The Effect of Wave Signature on the Voltage Output of an Oscillating Water Column

The reduction in carbon footprint and scarcity of energy resources have increased the demand for renewable and sustainable energy resources, and thus, significant efforts have been concentrated on harnessing renewable and sustainable energy resources. The oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy converter has proven to be the most promising approach for harnessing wave energy. The OWC offers the benefits of a long operating time span and low maintenance, as air serves as the driving fluid. The hydrodynamic efficiency of OWC depends on the wave motion and its interaction with the OWC structure. Therefore, the present research concerns the impact of the incident wave signature on the OWC’s efficiency voltage output, and it is carried out experimentally using a laboratory-scale wave tank. Four different waves, of different amplitudes and frequencies, and their impact on the OWC voltage output are experimentally investigated. This study shows that the four waves exhibit different characteristics, such as crests and troughs of different slopes and amplitudes. However, although the wave crests exhibit relatively similar amplitudes, the wave troughs exhibit significantly different characteristics. This study also reveals that the OWC voltage output exhibits a nonlinear behavior due to the nonlinear nature of the incident waves and compressible air inside the OWC chamber. The maximum voltage output is obtained for a maximum air compressibility factor. However, lower voltage outputs are obtained for both compression and decompression of the air inside the OWC chamber.