TY - JOUR
T1 - Control-inspired design and power optimization of an active mechanical motion rectifier based power takeoff for wave energy converters
AU - Yang, Lisheng
AU - Huang, Jianuo
AU - Mi, Jia
AU - Hajj, Muhammad
AU - Bacelli, Giorgio
AU - Zuo, Lei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
PY - 2024/7
Y1 - 2024/7
N2 - Ocean waves have high energy density and are persistent and predictable. Yet, converting wave energy to a useable form remains challenging. A significant hurdle is the oscillatory nature of waves resulting in the alternating loads, which necessitate the use of rectification at some stage of the energy conversion. This research effort presents a novel design of active mechanical motion rectifier (AMMR) for the power takeoff (PTO), which provides enhanced controllability and better power performance when compared to passive mechanical motion rectifiers (MMR). Inspired by transistors used in synchronous electrical rectifiers, the proposed design uses controllable electromagnetic clutches in the mechanical transmission to allow active engagement-disengagement control; thus, rectifying the oscillatory motion into a unidirectional rotation for high energy conversion efficiency and allowing the generator in unidirectional rotation to control the bidirectional wave capture structure for maximizing the power output. A semi-analytical computational approach is developed to efficiently evaluate the optimal power achieved using the proposed AMMR-based PTO and active control. It is found that the AMMR-based PTO design yields a higher optimal power than the previous passive MMR design across the wave spectrum. The influences of generator inertia and reactive power are discussed. The effects of control parameters on the power output and the optimal trajectories are analyzed. Wave tank tests with the AMMR prototype demonstrated the effectiveness of AMMR based PTO design and validated the numerical analysis.
AB - Ocean waves have high energy density and are persistent and predictable. Yet, converting wave energy to a useable form remains challenging. A significant hurdle is the oscillatory nature of waves resulting in the alternating loads, which necessitate the use of rectification at some stage of the energy conversion. This research effort presents a novel design of active mechanical motion rectifier (AMMR) for the power takeoff (PTO), which provides enhanced controllability and better power performance when compared to passive mechanical motion rectifiers (MMR). Inspired by transistors used in synchronous electrical rectifiers, the proposed design uses controllable electromagnetic clutches in the mechanical transmission to allow active engagement-disengagement control; thus, rectifying the oscillatory motion into a unidirectional rotation for high energy conversion efficiency and allowing the generator in unidirectional rotation to control the bidirectional wave capture structure for maximizing the power output. A semi-analytical computational approach is developed to efficiently evaluate the optimal power achieved using the proposed AMMR-based PTO and active control. It is found that the AMMR-based PTO design yields a higher optimal power than the previous passive MMR design across the wave spectrum. The influences of generator inertia and reactive power are discussed. The effects of control parameters on the power output and the optimal trajectories are analyzed. Wave tank tests with the AMMR prototype demonstrated the effectiveness of AMMR based PTO design and validated the numerical analysis.
KW - Control-inspired design
KW - Marine energy
KW - Motion rectification
KW - Power take-off
KW - Switching system
KW - Wave energy converter
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U2 - 10.1016/j.renene.2024.120614
DO - 10.1016/j.renene.2024.120614
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85193476536
SN - 0960-1481
VL - 228
JO - Renewable Energy
JF - Renewable Energy
M1 - 120614
ER -