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Editorial article, editorial: advances and challenges in ocean wave energy harvesting.

• 1 Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
• 2 Ocean Wave Energy Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
• 3 School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
• 4 State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
• 5 School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Editorial on the Research Topic Advances and Challenges in Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting

Wave energy resource is abundant and huge due to the vast oceanic area on the planet. On the other hand, exploitation of wave energy has never reached a satisfactory level that can replace to a large extent the traditional fossil fuel. The main disadvantage of wave power is the significantly random variability in several timescales: from wave to wave, with sea state, and from month to month ( Falcão, 2010 ). This poses many super challenges to effectively and efficiently extract power from the sea waves.

The present collection of research articles reflects the most recent contributions coming forward on harvesting wave energy, six coming from China (which is not completely surprising because of China’s massive investments in recent years) and one from Sweden. They include six technical articles (Ning et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019; Qiao et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020) and one comprehensive review (Malin et al., 2020). These research works cover several representative types of wave energy converters, including OWC (oscillating water columns) (Ning et al., 2019; Qiao et al., 2020), PA (point absorber) (Tan et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020), and Edinburgh Duck WEC (wave energy converter) (Zhang et al., 2019). Numerical investigation (Ning et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019; Malin et al., 2020; Qiao et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020), experimental study (Wang et al., 2020), and open sea test (Zhang et al., 2019) have all been performed in the trials on modeling either a single WEC or wave farms (Malin et al., 2020). In addition, the effort to the evaluation of the sea climate has also been made (Wang et al., 2020).

Zhang et al. (2019) developed a hybrid boundary element method applying eigenfunction expansion in the external domain and numerically compute the optimal capture width ratio of their modified Duck device based on the Edinburgh Duck WEC. Besides, Zhang et al. (2020) also show some measurement data of their open sea tests on the modified Duck device.

Ning et al. (2019) applied a fully nonlinear higher-order boundary element method and numerically investigate the influence of the step bottom configuration on the efficiency of an OWC. Experimental and CFD results in the literature have also been compared with, and good agreement is found. It is concluded that higher operational efficiency can be achieved by optimizing the step geometry and position for a given wave condition.

Tan et al. (2020) perform a parametric study on a two-body wave energy point absorber. They made substantial linearization on their nonlinear time-domain model in order to improve efficiency. Their case study suggests that utilizing sufficient small stiffness of the power take-off system and the floater and optimal mass of the bodies can help to achieve the maximum power output.

Malin et al. (2020) perform a very comprehensive review of the state of the art of wave energy park optimization, involving modeling methods, experiments, and optimization algorithms. Moreover, a set of impressive results have been presented to analyze how realistic, reliable, and relevant the methods and the results are. The readers are strongly recommended to read the elaborate contents of the study, which may enlighten good ideas on further exploring new directions.

Qiao et al. (2020) discuss the possibility of integrating an OWC with an offshore jacket platform. A numerical study based on the finite element method has been performed for the dynamic analysis of such a combination. It is found that the affiliated OWC device can bring green wave energy while causing an almost negligible effect on the dynamic responses.

Wang et al. (2020) carry out a physical experiment in the wave flume in investigating the generation process of focused waves using double wave groups with different peak frequency differences. It is found that the phase shifts are mainly caused by the third-order nonlinearity due to interactions between the two wave groups. More investigations are conducted with numerical simulations based on the high-order spectral (HOS) method on the evolution of freak waves in the real sea environment.

Zhou et al. (2020) develop a numerical method that supplements the potential flow theory with a viscous correction. They thereby apply this method to study the motion response and performance of a heaving point absorber WEC with flat, cone, and hemispherical bottoms. After calibration with CFD results, it is concluded that WECs with larger diameter-to-draft ratios (DDRs) are found to have a relatively smaller viscous effect and achieve effective energy conversion in a broader frequency range. More conclusions with different types of bottoms can be found in the article.

In the end, we would like to thank all the contributing authors and reviewers for their invaluable thoughts and insightful discussions. We also sincerely appreciate the journal editors and the publication team behind it. Without their hard effort, this article collection would never become possible.

Author Contributions

YL drafted the article, followed by the improvements made by the four coauthors before submission. All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The first author specially thanks the financial support provided by Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP18K13939) during the course of the research topic.

Falcão, A. F. O. (2010). Wave energy utilization: a review of the technologies. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 14 (3), 899–918. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.11.003

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Keywords: wave energy, wave farm, floating converter system, hybrid energy converters, control strategy, numerical modeling

Citation: Liu Y, Ding B, Zhou B, Cong P and Zheng S (2020) Editorial: Advances and Challenges in Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting. Front. Energy Res. 8:614904. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2020.614904

Received: 07 October 2020; Accepted: 02 November 2020; Published: 11 December 2020.

Edited and reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Liu, Ding, Zhou, Cong and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Siming Zheng, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Advances and Challenges in Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting

Wave energy research, development and demonstration at Oregon State University

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A simple way to harvest more 'blue energy' from waves

As any surfer will tell you, waves pack a powerful punch. Now, we are one step closer to capturing the energy behind the ocean's constant ebb and flow with an improved "blue energy" harvesting device. Researchers report in ACS Energy Letters that simply repositioning the electrode -- from the center of a see-sawing liquid-filled tube to the end where the water crashes with the most force -- dramatically increased the amount of wave energy that could be harvested.

The tube-shaped wave-energy harvesting device improved upon by the researchers is called a liquid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The TENG converts mechanical energy into electricity as water sloshes back and forth against the inside of the tube. One reason these devices aren't yet practical for large-scale applications is their low energy output. Guozhang Dai, Kai Yin, Junliang Yan and colleagues aimed to increase a liquid-solid TENG's energy harvesting ability by optimizing the location of the energy-collecting electrode.

The researchers used 16-inch clear plastic tubes to create two TENGs. Inside the first device, they placed a copper foil electrode at the center of the tube -- the usual location in conventional liquid-solid TENGs. For the new design, they inserted a copper foil electrode at one end of the tube. The researchers then filled the tubes a quarter of the way with water and sealed the ends. A wire connected the electrodes to an external circuit.

Placing both devices on a benchtop rocker moved water back and forth within the tubes and generated electrical currents by converting mechanical energy -- the friction from water hitting or sliding against the electrodes -- into electricity. Compared to the conventional design, the researchers found that the optimized design increased the device's conversion of mechanical energy to electrical current 2.4 times. In another experiment, the optimized TENG blinked an array of 35 LEDs on and off as water entered the section of the tube covered by the electrode and then flowed away, respectively. The researchers say these demonstrations lay the foundation for larger scale blue-energy harvesting from ocean waves and show their device's potential for other applications like wireless underwater signaling communications.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key Research and Development Program of China, and acknowledge computing resources from the High Performance Computing Center of Central South University.

• Energy Technology
• Energy and Resources
• Nature of Water
• Nuclear Energy
• Energy and the Environment
• Sustainability
• Renewable Energy
• Radiant energy
• Ocean surface wave
• Breaking wave
• Renewable energy
• Potential energy
• Rogue wave (oceanography)

Story Source:

Materials provided by American Chemical Society . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Hao Zhang, Guozhang Dai, Yuguang Luo, Tingwei Zheng, Tengxiao Xiongsong, Kai Yin, Junliang Yang. Space Volume Effect in Tube Liquid–Solid Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Output Performance Enhancement . ACS Energy Letters , 2024; 1431 DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00072

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