TY - GEN
T1 - Numerical simulation of wake effects in the lee of a farm of wave energy converters
AU - Beels, Charlotte
AU - Troch, Peter
AU - De Rouck, Julien
AU - Versluys, Tom
AU - De Backer, Griet
PY - 2009/12/1
Y1 - 2009/12/1
N2 - The contribution of wave energy to the renewable energy supply is rising. To extract a considerable amount of wave power, Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are arranged in several rows or in a farm '. WECs in a farm are interacting (e.g. The presence of other WECs influence the operational behaviour of a single WEC) and the overall power absorption is affected. In this paper wake effects in the lee of a single WEC and multiple WECs of the overtopping type, where the water volume of overtopped waves is first captured in a basin above mean sea level and then drains back to the sea through hydro turbines, are studied in a time-dependent mild-slope equation model. The wake behind a single WEC is investigated for uni- and multi-directional incident waves. The wake becomes wider for larger wave peak periods. An increasing directional spreading results in a faster wave regeneration and a shorter wake behind the WEC. The wake in the lee of multiple WECs is calculated for two different farm lay-outs, i.e. an aligned grid and a staggered grid, with varying lateral and longitudinal spacing. In general, the staggered grid results in the highest overall wave power absorption.
AB - The contribution of wave energy to the renewable energy supply is rising. To extract a considerable amount of wave power, Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are arranged in several rows or in a farm '. WECs in a farm are interacting (e.g. The presence of other WECs influence the operational behaviour of a single WEC) and the overall power absorption is affected. In this paper wake effects in the lee of a single WEC and multiple WECs of the overtopping type, where the water volume of overtopped waves is first captured in a basin above mean sea level and then drains back to the sea through hydro turbines, are studied in a time-dependent mild-slope equation model. The wake behind a single WEC is investigated for uni- and multi-directional incident waves. The wake becomes wider for larger wave peak periods. An increasing directional spreading results in a faster wave regeneration and a shorter wake behind the WEC. The wake in the lee of multiple WECs is calculated for two different farm lay-outs, i.e. an aligned grid and a staggered grid, with varying lateral and longitudinal spacing. In general, the staggered grid results in the highest overall wave power absorption.
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U2 - 10.1115/OMAE2009-79714
DO - 10.1115/OMAE2009-79714
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77952970780
SN - 9780791843444
T3 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - OMAE
SP - 961
EP - 971
BT - Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering 2009, OMAE2009
T2 - 28th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering, OMAE2009
Y2 - 31 May 2009 through 5 June 2009
ER -