Modelization and simulation of the mechanic behaviour of a cold water pipe submitted to heave and current along the water column, for applications to OTEC and offshore industry

Abstract

The study aims to determine the preliminary hydrodynamic analysis of the cold water pipe using an in-house built software cPendulum. The code cPendulum includes the influence of the design load coming from hydrodynamic forces coupled to an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) floating Plant. Firstly, the work defines the design considerations for the cold water pipe and the influence it has on the hydrodynamic coefficients . Then the design loads such as Morison’s force along with Platform Motion are determined and implemented in the code cPendulum. Furthermore, the work details about the selection of a mooring system designed to withstand the cyclonic conditions and the impact it will have on the platform behaviour. Moreover, as the oceanic waves are chaotic, the implementation of irregular waves in cPendulum is done to simulate a real scenario. Finally, all parameters are implemented in cPendulum to analyse the behaviour of cold water pipe to draw the first conclusions about the efforts induced by the marine environment on the CWP.