A LHEEA-model tested in different European tanks
LHEEA (Centrale Nantes/CNRS) is participating in the "Round Robin" test programme of the European Marinet2 project for floating wind turbines and wave energy converters. Within this framework, the tank team is coordinating the work on wave energy and has designed a WEC model comprising two floats whose relative movements are harnessed by a generator.
on February 5, 2021
This hinged raft model is thus a wave energy converter comprising 2 floats that move in relation to one another.
This type of WEC produces energy at the axis level (PTO) via the movement of the floats in swell. It features an on-board controller that controls the generator in real time according to float movement.
The whole team was involved from design through to model construction and then again during testing at Centrale Nantes.
The model was tested in Centrale Nantes's tanks in September 2020, then at the Coast Laboratory in Plymouth in October, in the University College Cork tank in November and finally in the Flowave tank in Edinburgh in December. Testing the same model in different testing tanks means that the measurements obtained can be compared. The only variation lies in the tank that is doing the testing. Comparing the measurements from these different facilities means that the impact of the test means and experimental protocols on the results can be evaluated. This information can then be used in other joint test campaigns.
