Coastal & Ocean Basin Ostend (Belgium)

Coastal & Ocean Basin Ostend

The Coastal & Ocean Basin (COB), located in Ostend, Belgium, is designed to study the effect of waves and currents on coastal and offshore structures, the generation of freak waves and the hydrodynamic and structural behaviour of devices for marine renewable energy. With basin dimensions of 30 m x 30 m, a variable water depth up to 1.4 m and wave-current interaction in any relative direction, the infrastructure offers excellent test conditions for coastal to near offshore applications related to coastal defence plans, offshore/floating structures and renewable energy technologies. A central pit of up to 4.5 m deep allows for testing of mooring applications. The COB welcomes users from academia, industry and governmental institutions.

The COB is part of Flanders Maritime Laboratory, one of the international and "heavy" research infrastructures in which the Flemish Department of Economy, Science and Innovation and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) have invested over the past decade. In addition to the COB, the Flanders Maritime Laboratory also houses a shallow water towing tank, that allows for maneuvering tests with scale models up to 8 meters in length. These facilities will strengthen the international research position of Flanders in the field of coastal and offshore engineering.

Wide field of applications

The Coastal & Ocean Basin Ostend offers a wide range of possible applications for researchers and companies, with excellent conditions for scale testing of:

Coastal structures
Offshore structures
Ocean energy
Floating structures & mooring applications
Nature based coastal defense solutions
Testing of observation equipment
6 DOF Motion tracking

COB Specifications

BASIN CHARACTERISTICS

Basin dimensions (L x W x H): 30 x 30 x 2.3 m
Variable water depth (0.4 – 1.4 m), central pit of up to 4.5 m deep
Wave heights up to 0.55 m
Currents up to 0.4 m/s
Wave-current interaction in any relative direction

WAVE GENERATION

L-shaped wavemaker (20 x 20 m)
86 Piston type wave paddles, offering very realistic sea states
Regular and irregular, first and second order, long- and short-crested waves
Active wave absorption

CURRENT GENERATION

Propeller type current generation
Flexible current direction
Excellent quality velocity profile
Turbulence level suppression

Video: First wave generator start-up tests at COB Ostend

Project portfolio

The Coastal & Ocean Basin Ostend has completed several projects within its wide field of applications:

WECfarm project: Experimental modelling of an array of five point absorber wave energy converters

Phairywind project: Physical modelling of the wave field close to a monopile

Partners & funding

The Coastal & Ocean Basin Ostend is managed by a consortium composed of Ghent University, KU Leuven and Flanders Hydraulics Research, and is supported by a number of strategic key partners:

IECRE partner: www.iecre.org
Key partner in ESFRI Marinerg-i: www.marinergi.eu
OWI-Lab partner: www.owi-lab.be/cob-wave-tank-testing
Local network of leading companies supporting the COB

The COB received funding from different projects and institutions:

Gen4Wave project
- initiated by UGent & AGORIA Generaties
- organised by UGent / KU Leuven / FHR
Hercules foundation project (now FWO)
- large research infrastructure
- wavemaker & current generator
VLAIO (formerly IWT)
- research infrastructure and personnel
Department of Mobility and Public Works
- housing and concrete structures