The influence of wave height and period on airflow velocity and differential pressure in L-shaped oscillating water column (L-OWC) chamber for wave energy converter (WEC)
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Abstract
The Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology is widely recognized as a highly efficient solution for harnessing wave energy and has shown significant progress. In this context, the OWC device with an L-shaped chamber, recently introduced and developed by Wave Swell Energy Australia, has garnered significant interest from researchers in the field of marine energy. This device stands apart from conventional OWCs or other models due to its utilization of an L-shaped channel for capturing wave energy. This research aims to understand the influence of wave height and wave period on airflow velocity and pressure differentials within the L-shaped OWC chamber and to obtain the efficiency value of the L-shaped OWC (L-OWC) chamber with variations in input wave generation characterized by relatively short-wave periods. The research was conducted using numerical simulations with Flow 3D software version 11, validated through 2D physical model testing at the Coastal Dynamics Laboratory - National Research and Innovation Agency (1:8 scale). The numerical study observed that wave height and wave period significantly affect the airflow velocity and differential air pressure within the L-OWC chamber. The L-OWC effectively harnesses energy optimally with wave periods longer than 2.47 seconds. The L-OWC chamber design demonstrates optimization at a Tin period of 2.47 seconds, with an average efficiency of 84.2% across various wave height scenarios. The peak power efficiency of the L-OWC device is 98.2%, achieved with a Hin variation of 0.1875 m and Tin of 2.47s.
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