Numerical Study on Wave Energy Conversion of OWC chamber with Nonlinear Pressure Drop

Abstract

Various wave energy converter (WEC) technologies have been developed to utilize ocean wave energy resources. An oscillating water column (OWC) device is one of the popular WEC technologies due to its simplicity and reliability. The OWC device mainly consists of an OWC chamber, air turbine, generator, and electrical system. The OWC chamber induces vertical surface motion, resulting in reciprocating airflow that drives the turbine. The turbine causes non-linear pressure fluctuations, which are applied to the water surface area inside the chamber and act as a damping force on the motion of the water column. For this reason, this study investigated the relationship between the pressure drop coefficient and the geometrical specifications of the chamber, which are essential factors in the design of OWC devices in terms of primary energy conversion.