Konferensartikel

The development of efficient; reliable Wave Energy Converters (WECs) is a fundamental prerequisite for wave energy to become a commercially viable energy source. Intensive research is currently under way on various technologies; among which WaveCat©—a new WEC recently patented by the University of Santiago de Compostela. The purpose of this paper is to present the WaveCat concept and the ongoing work toward its development. WaveCat is a floating offshore WEC whose principle of operation is wave overtopping. It consists of two hulls; like a catamaran (hence its name). Unlike a catamaran; however; the hulls are not parallel but convergent—they are joined at the stern; forming a wedge in plan view. The methodology adopted to develop this patent is based on physical model tests which are described in the paper. A 1:30 model was tested in a wave tank under regular and irregular waves; waves and overtopping rates were measured; as were the model displacements—the latter using an advanced motion capture system. The data thus obtained will be used to validate a 3D numerical model currently under development; which in turn will be used to optimize the design of WaveCat for best performance.

Wave energy converter; Overtopping; Physical modelling; Numerical modelling; CFD