Consultants Second Report, Volume 2: Technical Appraisal Of The Devices - Part 1

Abstract

This report is the second general assessment prepared by the Consultants for the Wave Energy Steering Committee, the first having been submitted in August 1977. The primary objective of this report is to present to those responsible for directing the U.K. wave energy programme a full assessment of the devices now under development from the point of view of their potential for large scale implementation. The Consultants have attempted to assemble as firm a basis of factual information as is possible at this stage, to guide future decision making. The report is presented in three volumes, Volume 1 is an Executive Summary and includes the conclusions for the whole report. Volume 2 is the main body of the report and deals with the technical assessment, Volume 3 contains the costing information. The report assesses devices and not Device Teams. The Consultants have tried to present as fair a picture as possible of the devices as conceived by the Teams, and the Teams are of course the principal source of information. However, the text also refers to work from other sources. Every effort has been made to identify the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the devices independently of the work of the development Teams. It is recognised that at some stage certain devices will be dropped from the programme to allow concentration of effort on the more promising schemes. The Consultants have therefore given special prominence to those topics which are likely to have most influence on such decisions. An important limitation imposed on this report is its timing. It finds many Device Teams halfway through planned programmes of work, and in many areas detailed information necessary for a complete assessment is missing. In these areas attention is drawn to those factors which may later modify the stated conclusions on particular aspects of devices. However, the Consultants feel that it is now possible to reach reliable conclusions on many of the broader aspects of device development. Seven devices are included in the assessment. Some are much further advanced than others, and some are much more complex. The depths of the assessments carried out reflect these factors. Chapters 4 to 10 of this Volume present for each device a Reference Design which has been used as the basis of assessment. Table 1.1 sets out the key parameters of the Reference Designs. These designs have either been produced in their entirety by the Device Teams, or have been in part worked up by the Consultants in consultation with the Device Teams. The devices are described and assessed technically in terms of their material and workmanship content, and in terms of their annual average power output (termed 'productivity' in this report). For each device a brief summary of the fundamental mechanism of wave power extraction is given as general information, and for comparison between devices. There is a strong link between these fundamentals and the most important engineering problems, including costs. Except where it is directly applicable to the assessment, this report does not deal in any detail with the extensive programme of support work which has been initiated in areas of interest to all devices. This work is undertaken by Technical Advisory Groups (TAGS) and their work is documented in numerous separate reports