Model Basin Tests of Ocean Wave Responses for a 40-MW OTEC Pilot Plant

A 1/30th-scale model of a floating 40-MW OTEC pilot plant has been subjected to wave conditions that the prototype would experience as a plant moored off Puerto Rico or Hawaii, or as a cruising plantship in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Brazil. The model, in its unmodified baseline configuration, survived the design wave conditions for the three sites, with more than adequate stability margins. A modified configuration was also tested to reduce the possibility of taking on “green water” which was a concern at the Puerto Rico and Hawaii sites. Additional data were obtained on seawater system parameters, cold water pipe motions, and mooring forces.