Study on hydrodynamic performance of the sealed-buoy wave energy converter

Abstract

For investigating the wave energy converter working in low-energy flow density sea area, a novel sealed-buoy wave energy converter (SBWEC) was analysed by using the fluid simulation software ANSYS and AQWA according to Shandong Peninsula marine environment in this paper. For the SBWEC in the range of 5-20 m buoy diameter, the effect of mass on the response amplitude operator (RAO) and the motion response were analysed based on the frequency domain method and the time domain method. The wavelength range with higher wave energy was also investigated. Within the mass range of 8-12 t, the study found that the mass did not has a significant impact on the roll, yaw and pitch RAO and the pitch motion response except for the SBWEC with 5 m buoy diameter. The wavelength range with higher wave energy in Shandong Peninsula is 10-40 m, which is more suitable for operation of the SBWEC. These results can provide a reference for the design of related wave energy converters.