Hydrodynamic performance and energy absorption of multiple spherical absorbers along a straight coast

Abstract

The development and utilization of wave energy have great potentiality to alleviate the urgent problem of global energy shortage. Spherical bodies can be used as point absorbers to extract wave energy, and much attention has been paid to the performance of spherical absorbers in an open water domain. This study focuses on the hydrodynamic performance and energy absorption of multiple spherical absorbers in front of a straight coast. The coast is assumed to be a fully reflecting vertical wall, and all the absorbers are restricted to only heave motion. An analytical solution based on linear potential flow theory is developed for the problem of wave diffraction and radiation by multiple absorbers. In the solution procedure, the hydrodynamic problem is transformed into an equivalent problem in an open water domain by applying the image principle. The velocity potential of the fluid motion is solved using the method of multipole expansions combined with the shift of local spherical coordinate systems. Then, the wave excitation force, added mass coefficient, radiation damping coefficient, and energy extraction performance of the absorbers are calculated. Case studies are presented to analyze the effects of the coastal reflection and hydrodynamic interaction among absorbers on the energy extraction performance of the wave energy converter (WEC) system. The effects of wave frequency, incident angle, spacing between the absorber and coast, submergence depth, absorber number, and plane layout are also clarified. The results suggest that the energy extraction performance of an isolated absorber is significantly improved when the motions of the waves and absorber are in resonance, and the coastal reflection can enhance the overall energy extraction performance for a WEC system with multiple absorbers. In addition, when the number of absorbers increases, the effects of the coastal reflection and hydrodynamic interaction become more complicated.