表10 m风场驱动第三代海浪数值模式WAVEWATCH-Ⅲ,得到南海—北印度洋1957年9月至2002年8月的海浪场,并分析其波候(风候)特征.研究发现如下主要特征:(1)该海域的波高波向、风速风向受季风影响显著;(2)北印度洋大部分海域的海表风速呈显著性逐年线性递增趋势,大约0.01～0.02 m/(s·a),南海线性递增的区域则较少,有效波高呈显著性逐年线性递增的区域主要集中在低纬度中东印度洋(约0.003～0.006 m/a)、索马里附近海域(大约0.002～0.005 m/a)、南海大部分海域(约0.002～0.004 m/a),线性递减的区域主要集中在孟加拉湾海域(约-0.002 m/a);(3)Nino3指数与南海—北印度洋的海表风场、浪场存在密切的关系;(4)南海—北印度洋的海表风速与有效波高存在5.2a左右的共同周期,南海的海表风速、有效波高还存在2.0a左右的共同周期,北印度洋的海表风速、有效波高还存在26.0a的长周期震荡.     

Study on Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Wave Turbulent Bottom Boundary Layer Using A Large-Sized Wave Flume

China Ocean Engineering - Experimental studies were conducted in a super-large wave flume, aiming at uncovering the hydrodynamic characteristics involved in the turbulent wave boundary layer of...     

Wave Extraction and Attenuation Performance of An Edinburgh Duck Wave Energy Converter

China Ocean Engineering - Edinburgh Duck wave energy converter (ED WEC) has excellent energy extraction performance and shows a great potential to integrate with other marine structures. This paper...     

Wave Slamming on An OWSC Wave Energy Converter in Coupled Wave-Current Conditions with Variable-Depth Seabed

China Ocean Engineering - Coastal wave energy resources have enormous exploitation potential due to shorter weather window, closer installation distance and lower maintenance cost. However, impact...     

Solitary Wave Simulated by the Water Column Collapsing Method

China Ocean Engineering - Although solitary waves with large ratio of wave height to water depth are difficult to produce in laboratory settings by traditional wave generating methods, a water...     

Wave Heave Compensation Based on An Optimized Backstepping Control Method

The vessel heave motion caused by wave action increases the difficulty of installing offshore wind equipment. Onboard wave heave compensation devices have therefore become increasingly critical in ensuring the stability and safety of the gangway and working platform. This study accordingly improves the compensation effect of such devices by developing a wave heave compensation model and designing an optimized backstepping control method.First, a model of the compensation system including the ser...     

On the Downshift of Wave Frequency for Bragg Resonance

For surface gravity waves propagating over a horizontal bottom that consists of a patch of sinusoidal ripples, strong wave reflection occurs under the Bragg resonance condition. The critical wave frequency, at which the peak reflection coefficient is obtained, has been observed in both physical experiments and direct numerical simulations to be downshifted from the well-known theoretical prediction. It has long been speculated that the downshift may be attributed to higher-order rippled bottom a...     

Transient Dynamic Analysis of A Variable-Length Rope-Driven Wave Energy System

China Ocean Engineering - A new dynamic model of a variable-length rope, which could be used for the transient analysis of a buoy-rope-generator (BRG) wave energy system, was proposed in this...