Development of an integrated tool for numerical modelling of OWC-WECs in vertical breakwaters

Abstract

This paper describes the advances on the research project DITOWEC – “Development of an Integrated Tool for Numerical Modelling of Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converters Integrated in Vertical Breakwaters", whose main objective is developing an innovative integrated tool for numerical modelling of wave propagation from offshore to nearshore, of wave-structure interaction and of the complex nonlinear hydrodynamic and aerodynamic phenomena that occur in an OWC-WEC. Its development is supported by experimental data from physical model tests carried out at LNEC. The tool will directly allow the simulation of the OWC-WEC of Pico, Azores (Portugal), at prototype scale, with real bathymetry and offshore wave climate, eliminating any problem related to scale effects that may occur in physical modelling. This application allows the comparison of numerical results and prototype measurements for different incident wave conditions, given that this structure has been monitored since 2005. Methodologies of the DITOWEC project and accomplishments achieved so far are herein described, with the focus on its more relevant results.