IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v85y2016icp1391-1424.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Oscillating-water-column wave energy converters and air turbines: A review

Author

Listed:
  • Falcão, António F.O.
  • Henriques, João C.C.

Abstract

The ocean waves are an important renewable energy resource that, if extensively exploited, may contribute significantly to the electrical energy supply of countries with coasts facing the sea. A wide variety of technologies has been proposed, studied, and in some cases tested at full size in real ocean conditions. Oscillating-water-column (OWC) devices, of fixed structure or floating, are an important class of wave energy devices. A large part of wave energy converter prototypes deployed so far into the sea are of OWC type. In an OWC, there is a fixed or floating hollow structure, open to the sea below the water surface, that traps air above the inner free-surface. Wave action alternately compresses and decompresses the trapped air which is forced to flow through a turbine coupled to a generator. The paper presents a comprehensive review of OWC technologies and air turbines. This is followed by a survey of theoretical, numerical and experimental modelling techniques of OWC converters. Reactive phase control and phase control by latching are important issues that are addressed, together with turbine rotational speed control.

Suggested Citation

  • Falcão, António F.O. & Henriques, João C.C., 2016. "Oscillating-water-column wave energy converters and air turbines: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1391-1424.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:85:y:2016:i:c:p:1391-1424
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.07.086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148115301828
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2015.07.086?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. López, I. & Pereiras, B. & Castro, F. & Iglesias, G., 2014. "Optimisation of turbine-induced damping for an OWC wave energy converter using a RANS–VOF numerical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 105-114.
    2. Thomas Kelly & Thomas Dooley & John Campbell & John V. Ringwood, 2013. "Comparison of the Experimental and Numerical Results of Modelling a 32-Oscillating Water Column (OWC), V-Shaped Floating Wave Energy Converter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-33, August.
    3. Jayashankar, V. & Anand, S. & Geetha, T. & Santhakumar, S. & Jagadeesh Kumar, V. & Ravindran, M. & Setoguchi, T. & Takao, M. & Toyota, K. & Nagata, S., 2009. "A twin unidirectional impulse turbine topology for OWC based wave energy plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 692-698.
    4. Teixeira, Paulo R.F. & Davyt, Djavan P. & Didier, Eric & Ramalhais, Rubén, 2013. "Numerical simulation of an oscillating water column device using a code based on Navier–Stokes equations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 513-530.
    5. Falcão, A.F.O. & Gato, L.M.C. & Nunes, E.P.A.S., 2013. "A novel radial self-rectifying air turbine for use in wave energy converters. Part 2. Results from model testing," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 159-164.
    6. Mala, K. & Jayaraj, J. & Jayashankar, V. & Muruganandam, T.M. & Santhakumar, S. & Ravindran, M. & Takao, M. & Setoguchi, T. & Toyota, K. & Nagata, S., 2011. "A twin unidirectional impulse turbine topology for OWC based wave energy plants – Experimental validation and scaling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 307-314.
    7. Luo, Yongyao & Wang, Zhengwei & Peng, Guangjie & Xiao, Yexiang & Zhai, Liming & Liu, Xin & Zhang, Qi, 2014. "Numerical simulation of a heave-only floating OWC (oscillating water column) device," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 799-806.
    8. Zhang, Dahai & Li, Wei & Lin, Yonggang, 2009. "Wave energy in China: Current status and perspectives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2089-2092.
    9. Rezanejad, K. & Bhattacharjee, J. & Guedes Soares, C., 2015. "Analytical and numerical study of dual-chamber oscillating water columns on stepped bottom," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 272-282.
    10. López, Iraide & Andreu, Jon & Ceballos, Salvador & Martínez de Alegría, Iñigo & Kortabarria, Iñigo, 2013. "Review of wave energy technologies and the necessary power-equipment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 413-434.
    11. Gomes, R.P.F. & Henriques, J.C.C. & Gato, L.M.C. & Falcão, A.F.O., 2012. "Hydrodynamic optimization of an axisymmetric floating oscillating water column for wave energy conversion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 328-339.
    12. Zhang, Yali & Zou, Qing-Ping & Greaves, Deborah, 2012. "Air–water two-phase flow modelling of hydrodynamic performance of an oscillating water column device," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 159-170.
    13. Falcão, A.F.O. & Gato, L.M.C. & Nunes, E.P.A.S., 2013. "A novel radial self-rectifying air turbine for use in wave energy converters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 289-298.
    14. Kim, Byung-Ha & Wata, Joji & Zullah, Mohammed Asid & Ahmed, M. Rafiuddin & Lee, Young-Ho, 2015. "Numerical and experimental studies on the PTO system of a novel floating wave energy converter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 111-121.
    15. Pereiras, Bruno & Castro, Francisco & Marjani, Abdelatif el & Rodríguez, Miguel A., 2011. "An improved radial impulse turbine for OWC," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1477-1484.
    16. Setoguchi, T. & Santhakumar, S. & Takao, M. & Kim, T.H. & Kaneko, K., 2003. "A modified Wells turbine for wave energy conversion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 79-91.
