Pilot Model Tests on the ‘Green Water Concept’ for Wave Energy Conversion With Model Scale Power Take Off (PTO) Modelling

This paper presents the pilot model tests on the ‘Green Water Concept’ for wave energy conversion. These tests also included the initial modelling of an electric and hydraulic Power Take Off (PTO). The accurate modelling of a PTO is an important aspect in testing of wave energy conversion concepts numerically and in a wave tank: at the moment that energy is converted into electricity in the PTO, the hydrodynamic behaviour of the structure is changing. The present tests confirmed the high motions and large amount of green water of the Green Water Concept as predicted in previous simulations. The application of a real PTO gave important insight in the possibilities and challenges of PTO modelling at model scale. For the present concept a mean Power (at full scale) close to 1MW was generated in a regular wave of H = 3.0m for the maximum possible setting in the chosen test set-up. This setting was limited by the chosen mechanical and electronic motor set-up in this pilot test series, not the actual maximum of the Green Water Concept itself. Considering the test results, it is clear that the potential of the system is significantly larger.