Ocean Tanks

The towing tank and wave tank are part of Europe’s largest facilities of this type. The experiments conducted can test a lot of equipment in their use environment, river or sea. The structures studied are fishing vessels, ships and also equipment related to marine renewable energy such as wind turbines, floating turbines, tidal turbines or wave power systems.

TOWING TANK

The towing tank at Centrale Nantes is 140 m-long, 5 m-wide, with a constant depth of 3 m. It is equipped with a towing carriage able to move in both directions, at speeds up to 8 m/s. At one end of the tank, a wave maker generates waves with heights up to 0.5 m. At the other end, a beach allows waves to break, therefore limiting the reflection of waves in the tank. It is the second largest towing tank in France, the largest in highder education.

> See the tank's characteristics and projects

HYDRODYNAMIC AND OCEAN ENGINEERING TANK

50 m long by 30 m wide and 5 m deep, the tank is equipped with a segmented wave beater composed of 48 independent flaps to generate directional waves. This tank allows the simulated physical simulation of floating systems, navigating or anchored in open seas (ships, MRE systems or oil platforms). Due to its size and generation capacity, it is currently the largest tank in France dedicated to this type of study.

> See the tank's characteristics and projects

SHALLOW WATER TANK

This tank measuring 20m x 9.5m x 1m is equipped with two mobile and motorized footbridges that overhang it. They allow the installation of equipment or instruments. It is also equipped with a unidirectional wave-type beater.

> See the tank's characteristics and projects

RECIRCULATING CANAL

This canal has a test vein of 2 m wide and about 10 m long. The maximum use depth of the basin is about 1.10 m. A part of the test vein is equipped with glass side walls (1.6 m wide), allowing visual observation of the flow, as well as measurement, for example by laser velocimetry, of fluid velocities. It is used for studies of marine propulsion systems, turbine performance, stationary flows and stabilization (appendages, foils, fins, etc.)

> See the characteristics and projects

Published on March 29, 2017 Updated on July 22, 2026

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