Numerical simulation of an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) Wave Energy Converter (WEC) on a breakwater using OpenFOAM®

This paper presents the application of the OpenFOAM® software package, using the IHFoam/OlaFlow solver, in the simulation of the water waves and air flow in an OWC-WEC located on a breakwater, the Mutriku power station in the north of Spain. The numerical code solves the transient Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, using the Volume of Fluid (VoF) technique to identify the free surface. The standard κ-ϵ turbulence model was used evaluate the Reynold stresses. Two geometries were considered: One with the pneumatic chamber completely open to the atmosphere; and other with the chamber connected to the turbine duct. The solutions obtained by OpenFOAM® are compared with those obtained by the commercial code Fluent.