Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of turbine damping and wave conditions on OWC performances for optimal wave energy conversion

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The oscillating water column (OWC) devices constitute the most widely used systems for the wave energy conversion. Optimizing the performances of such devices mainly composed with a bidirectional air turbine and a water–air chamber still remains of great interest. The present investigations focus on the numerical analysis of an OWC system, the air turbine damping, and on its coupling with the OWC chamber. A validated 2D RANS-VoF numerical model was implemented to determine the optimum induced damping of the OWC device in case of an impulse turbine. The model is based on the concept of the Numerical Wave Tank (NWT). In the present model, the turbine quadratic behavior was simulated with an orifice. Simulations have been conducted in typical cases located on the central zone of the Moroccan Atlantic coast. All the simulated cases are of intermediate water waves which are in compliance with the use of the Stokes’ second-order wave generation. The pneumatic power corresponding to the various values of turbine-induced damping is computed, and the optimum damping accounting for the wave climate variability is identified. It was found that the damping induced by the air turbine is the factor that influence most the OWC chamber efficiency, followed by the climate conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

a :

OWC front wall immersion depth

b :

OWC chamber length

e :

OWC orifice diameter

E p :

Pneumatic energy

g :

Gravity acceleration

h:

Water depth

H :

Wave height

k :

Wave number

L :

OWC back wall length

L T :

Wave tank length

\({P}_{\mathrm{inc}}\) :

Incident wave power

\({P}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :

Mean pneumatic power

q :

Volumetric flow rate

R 2 :

Determination coefficient

t :

Time

T :

Wave period

V :

Velocity vector (u, v)

u :

x-velocity component

\({U}_{r}\) :

Ursell number

v :

y-velocity component

x :

Horizontal coordinate

y :

Vertical coordinate

ε :

OWC efficiency

η :

Water free surface elevation

\(\delta \) :

OWC front wall thickness

∆p :

Pressure drop

∆p m :

Mean pressure drop

λ :

Wave length

\({\rho }_{\mathrm{air}}\) :

Air density

\({\rho }_{\mathrm{water}}\) :

Water density

\({\vartheta }_{\mathrm{air}}\) :

Air kinematic viscosity

\({\vartheta }_{\mathrm{water}}\) :

Water kinematic viscosity

\(\omega \) :

Angular wave frequency

\({\mu }_{\mathrm{air}}\) :

Air dynamic viscosity

\({\mu }_{\mathrm{water}}\) :

Water dynamic viscosity

ζ :

Damping coefficient

\({\zeta }{\prime}\) :

Dimensional damping coefficient

BEM:

Boundary element method

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

HPC:

High-performance computing

NWT:

Numerical wave tank

OE:

Ocean energy

OWC:

Oscillating water column

PTO:

Power take-off

RANS:

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes

REEFS:

Renewable electric energy from sea

3D:

Three dimensional

2D:

Two dimensional

VOF:

Volume of fluid

WEC:

Wave energy converter

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research work has been conducted as part of the research activity within the EMISys research team at the Turbomachinery Lab with the institutions’ financial support of Mohammadia School of Engineers and Mohammed V University in Rabat.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EMISys Research Team, E3S Research Centre, Turbomachinery Lab., Mohammadia School of Engineers, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Agdal, B. P. 765, Rabat, Morocco

    H. Bouhrim & A. El Marjani

  2. MMT Laboratory, Electromechanical Department, Higher National School of Mines-Rabat (ENSMR), Avenue Hadj Ahmed Cherkaoui, Agdal, Rabat, Morocco

    H. Bouhrim

Authors
  1. H. Bouhrim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. El Marjani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. Bouhrim.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bouhrim, H., El Marjani, A. Effects of turbine damping and wave conditions on OWC performances for optimal wave energy conversion. J. Ocean Eng. Mar. Energy 9, 697–713 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-023-00293-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-023-00293-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation