Abstract

PARRA-QUINTERO, Juan; RUBIO-CLEMENTE, Ainhoa  and  CHICA, Edwin. Numerical Simulation of an Oscillating Water Column for the Wave Conditions of the Colombian Pacific Ocean. TecnoL. [online]. 2023, vol.26, n.57, e203.  Epub July 31, 2023. ISSN 0123-7799.  https://doi.org/10.22430/22565337.2630.

Ocean wave energy is one of the least exploited sources in Colombia. The oscillating water column (OWC) can be a sustainable technology to generate electricity in hard-to-reach areas using the energy available in the Pacific Ocean. Currently, Colombia lacks the development of these devices; however, there are hopes focused on wave energy as a feasible alternative to provide renewable energy in non-interconnected zones (NIZ) in the country. In this work, it is intended to numerically simulate an OWC for the Colombian Pacific Ocean conditions, so computational fluid dynamics was used through ANSYS Fluent program to model an onshore OWC. This research reaches the numerical simulation stage, however, it can be taken to small-scale experimental studies. The maximum chamber efficiency and the media free surface velocity of the water column for the studied geometry were 66.81 % and 0.118 m/s, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of the geometrical factors describing the resonant chamber of the device against various sea conditions could be of crucial interest to improve its hydrodynamic efficiency.

Keywords : Oscillating water column; wave energy converter; wave energy; ocean energy; computational modeling.

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