Researchers at Portugal’s Technical University of Lisbon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on a device to tap the power of waves, which was designed using millions of calculations in order to capture the maximum amount of energy possible in a specific location. The research (which was detailed in a recent issue of MIT’s EnergyFutures newsletter) was done to maximize the energy capture of a device called an oscillating water column (OWC) that has been used in water-power systems before, and is meant to be placed on or close to the shore; as waves hit the OWC the water level increases and decreases in the chamber, and in turn pushes trapped air into an opening, which drives a turbine.
The team plans to pilot the maximized OWC at the entrance of the Douro River in Porto, in northern Portugal, and eventually put three of them there, which together would generate 750 kilowatts of wave power. The group says the icing on the cake is that the OWCs can actually calm the waters of the area by absorbing some of the wave energy. The Portugal team is made up of Technical University of Lisbon Professors Antonio Falcao, Antonio Sarmento and Luis Gato, and MIT’s Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chiang Mei.
