Energy Losses in Oscillating Water Column Devices: A CFD study

In this work, the energy balance of a fixed, bottom-detached and asymmetric oscillating water column wave energy converter is analyzed, aiming to assess the total energy losses taking place in the device because of, e.g., wave breaking, viscous, turbulence and vortex losses. This study is performed by using a multi-phase, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model, validated with small scale laboratory data. The energy losses corresponding to different geometries of the device are comparatively analyzed, giving a preliminary quantification for the studied OWC devices.