Experimental Investigation of the Small-scale Fixed Multi-chamber OWC Device

Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering

Ahmad Salah¹  Mohammad Shalby²  Mohamed R. Gomaa³  Ahmed Elhanafi⁴  David G. Dorrell⁵  Paul Walker⁶ 

[1] Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al Hussein Bin Talal University, 71111, Ma’an, Jordan;Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, 71111, Ma’an, Jordan;Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, 71111, Ma’an, Jordan;Mechanical Engineering Department, Benha Faculty of Engineering, Benha University, 13518, Benha, Egypt;National Centre for Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, 7250, Launceston, TAS, Australia;School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 2000, Durban, South Africa;School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia;

关键词: Ocean wave energy;    Energy conversion;    Oscillating water column;    Multi-chamber OWC;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10033-021-00641-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Sea wave energy generators or converters (WECs) have the potential to become a viable technology for clean, renewable energy production. Among the WEC technologies, the oscillating water columns (OWCs) are the most common WEC devices studied. These have been studied and developed over many years. Multi-chamber oscillating water columns (MC-OWC) have the potential to have a higher energy conversion when extracting energy in mixed sea states than single-chamber devices. In the work reported in this paper, physical experiments are carried under regular wave conditions to test the wave power extraction of a fixed MC-OWC small-scale model. The Power Take-Off (PTO) of the device is simulated using orifice plates. The flow characteristics through these orifices are pre-calibrated such that the extracted power can be obtained only using the pressure measurement. Wave condition effects on the damping of the PTO of the device power extraction are addressed. The test results illustrate that the PTO system damping is critical and affects device performance.

【 授权许可】

CC BY