Wave Power: Theory Behind Ocean Waves

WavePower:TheoryBehindOceanWaves
ByG.P.Thomas May102012

Content
Introduction

AnatomyofaWave

HowareWavesFormedandDestroyed?

WavePowerFormula

WaveEnergy

WavesinShallowandDeepWater

Introduction
Manyofusarefamiliarwiththeconceptthatenergyfromoceanwavescanbeusedfor
usefulwork,includingelectricitygeneration,waterdesalinationandpumpingreservoir
water.However,thetheoryandphysicsbehindthewavesisoftenpoorlyunderstood.Itis
hardlynecessarytopointoutthatastrongknowledgeofhowoceanwavesworkwillbean
enormousadvantageinarapidlyexpandingbusinesssector,withsuchknowledgeforming
thefoundationsofnewinnovations,improvedenergyefficiencyandwisebusiness
investment.

AnatomyOfAWave
Wavesaresimplywatersurfaceoscillations,whichpropagateacrossabodyofwater.
Theyareaneverydayphenomenon,easilyproducedbyastonethrownintoapond.
Thoughinnaturewavescantakeonverydifferentforms,theywillallhavethesamebasic
properties.Theseare:

Wavelength:Distancefromonecresttothenext
PeakorCrest:Thehighestpointofawave
Trough:Thelowestpointofawave

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Wave Power: Theory Behind Ocean Waves

Height:Differencebetweentroughandcrest
Period:Timetakenforonewavetopassafixedpoint
Frequency:Numberofwavespersecondthatpassafixedpoint
Velocity:Speedwithwhichthewavesaremovingpastafixedpoint
Steepness:Theratioofheighttowidth

HowareWavesFormedandDestroyed?

Wavesaregenerallygeneratedbywindpassingoverthesurfaceofthesea,butcanalso
formviaatmosphericpressureandgravitationalattraction.LandslidesandotherEarth
movements(tectonicmovement)canalsocreatewaves,demonstratedwithcatastrophic
effectbytheJapaneseTsunamiof2011.Thewindattemptstostretchthesurfaceofthe
seabyrubbingagainstthesurfaceofthewater.Thiscauseswatermoleculesonthe
surfacetomoveinthesamedirectionasthewind.Thewatermoleculescollidewitheach
otherandsostartmovingforward.It'sjustbasicfriction.Aslongasthewavesmove
forwardslowerthanthewindspeedjustabovethewaves,energymovesfromthewindto
thewaves.Ifthewindiscontinuousthewaveperiodandheightgrowtogether.Low
pressurebehindwavealsocontributestoforwardmotion.Thewaveheightisdetermined
bywindspeed,howlongthewindhasbeenblowing,thefetch(thedistanceoverwhichthe
windexcitesthewaves)andbythedepthandsurfaceoftheseafloor(whichcanfocusor
dispersetheenergyofthewaves).Agivenwindspeedhasamatchingpracticallimitover
whichtimeordistancewillnotproducelargerwaves.Whenthislimithasbeenreachedthe
seaissaidtobe"fullydeveloped.

Wavesaredestroyedmainlybygravityorbreakingonland.Forverysmallwavessurface
tensioncanflattenwaves.

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Wave Power: Theory Behind Ocean Waves

ImageSource:WikimediaCommons

WavePowerFormula
Ingeneral,largerwavesaremorepowerfulbutwavepowerisalsodeterminedbywave
speed,wavelength,andwaterdensity.HowpowerfulawaveisisdeterminedbytheWave
PowerFormula.Inthiscase,thepowerdoesnotrefertothepowerthatwouldbe
producedbyawavepowermachine,ratheritmeansthewaveenergyflux,orthe
transportrateofwaveenergy.Indeepwaterwherethewaterdepthislargerthanhalfthe
wavelength,thewavepowerisfoundusingthefollowingequation:

WherePisthewaveenergyfluxperunitofwavecrestlength,Hm0thesignificantwave
height,Tthewaveperiod,thewaterdensityandgtheaccelerationbygravity.Theabove
formulaalsosaysthatwavepowerisproportionaltothewaveperiodandtothesquareof
thewaveheight.Ifthesignificantwaveheightisgiveninmeters,andthewaveperiodin
secondswavepowerhasunitsofkilowatts(kW)permeterofwavefrontlength.

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Wave Power: Theory Behind Ocean Waves

Waveenergy
Inaverageoceanconditions,theaverageenergydensityperunitareaofseasurface
wavesisproportionaltothewaveheightsquared,showninthefollowingequation:

whereEisthemeanwaveenergydensityperunithorizontalarea(J/m2),thesumof
kineticandpotentialenergydensityperunithorizontalarea.Thepotentialenergydensity
isequaltothekineticenergy,bothcontributinghalftothewaveenergydensityE.

WavesinShallowandDeepWater
Oceanwavesbehavedifferentlydependingonthedepthofthewatertheyhaveformedin.
Deepwaterisgenerallyconsideredtobewhenthewaterhasadepthlargerthanhalfa
wavelength,whichisusuallythecaseintheopenocean.Indeepwater:

Velocityofwavethroughwaterdeterminedbywavelength
Longerwavesmovefaster
Typicalspeed=28mph

Inshallowwater:

Velocityofwavedeterminedbywaterdepth
Speed(m/sec)=3.1xsquareroot(depth)
Whenadeepwaterwavemovesintoshallowwateritslowsdown
Ifwave=28mphindeepwater,in1metredeepwaterspeedis7mph

MoreuniformDeepwaterwavesofferstheopportunityforthedevelopmentoftechnology
thatwillnotgetdamagedasheavilyasnearshoremachines.

Sources
www.oceanographers.net
www.seafriends.org.nz
www.stormsurf.com
www.boatsafe.com

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