Design and Analysis of a Semi-submersible Floating Wind Turbine with Active Pump
摘要
The wind sector has undergone significant advancements in recent years, transitioning from onshore to offshore sites. In China, most of the offshore wind sites are located in intermediate waters. Typhoons generated in the Pacific Ocean sometimes occur in the South China Sea, which is rich in wind energy reserves. FOWTs face challenges in dealing with harsh environmental conditions, leading to the need for expensive mooring system designs. However, the probability of encountering such extreme conditions is relatively low, resulting in an overly conservative approach to mooring system design for most operational scenarios. To address this issue, this paper proposes the integration of an active pumping system to introduce seawater into the platform’s vessel during challenging environmental conditions. While the mooring system of the semi-submersible wind turbine ensures stability under most operational conditions, the active pumping system is essential to enhance safety during challenging environmental conditions. This paper uses passive semi-submersible Model A and the active pump-assisted semisubmersible Model B as its research objectives. Wind loads acting on the system is not considered in this work to evaluate the hydrodynamic responses of the system. Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is utilized for modelling the mooring system, calculating the motions that impact the platform’s stability and performance under ordinary and extreme conditions. The FOWT’s structural responses, and mooring line tension are determined by frequency domain and time domain simulations, afterward evaluated with statistical procedures. The results demonstrate that incorporating an active pump in a wind turbine enhances platform stability.