Constructal Design Method Applied to Wave Energy Converters: A Systematic Literature Review

The energy potential of sea waves has gained relevance, leading to extensive research on converters. The present work analyzes the contribution of Constructal Design to the development of wave energy converters. Constructal Design utilizes performance indicators to enhance system efficiency by varying the degrees of freedom where flow occurs. Thus, the systematic literature review methodology was applied to gather a collection of documents focused on the research topic. This study identified articles published between 2014 and 2024 by 40 authors affiliated with institutions in Brazil, Italy, and Portugal. The oscillating water column (OWC) converter received the most research attention, followed by the overtopping converter. Analyzing the documents collected for this study, the performance indicators revealed improvements ranging from 1.19 to 839 times, indicating the lowest and highest enhancements observed, respectively. The Constructal Design method has proven highly effective in identifying specific architectures or geometric arrangements that enhance flow configuration and improve the performance of wave energy converters. However, relatively few studies have applied the Constructal Design method to wave energy converters in comparison to other methodologies, presenting a significant opportunity for future research.