Fundamental Research on Oscillating Water Column Wave Power Absorbers

An oscillating water column (OWC) wave power absorber is one of the most promising devices, as well as the Salter Duck and the Clam. This paper presents a simple prediction method, in which the equivalent floating body approximation is used, for absorbing wave power characteristics of an oscillating water column device. The effects of the compressibility of air and inertia of an air turbine and electric generator on absorbed wave power are obtained by using the equivalent electric circuit concept. Both the experimental and theoretical studies are carried out in this paper.