Optimum Power Capture of a New Wave Energy Converter in Irregular Waves

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
George A. Aggidis ◽  
Mohammad T. Rahmati ◽  
Robert V. Chaplin ◽  
Andrew P. McCabe ◽  
Majid A. Bhinder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Wave Spectrum ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
Mean Power ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Point Absorber ◽  
Power Capture

This paper presents the optimum power capture of a new point-absorber wave energy converter, in irregular waves. A stepwise control system for the wave energy converter (WEC) is developed. The control system is used to efficiently extract power from irregular waves where amplitudes vary from wave to wave. The Bretschneider spectrum is used in the experiment and the device is ‘tuned’ to the peak period of the sea state. It is shown that this WEC has a reasonable capture width in irregular waves. However, the optimum mean power depends on the wave spectrum, the shape of the collector body, its freeboard and the device pivot depth.

Evaluation of long-term power capture performance of a bistable point absorber wave energy converter in South China Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 109338
Author(s):  
Nianfan Zhang ◽  
Xiantao Zhang ◽  
Longfei Xiao ◽  
Handi Wei ◽  
Weixing Chen
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
South China ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
China Sea ◽  
Point Absorber ◽  
Power Capture

scholarly journals Numerical evaluation of a two-body point absorber wave energy converter with a tuned inerter

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takehiko Asai ◽  
Keita Sugiura
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Structural Control ◽  
Resonance Effect ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Point Absorber ◽  
Linear Damping ◽  
Body Point

To increase the amount of energy captured from a vibrating buoy in the ocean with a simple mechanism, this paper proposes a two-body point absorber wave energy converter (WEC) with a tuned inerter. The tuned inerter mechanism consists of a spring, a linear damping element, and a component called inerter. This mechanism was originally proposed in the field of civil engineering as a structural control device which can absorb energy from vibrating structures effectively by taking advantage of the resonance effect of the inerter part. In addition to this mechanism where a generator is used as the linear damping element, the current of the generator for the power take-off system is controlled based on the algorithms proposed in literature to achieve further improvement of the power generation capability. In this research, a detailed analytical model of the proposed WEC is introduced and developed. Then the power generation performances of full scale WEC models are assessed through numerical simulation studies using WAMIT software and it is shown that the current controlled WEC with the proposed mechanism achieves 88% increase compared to the conventional one for the JONSWAP spectrum with 6 s peak period and 1 m significant wave height

scholarly journals Coupled Mooring Analyses for the WEC-Sim Wave Energy Converter Design Tool

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senu Sirnivas ◽  
Yi-Hsiang Yu ◽  
Matthew Hall ◽  
Bret Bosma
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Method ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
The Body ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Lumped Mass ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Point Absorber

A wave-energy-converter-specific time-domain modeling method (WEC-Sim) was coupled with a lumped-mass-based mooring model (MoorDyn) to improve its mooring dynamics modeling capability. This paper presents a verification and validation study on the coupled numerical method. First, a coupled model was built to simulate a 1/25 model scale floating power system connected to a traditional three-point catenary mooring with an angle of 120 between the lines. The body response and the tension force on the mooring lines at the fairlead in decay tests and under regular and irregular waves were examined. To validate and verify the coupled numerical method, the simulation results were compared to the measurements from a wave tank test and a commercial code (OrcaFlex). Second, a coupled model was built to simulate a two-body point absorber system with a chain-connected catenary system. The influence of the mooring connection on the point absorber was investigated. Overall, the study showed that the coupling of WEC-Sim and the MoorDyn model works reasonably well for simulating a floating system with practical mooring designs and predicting the corresponding dynamic loads on the mooring lines. Further analyses on improving coupling efficiency and the feasibility of applying the numerical method to simulate WEC systems with more complex mooring configuration are still needed.

Experimental Assessment of the Performance of CECO Wave Energy Converter in Irregular Waves

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio A. Rodríguez ◽  
Paulo Rosa-Santos ◽  
Francisco Taveira-Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Point Absorber ◽  
Model Scale ◽  
Absorbed Power ◽  
Incident Waves

The performance assessment of a wave energy converter (WEC) is a key task. Depending on the layout of the WEC system and type of power take-off (PTO) mechanism, the determination of the absorbed power at model scale involves several challenges, particularly when the measurement of PTO forces is not available. In irregular waves, the task is even more difficult due to the random character of forces and motions. Recent studies carried out with kinetic energy harvesters (KEH) have proposed expressions for the estimation of the power based only on the measured motions. Assuming that the WEC behaves as a KEH at model scale, the expressions for power estimation of KEHs have been heuristically adapted to WECs. CECO, a floating-point absorber, has been used as case study. Experimental data from model tests in irregular waves are presented and analyzed. Spectral analyses have been applied to investigate the WEC responses in the frequency domain and to derive expressions to estimate the absorbed power in irregular waves. The experimental transfer functions of the WEC motions demonstrated that the PTO damping is significantly affected by the incident waves. Based on KEH approach's results, absorbed power and PTO damping coefficients have been estimated. A linear numerical potential model to compute transfer functions has been also implemented and calibrated based on the experimental results. The numerical results allowed the estimation of combined viscous and losses effects and showed that although the KEH approach underestimated the absorbed power, qualitatively reproduced the WEC performance in waves.

scholarly journals A control system for a self-reacting point absorber wave energy converter subject to constraints

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 11387-11392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Bacelli ◽  
John V. Ringwood ◽  
Jean-Christophe Gilloteaux
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Wave Energy Converter ◽  
Energy Converter ◽  
Point Absorber
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