DYNAMICS OF THE FKT SYSTEM WITH DIFFERENT MOORING LINES

Abstract

To harness the endless hydrokinetic energy of the Kuroshio current, the joint research team of the National Taiwan University and the National Taiwan Ocean University has developed a floating Kuroshio turbine (FKT) system in Taiwan. In normal operation, the system floats at a certain small depth from the ocean surface to reduce the wave effects and take advantage of faster current speeds. In the present study, the effect of the mooring line on the system dynamics is investigated computationally. Two different auxiliary mooring line designs and, for each design, three different common mooring lines (polyester ropes of neutral buoyancy, iron chains, and 6×19 wires ropes with wire core) are examined. The study makes use of several commercial and in-house packages, integrated to find various coefficients. It is found that the mooring line, the auxiliary mooring line design, and the gravity centre can have a significant effect on system fluctuations in normal operation if the combination of these factors is not properly matched.