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CFD Modelling of OWC Devices for Wave Energy Harnessing

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Ocean Wave Energy Systems

Part of the book series: Ocean Engineering & Oceanography ((OEO,volume 14))

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Abstract

This book chapter is focused on how to study the fluid dynamic behavior of a Wave Energy Converter (WEC) of the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The U-OWC plant installed in the harbor of Civitavecchia (Italy) is chosen as the case study. The CFD approach is described referring to ANSYS Fluent, release 17.2. The model is mainly oriented to investigate the interaction of single harmonic waves with the OWC device and allows the user to perform a preliminary wave-to-wire energy conversion process analysis. To limit the computational cost, a 2D model is developed. The presence of the Power Takeoff (PTO) system generally breaks the 2D configuration of this kind of device, and here an approach to overcome this problem is described in detail. The solution is the introduction of a porous medium region in the 2D computational domain, which emulates the effect of the PTO system on the fluid dynamic behavior of the flow inside the WEC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the collaboration of Luana Gurnari, Michele Stefanizzi, and Daniele Pice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via G. Re David, 200, 70125, Bari, BA, Italy

    Marco Torresi & Sergio M. Camporeale

  2. Department of Civil, Energy, Environment and Materials Engineering, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Via dell’Università, 25, 89124, Reggio Calabria, RC, Italy

    Pasquale G. F. Filianoti

Authors
  1. Marco Torresi
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  2. Pasquale G. F. Filianoti
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  3. Sergio M. Camporeale
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Torresi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Abdus Samad

  2. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    S.A Sannasiraj

  3. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    V Sundar

  4. Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Paresh Halder

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Torresi, M., Filianoti, P.G.F., Camporeale, S.M. (2022). CFD Modelling of OWC Devices for Wave Energy Harnessing. In: Samad, A., Sannasiraj, S., Sundar, V., Halder, P. (eds) Ocean Wave Energy Systems. Ocean Engineering & Oceanography, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78716-5_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78716-5_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-78715-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-78716-5

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