Three Different Devices That Can Be Used To Capture Wave Energy
The fact is that with over seventy percent of the surface of our planet covered by oceans, there is a ready source available for creating energy without polluting the environment and at an affordable cost as well. No doubt, ocean activity is generally affected by the sun though tides are primarily driven by gravity and more particularly the gravity from the moon, while waves are affected by winds. Also, waves are created by the wind on the sea's surface, and so, these waves can be used as potential source of renewable energy.
Wave Power Machines
Wave energy can be obtained and further converted into electricity by using wave power machines that can be placed near the shoreline or even deeper inshore. What's more, according to estimates, the total power of waves as they break on our coastline is estimated to be between two and three million megawatts, and if the plants used to create wave energy are favorably located, the wave energy density in such cases could even go as high as sixty-five megawatts for each mile of coastline.
In fact, there are several approaches to creating wave energy and among them are three that are most useful including Float or Pitching Device or buoyant moored devices, oscillating water columns (OWC), and finally, hinged contour devices. The first named or buoyant moored device actually floats on the surface of the water, or even just below the water's surface and requires being moored to the floor of the sea. The principal behind generating wave energy with such machines lies in the fact that the wave power machine must be able to resist whatever motion there is in the water, and so some part of the machine can be allowed to move while other parts must be kept stationary. Then, whenever there is bobbing or pitching action of the floating object, electricity can be generated.
In the case of an oscillating water column, part of it is submerged as a hollow structure which needs to be installed in the ocean. When waves make the column rise and fall, the air column gets compressed and depressed and the air that is trapped within the column can then be made to flow to and from the atmosphere causing a turbine to rotate that in turn creates electricity.
The third method used to create wave energy is the hinged contour device that uses resistance to waves to create an alternate motion of the waves that in turn rise as well as lower different sections of the machine, and pushes hydraulic fluids through hydraulic pumps and thus generates electricity. The main feature to this device is that it can be operated at much greater depths than say a buoyant moored device.
