An introduction to Sea Wave Motion, Energy Resource and Converters
by
Prof. Lorenzo Cappietti
This seminar presents an introduction to the Ocean Wave Motion, the assessment of its energy resource and the Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technologies. In the first part of the seminar, observation techniques and the mathematical description of the Ocean Wave Motion are presented pointing out the random nature of this phenomenon. The so-called Random Phase and Amplitude Model is presented, and the wave characteristic parameters are defined based on the variance density frequency spectrum. The wave energy and wave power concepts are discussed, the related formulations are provided and the methodologies for resource assessment at Global-, Regional-Deep-Waters and at Coastal-Waters are presented. In the second part of the seminar, the Wave-Energy-Converter (WEC) technologies are introduced. The different WEC concepts are discussed.