Assessment of heat and entropy balance of an OWC wave energy converter

Abstract

This paper deals with the thermodynamic processes governing an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device, focusing on the entropy variation and the energy and heat budgets over the expansion–compression cycles. The influence of the thermodynamic performance on the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the carbon footprint is analysed. The research deals with an experimental research on a simple OWC off-shore model for the purpose, with the open gas system inside the chamber formulated by a real gas model, and conceptually represented by an equivalent closed one in order to apply the First Principle of Thermodynamics appropriately. Analysed results show that the compression process is an active process, while the expansion process is a passive one. In addition, the observed non-adiabatic performance of the complete cycle implies a efficiency reduction, with consequences on the LCOE. Furthermore, an approach to emergy (embodied energy) analysis is considered, providing with concluding remarks on OWC renewability and possible impacts on the biosphere and GHG emissions. An utter approach on OWC energy and emergy assessment will be develop on future researches.