Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of a Wave Energy Converter

Blackfish carried out conjugate heat transfer analysis on Mocean Energy's Blue Star 10 wave energy converter to assess thermal performance under elevated environmental temperatures. The resulting analysis provided evidence to support deployment planning and confirmed critical subsystem temperatures would remain within acceptable operating limits.

Blackfish carried out conjugate heat transfer analysis on Mocean Energy's Blue Star 10 wave energy converter to assess thermal performance under elevated environmental temperatures and support deployment planning. The analysis showed subsystem temperatures remaining safely within limits at the proposed site.

Thermal analysis supports engineering decisions where equipment temperatures, environmental conditions and internally generated heat can influence system performance, reliability and operating limits.

Using Ansys Fluent, Blackfish developed a conjugate heat transfer model accounting for both solid conduction and fluid convection throughout the hull and nacelle. Multiple operating scenarios were assessed to understand the combined effects of solar irradiance, ambient temperature and internal heat generation.

The resulting analysis provided evidence to support deployment planning, demonstrating that critical subsystem temperatures remained within acceptable operating limits under the conditions assessed.

Challenge

Mocean Energy needed to understand how elevated ambient temperatures, solar loading and internally generated heat would affect the performance of critical systems within the Blue Star 10 wave energy converter. Confidence was required that operating temperatures would remain within acceptable limits before deployment at the proposed site.

Approach

Blackfish Analysis used Ansys Fluent to perform conjugate heat transfer modelling, accounting for both solid conduction and fluid convection throughout the hull and nacelle. Multiple operating scenarios were assessed, incorporating environmental heat inputs from solar irradiance alongside internally generated heat loads from equipment within the converter to understand how the system would perform under real-world operating conditions at the proposed deployment site.

Outcome

The study demonstrated that critical subsystem temperatures remained safely within operating limits under the conditions assessed. The work provided evidence to support deployment planning and operational decision-making, reducing uncertainty around performance of the Blue Star 10 in warmer climates.

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