2D Numerical study on overtopping wave energy convertor

Abstract

Overtopping wave energy convertor (OWEC) is an offshore convertor for collecting wave energy and converting water head into electric power through turbines installed in a duct. A numerical wave tank based on a commercial computational fluid dynamics code was developed for analysis of overtopping characteristics. It uses two-phase VOF technique to generate 2D linear propagating waves and it was validated by simulation of the overtopping behavior of a sloping ramp. To study the overtopping discharge and performance of the devices, the effects of several shape parameters such as hydro head and submergence are examined. Optimized values of these two parameters are proposed.