    17. Falcão, António F.O. & Henriques, João C.C. & Cândido, José J., 2012. "Dynamics and optimization of the OWC spar buoy wave energy converter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 369-381.
    18. Setoguchi, T & Santhakumar, S & Maeda, H & Takao, M & Kaneko, K, 2001. "A review of impulse turbines for wave energy conversion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 261-292.
    19. Luca Martinelli & Paolo Pezzutto & Piero Ruol, 2013. "Experimentally Based Model to Size the Geometry of a New OWC Device, with Reference to the Mediterranean Sea Wave Environment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-25, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Conghao & Huang, Zhenhua, 2018. "A dual-functional wave-power plant for wave-energy extraction and shore protection: A wave-flume study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 963-976.
    2. Gomes, R.P.F. & Henriques, J.C.C. & Gato, L.M.C. & Falcão, A.F.O., 2020. "Time-domain simulation of a slack-moored floating oscillating water column and validation with physical model tests," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 165-180.
    3. Henriques, J.C.C. & Gomes, R.P.F. & Gato, L.M.C. & Falcão, A.F.O. & Robles, E. & Ceballos, S., 2016. "Testing and control of a power take-off system for an oscillating-water-column wave energy converter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 714-724.
    4. Gomes, R.P.F. & Henriques, J.C.C. & Gato, L.M.C. & Falcão, A.F.O., 2012. "Multi-point aerodynamic optimization of the rotor blade sections of an axial-flow impulse air turbine for wave energy conversion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 570-580.
    5. Wang, Chen & Zhang, Yongliang, 2021. "Numerical investigation on the wave power extraction for a 3D dual-chamber oscillating water column system composed of two closely connected circular sub-units," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    6. Gato, L.M.C. & Maduro, A.R. & Carrelhas, A.A.D. & Henriques, J.C.C. & Ferreira, D.N., 2021. "Performance improvement of the biradial self-rectifying impulse air-turbine for wave energy conversion by multi-row guide vanes: Design and experimental results," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    7. Ning, De-Zhi & Shi, Jin & Zou, Qing-Ping & Teng, Bin, 2015. "Investigation of hydrodynamic performance of an OWC (oscillating water column) wave energy device using a fully nonlinear HOBEM (higher-order boundary element method)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 177-188.
    8. Pereiras, Bruno & López, Iván & Castro, Francisco & Iglesias, Gregorio, 2015. "Non-dimensional analysis for matching an impulse turbine to an OWC (oscillating water column) with an optimum energy transfer," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 481-489.
    9. Falcão, António F.O. & Gato, Luís M.C. & Henriques, João C.C. & Borges, João E. & Pereiras, Bruno & Castro, Francisco, 2015. "A novel twin-rotor radial-inflow air turbine for oscillating-water-column wave energy converters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P2), pages 2116-2125.
    10. Liu, Hua & Wang, Weijun & Wen, Yadong & Mao, Longbo & Wang, Wenqiang & Mi, Hongju, 2019. "A novel axial flow self-rectifying turbine for use in wave energy converters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    11. Lopes, Bárbara S. & Gato, Luís M.C. & Falcão, António F.O. & Henriques, João C.C., 2019. "Test results of a novel twin-rotor radial inflow self-rectifying air turbine for OWC wave energy converters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 869-879.
    12. Windt, Christian & Davidson, Josh & Ringwood, John V., 2018. "High-fidelity numerical modelling of ocean wave energy systems: A review of computational fluid dynamics-based numerical wave tanks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 610-630.
    13. Opoku, F. & Uddin, M.N. & Atkinson, M., 2023. "A review of computational methods for studying oscillating water columns – the Navier-Stokes based equation approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Ning, De-Zhi & Wang, Rong-Quan & Zou, Qing-Ping & Teng, Bin, 2016. "An experimental investigation of hydrodynamics of a fixed OWC Wave Energy Converter," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 636-648.
    15. Medina-López, E. & Moñino, A. & Bergillos, R.J. & Clavero, M. & Ortega-Sánchez, M., 2019. "Oscillating water column performance under the influence of storm development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 765-774.
    16. Ansarifard, Nazanin & Kianejad, S.S. & Fleming, Alan & Henderson, Alan & Chai, Shuhong, 2020. "Design optimization of a purely radial turbine for operation in the inhalation mode of an oscillating water column," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 540-556.
    17. Simonetti, I. & Cappietti, L. & Elsafti, H. & Oumeraci, H., 2018. "Evaluation of air compressibility effects on the performance of fixed OWC wave energy converters using CFD modelling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 741-753.
    18. Simonetti, I. & Cappietti, L. & Elsafti, H. & Oumeraci, H., 2017. "Optimization of the geometry and the turbine induced damping for fixed detached and asymmetric OWC devices: A numerical study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1197-1209.
    19. Gonçalves, Rafael A.A.C. & Teixeira, Paulo R.F. & Didier, Eric & Torres, Fernando R., 2020. "Numerical analysis of the influence of air compressibility effects on an oscillating water column wave energy converter chamber," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 1183-1193.
    20. Molina, A. & Jiménez-Portaz, M. & Clavero, M. & Moñino, A., 2022. "The effect of turbine characteristics on the thermodynamics and compression process of a simple OWC device," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 836-847.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:85:y:2016:i:c:p:1391-1424. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.