Numerical Performance Study for the Buoy Shape of Point Absorber Wave Energy Converters

Abstract

The ocean wave is among the most promising renewable energy available. However,

the idea of commercializing wave farm requires high operating cost compared to other

RE sources. Effectiveness of wave energy collection device is highly dependent on the

location and condition of the wave. Three-dimensional simulation tool is an ideal tool

at preliminary design stage to optimise the device. In this paper, a wave structure

interaction with application to wave energy device was studied numerically. The

computational fluid dynamic analysis based on the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes

equations was used to investigate the interaction between wave and structure, and

array effects among devices. Validation and predication of the performance of wave

point absorber were done in this paper. Five different models were chosen as the

object to study. The influence of wave point absorber devices array on their

performance was investigated under the irregular wave conditions to improve the

overall performance. Results show that optimum phase condition of buoys can be

obtained by adjusting the mass density and radius. Studies found that cylindrical buoy

of mass density of 100kg/m3 with 0.2m radius is the optimal size for the condition set

in this research with the produced maximum force of 136.49 N.