Efficiency Assessment of an Amended Oscillating Water Column Using OpenFOAM
Mobin Masoomi, Mahdi Yousefifard, Amir Mosavi
Abstract
Oscillating water column (OWC) is an advanced form of wave energy converter (WEC). This study aims at improving the efficiency of an amended OWC through a novel methodology for simulating several vertical plates within the chamber. This paper provides a numerical investigation considering one, two, three, and four vertical plates. The open field operation and manipulation (OpenFOAM) solver is verified based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation. Results show the number and the position of plates where the convertor’s efficiency improves. The work undertaken here also revealed a reduction in the net force imposed on the convertor’s structure, especially the front wall. Consequently, adding plates acquires more efficiency with lower force on the system.