FEATURE SPONSOR


FOCUS ON IRELAND IMPROVING EFFICIENCY IN EXTRACTING OCEAN ENERGY


Among the various wave energy converter (WEC) technologies, oscillating water column (OWC) systems are one of the most promising for extracting energy from the ocean. Common OWC systems are based on self-rectifying bidirectional turbines, such as Wells turbines


To overcome the drawbacks of these types of turbines in terms of efficiency and acoustic impact, Tupperwave aims to test and validate a new concept of OWC converter. The new device is based on two chambers with four air valves that generate unidirectional flow to a turbine, improving on the efficiency of current designs by 20%.


The hydrodynamic performance in terms of energy conversion efficiency, as well as valve engineering and control, are being studied in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the new concept.


SPECIALIST MARINE CONSULTANTS


Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) is a specialist geotechnical and marine engineering consultancy with offices in Dublin, Belfast, London and Edinburgh, providing innovative civil engineering solutions across a broad range of sectors


Over the past five years plus, they have developed a strong team of technical and experienced engineering staff (PhD and Masters qualified) to provide the highest level of engineering consulting for the marine and offshore renewables sectors. By bringing together state of the art research and direct industry experience, GDG is ideally placed to


COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD) MODELLING As part of the project, CadFEM Ireland Ltd are carrying out the CFD modelling of the OWC device and valve operating system. The current stage in this project is to validate the wave generation and valve operation methodology for an offshore device. This is achieved using Ansys Workbench and Ansys CFX for the geometry creation, meshing, CFD setup, solving and post-processing.


The CFD model represents a numerical wave tank and so replicates test conditions. All physics relevant to the


offer a unique engineering service in areas of port development and offshore renewable energy.


EXPERIENCE


GDG have been heavily involved in several tidal & wave energy projects providing consultancy services in areas of substructure engineering and marine logistics in numerous projects – past examples include OpenHydro tidal power engineering for device deployment, Aquamarine Power feasibility studies for wave energy converter, and UK Port Infrastructure Gap Analysis for Gravity Foundations.


They have worked closely with developers such as OpenHydro over several years for the development of the Bay of Fundy (Canada) and Raz Blanchard (France) tidal turbine arrays helping with demonstration of new concepts for substructure optimisation and bringing design procedures through from experimental research phase towards certification.


EXPERTISE


In addition, the company has industry leading expertise in monopile design and have performed design optimisations for numerous offshore


Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions WEBSITE www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk 29


real-life cases are represented; including air chamber compression & heating, valve operation and full WEC movement in the water.


RESULTS The results from the simulations are in agreement with experimental testing carried out at the MaREI institute at UCC and will, therefore, be used as the basis for further numerical models.


CadFEM Ireland Ltd WEBSITE


wind projects around Europe, covering the Irish Sea, North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic Sea.


Clients include major windfarm developers across Europe as well as contractors and turbine suppliers and have also been involved in marine ports/ harbour engineering studies for numerous projects around Ireland and the UK, including being the primary designer for the new Dublin Port Cross Berth Quay development.


CURRENT COMMISSION In recent months, GDG have been commissioned by SEAI to undertake a strategic gap analysis of Irish ports and supply chain infrastructure, with a view to developing a market development plan to improve Ireland’s capabilities to service the renewable sector.


This project, which is being led by Managing Director Paul Doherty, is deemed to be of national importance and as such the company were delighted to receive the support from SEAI to undertake this work.


SCAN/CLICK


SCAN/CLICK


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