Numerical modelling of a floating wave energy converter using U-Tank technology

In the last years, the issue of renewable energies has been taking on a great importance. There are many forms of renewable energy, among these, wave energy has a great im-portance thanks to his great potential. The purpose of this thesis is to model a floating wave energy converter using the U-Tank technology and also, to define the gross power produced in different marine conditions (regular and irregular waves). The system consists of a floater with an interior U-Tank partially filled with water. The device is moored at the seabed with a mooring system, the floater is designed to be multi-directional; therefore, the device is able to align itself with the incoming wave direction. The inclusion of the U-Tank technology into a floating wave energy converter allows the slow tuning of the device. The dynamics characteristics of the U-Tank are functions of the amount of air into the two lateral reservoirs. The advantage of this con-cept is that the floater is totally closed from the external environment and it has no parts in motion. In the U-Tank technology two lateral reservoirs of the U-Tank are connected by an air duct. The motion of the U-shaped oscillating water column (induced by the rolling of the floater), forces the air through the duct where an accumulator and a turbine are installed to extract power from the wave motion. The numerical model is used to analyze the U-Tank in a frequency and time domain, to analyze the effect of the chancing parameters on the system efficiency; the whole study aims to verify the gross power produced by U-Tank in different sea state.