The Fair Evaluation of Wave Energy Converters

Author(s):  
Jian Tan ◽  
Henk Polinder ◽  
Peter Wellens ◽  
Sape Miedema

Abstract In this paper, a fair evaluation method of WECs (Wave Energy Converters) is established based on frequency domain simulation. In this fair evaluation, size optimization and downsizing of PTO (Power Take-Off) capacity are included to minimize the Cost of Energy for the concerned wave location. Based on this fair evaluation, a techno-economic evaluation of a generic point absorber is conducted for a specific wave location, and two different control strategies of PTO are considered. The results show that this fair evaluation method can contribute to the improvement of techno-economic performance of WECs. Furthermore, a comparison among three different size optimization methods of WECs is performed.

2015 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 370-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Beatty ◽  
Matthew Hall ◽  
Bradley J. Buckham ◽  
Peter Wild ◽  
Bryce Bocking

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (13) ◽  
pp. 1950168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianlong Xu ◽  
Ye Li ◽  
Yingkai Xia ◽  
Weixing Chen ◽  
Feng Gao

Fully submerged sphere and cylinder point absorber (PA), wave energy converters (WECs) are analyzed numerically based on linearized potential flow theory. A boundary element method (BEM) (a radiation–diffraction panel program for wave-body interactions) is used for the basic wave-structure interaction analysis. In the present numerical model, the viscous damping is modeled by an equivalent linearized damping which extracts the same amount of wave energy over one cycle as the conventional quadratic damping term. The wave power capture width in each case is predicted. Comparisons are also made between the sphere and cylinder PAs which have identical geometrical scales and submerged depths. The results show that: (i) viscous damping has a greater influence on wave power performance of the cylinder PA than that of the sphere PA; (ii) the increasing wave height reduces wave power performance of PAs; (iii) the cylinder PA has a better wave power performance compared to the sphere PA in larger wave height scenarios, which indicates that fully submerged cylinder PA is a preferable prototype of WEC.


Energies ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 2246-2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Ferri ◽  
Simon Ambühl ◽  
Boris Fischer ◽  
Jens Kofoed

Author(s):  
Maria A. Chatzigiannakou ◽  
Irina Dolguntseva ◽  
Mats Leijon

Within the year 2013, four linear generators with point absorber buoy systems were deployed in the Lysekil test site. Until now, deployments of these point absorbing wave energy converters have been expensive, time consuming, complicated and raised safety issues. In the present paper, we focus on the analysis and optimization of the offshore deployment process of wave energy converters with a linear generator power take-off which has been constructed by Uppsala University. To address the crucial issues regarding the deployment difficulties, case study of previous offshore deployments at the Lysekil test site are presented regarding such parameters as safety, cost and time efficiency. It was discovered that the deployment process can be improved significantly, mainly by using new technologies, e.g., new specialized deployment vessels, underwater robots for inspections and for connecting cables and an automatized pressurizing process. Addressing the main deployment difficulties and constrains leads us to discovery of methods that makes offshore deployments more cost-efficient and faster, in a safety context.


Author(s):  
T. Strager ◽  
A. Martin dit Neuville ◽  
P. Fernández López ◽  
G. Giorgio ◽  
T. Mureşan ◽  
...  

When analytically optimising the control strategy in wave energy converters which use a point absorber, the efficiency aspect is generally neglected. The results presented in this paper provide an analytical expression for the mean harvested electrical power in non-ideal efficiency situations. These have been derived under the assumptions of monochromatic incoming waves and linear system behaviour. This allows to establish the power factor of a system with non-ideal efficiency. The locus of the optimal reactive control parameters is then studied and an alternative method of representation is developed to model the optimal control parameters. Ultimately we present a simple method of choosing optimal control parameters for any combination of efficiency and wave frequency.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document