Length, height, frequency—waves are different in every region of the world. To generate the largest possible amount of electricity from them, wave energy converters need to be individually adapted to the location. Simulation engineer Thomas Knapp presented a tool in Florence that can do just that.
To an audience of 150 scientists from ocean and coastal engineering, physics or oceanography at the 7th International Short Course and Conference on Applied Coastal Research (SCACR 2015) at the University of Florence, Knapp introduced SINN Power’s tool for multibody simulation of floating wave energy converters.
Using the simulation tool, Knapp is able to calculate the amount of electricity floating wave energy converters can generate in different wave climates, for example the North Sea or the Pacific Ocean. This was not possible to this degree of detail before.
Beyond this, the tool mainly has a practical use for the customer: With the tool, modular wave energy converters such as SINN Power’s can be optimized quickly for different locations. To do so, SINN Power varies the number and distance of the modules. Because the energy in waves can then be absorbed better, the electricity output increases, as does the economic efficiency of the wave energy converter.
The poster „Multibody Simulation of a Floating Wave Energy Converter“ by Thomas Knapp, Dr.-Ing. Martin Bednarz, Philipp Sinn and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Faulstich of the CUTEC Institute can be downloaded here.