CFD Analysis of both an Oscillating Water Column device for Wave Energy Harnessing and its Power Take Off System

The seminar will be 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 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. 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.

The numerical and experimental characterization of the Wells turbine is also carried out.

Dr. Marco Torresi

Associate Professor, Politecnico di Bari