RIASSUNTO
ABSTRACT
Floating mega islands can provide an attractive solution for creating temporal or more permanent space in coastal areas with a high demand for real estate. Also at open sea in the vicinity of wind farms, fish farms or logistical cross points, a floating mega island could be used as a hub, eliminating costly transfers to shore. One of the aspects which needs to be understood is the wave induced motion of such a floating mega island. A piece-wise flexible island has been model tested at MARIN as described in Waals (2018). The motion behaviour, mooring loads and connector loads in mild and severe sea states has been investigated. In Otto (2019), the motion behaviour is described and explained by comparing model test results with numerical simulations. An interesting aspect in this is the relative importance of wave diffraction, wave radiation and the dissipation of energy in the construction. In the present paper, design optimizations have been performed by varying the draft, size and shape of the islands, making use of the numerical procedure as described in Otto (2019).
INTRODUCTION
Artificial islands could be a way to support human activities at sea on the longer term. With an increasing population near the coast and a rising sea level the ocean becomes an interesting alternative for activities on land. Societal challenges, such as the production of renewable energy and the production of seafood on large scale, could be future applications of artificial islands. Depending on the water depth artificial islands could be constructed as reclaimed land, floating or as a hybrid concept.
Alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia or synthetic methane are being studied as alternative for fossil fuels on ships. These synthetic fuels could be produced on islands from renewable electricity that is generated offshore. In the future, floating islands could serve as an energy hub and this could be combined with an (air)port to support the transition towards zero emission transport.