EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE COMBINATION OF SPLIT HEAVE POINT ABSORBER AND TLP-TYPE FLOATING TURBINE

There are numerous wave energy resources in the ocean, and how to convert them efficiently is still a problem to be solved. Considering the waves in China sea area are characterized by short period and small height, one new model combining three split heave point absorbers with a tension leg platform (TLP) is proposed in this paper. Based on the physical model test, the hydrodynamic performance and wave energy capture efficiency of the split absorbers are investigated, and compared with those of the corresponding unsplit absorber. The experimental results reveal that the split absorber presents new hydrodynamic characteristics, and that the efficiency of the new wave energy capture device is greatly improved for small-period waves in the low sea state. However, the pitch motion of the platform is significantly increased in some cases with specific incident wave direction, which needs to be solved by further optimizing the TLP mooring system.