Modeling of Multipurpose Fixed Breakwater Wave Energy Converter Using SPH Method

Abstract

The wave energy conversion industry is in the early stages of progress and so far, few ideas have been implemented. Among them coastline converters have attracted major attention which is probably due to their simplicity and low maintenance costs. Oscillating Water Column (OWC) is one of the first implemented wave energy converters with large numbers of deployed prototypes. Because the bulk of the costs associated with the production of wave energy is spent on the design and construction phases of the structure, it is affordable to integrate the plant structure into a breakwater which is mainly used for coastal or harbor protection and an energy converter device. This has the advantages of saving the cost for construction and maintenance of the plant. In this paper, using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method the reflection coefficients of a multipurpose breakwater-OWC wave energy converter was studied. Results showed that OWC dramatically reduces the reflection coefficient from breakwater. Also, for these devices there is an optimum incident wave period for minimum reflection coefficient.