At All Energy last month, Lloyd’s Register Group took the opportunity to share some of their recent work in marine renewable technologies; in particular looking at the challenges in harnessing wave and tidal energy.
The presentations looked at the modelling of oscillating water columns (OWCs) and tidal turbines.
Rebecca Sykes (Mechanical Engineer – Renewable Energy) – A simplified model for oscillating water column (OWC) motion
In this paper, Rebecca discussed different modelling techniques for understanding the physical processes within a floating OWC. Using a simplified analytical OWC model, Rebecca explored ways to avoid the limitations of the commonly used “Boundary Element Method” technique for this application.
Peter Davies (Global Technology Leader for Renewable Energy) – Challenges and solutions for modelling of tidal turbines
Peter’s paper looks at the potential for using existing open source wind turbine modelling software to model tidal turbines. The results from the modelling were compared against measured results and some of the issues associated with tidal turbulence and wave influencing tidal velocity were discussed.
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Offshore WIND staff, June 25, 2012; Image: lr