Feasibility Study of Mooring Lines Design for a Floating Tidal Turbine Platform Using Double Hull Structure

This paper examines numerically the feasibility of a catenary mooring line for tidal energy platform. The platform is designed with two floating hulls and anchored by studlink chain on the seabed. The numerical model is validated against an experiment with 1:12 scale ratio. A mooring line tension positioned on starboard fore, platform surge and pitch motions are parameters to validate. The results show that the model agrees with experimental results. This paper also evaluates the feasibility of the mooring system when a tidal turbine is mounted and in operation. Two tidal turbine models are employed in the model. These are horizontal and vertical axis tidal turbines. Mooring performance analysis are investigated for both turbine conditions in a set of environmental condition. The result shows that mooring line using a vertical axis turbine experiences higher tension. For platform motions, the horizontal turbine generates slightly larger displacement in surge. However the pitch motion record shows equal displacement under both turbine operations.