The interaction of the bulge tube with the surrounding sea waves is complex and has become the subject of an Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council grant funded study led by Professor John Chaplin, The study will result in a detailed
numerical model of the bulge tube and will help us to optimise tube efficiency in real sea conditions.
Bulge Tube Operation…
As the bulge waves travel down the tube and arrive at the stern, the pressure in the chamber ahead of the power-take-off cycles above and below the tube’s rest pressure. During the high pressure part of the cycle, water passes through a set of non-return valves into an accumulator where pressure is allowed to build up. A smoothed flow of water then passes from the accumulator into a conventional hydraulic turbine which drives an electrical generator. On exit from the turbine, the water is accepted into a low pressure accumulator and is then drawn through another set of non-return valves back into the main tube during the low pressure part of the bulge wave cycle.