Name: Louise O’Boyle

Job title: PhD Student

Location: David Keir Building

Room: LG.305

School: School of Planning Architecture and Civil Engineering

Telephone: 02890974751

Email: loboyle04@qub.ac.uk

Publications

Conference Contribution   O’ Boyle, L., Elsaesser, B., Folley, M., & Whittaker, T. (2011). Assessment of Wave Basin Homogeneity for Wave Energy Converter Array Studies. European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference.

Research

I am a 3^rd year PhD student currently studying the effect of wave farms on coastal processes.
The aim of this project is to explore the effects of wave energy extraction on the local wave climate and subsequently evaluate changes in coastal processes and sediment transport using a hybrid of physical and numerical modeling.
This has included set-up and calibration of a directional wave basin, using the Edinburgh Designs software Ocean. Physical and numerical verification (using a boussinesq type model) of the wave field homogeneity has also been undertaken to establish a frame of reference for physical testing.
Physical testing will be undertaken in the wave basin at Portaferry to quantify the effect of wave energy extraction on the local wave climate in terms of reflection, transmission and radiation by the wave energy converter (WEC). Numerical modeling includes the use of a 3rd generation spectral wave model known as MIKE 21 SW to model the effect on local wave climate by including a parameterised wave energy converter based on experimental results.

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