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.