Global numeric analysis of a moored ocean current turbine testing platform

In response to Florida´s growing energy needs and drive to develop renewable power, Florida Atlantic University´s Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) plans to deploy a mooring near the core of the Gulf Stream off southeast Florida´s coast. This mooring system testing platform will be used to evaluate the performance of prototype ocean current turbines including COET´s 20 kW turbine that is currently under development. No mooring systems for deepwater hydrokinetic turbines have been constructed, tested and installed; therefore little is known about the performance of these moorings. To investigate this, a numeric model is used to predict the static and dynamic behavior of the mooring system and attachments, quantifying sensitivity of the system´s response to parametric variations. This numeric model of COET´s proposed mooring system has been created in OrcaFlex to model static and dynamic effects of the system. It includes numerical models of its two surface buoys, a rotating ocean current turbine, and the lines associated with the system. Wind, wave, and current profiles represent the environmental conditions the system is expected to experience.