Experimental and Numerical Studies of the Wave Energy Hyberbaric Device for Electricity Production

Abstract

Small scale experiments and numerical simulations have been performed to evaluate a new concept of converter to produce electricity from wave energy. The models, tested in scale 1:10, have been submitted to different regular waves, with height and period representatives of the Brazilian coast, to evaluate the power generation and efficiency. The tests were carried out in a wave basin able to simulate in scale the wave conditions. Software especially written for the simulation of the converter behavior under regular waves has been initially correlated with the experimental results and, later on, it will be employed in parametric studies to estimate the best parameters of the system, in particular the prescribed pressure to be set for the best performance in terms of electricity production.