Experiment of a new style oscillating water column device of wave energy converter

In 1799, the first wave-power patent was filed. Since then, a significant amount of research has been done on the performance of an oscillating water column (OWC) using linear theory. In general, the use of linear theory has been found to be both judicious and accurate. We used experiment to know what happen in the OWC. A suitable analytical model for devices in shallow water is required to predict the effect of water depth on performance and to provide guidance in device optimization. Because of the lack of clarity in defining why linear theory becomes less accurate in shallow water, digital video recordings were used to analyze the flow around the OWC wave-energy converter. This provided detailed images that could be analyzed both temporally and spatially. The OWC's operation qualitatively differs from that predicted by linear theory, identifying critical flow properties. This paper describes one depth flow and a discussion of its influence on the wave period.