Co-optimization of the Spooling Motion and Cross-Current Trajectory of an Energy-Harvesting Marine Hydrokinetic Kite

This paper examines the problem of simultaneously optimizing the spooling and cross-current flight trajectories of a tethered underwater energy harvesting kite. This work is motivated by the potential of tethered kites to provide attractive levelized costs of electricity, especially when cross-curre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bhattacharjee, Debapriya, Tiburcio, Miguel Alvarez, Fathy, Hosam
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuators
Conferences
Control systems
Costs
Dynamics
Electric potential
Fluid dynamics
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Summary:This paper examines the problem of simultaneously optimizing the spooling and cross-current flight trajectories of a tethered underwater energy harvesting kite. This work is motivated by the potential of tethered kites to provide attractive levelized costs of electricity, especially when cross-current motion is exploited in order to maximize energy harvesting. The literature explores trajectory optimization for tethered energy harvesting, for both airborne and marine hydrokinetic energy systems. However, the simultaneous co-optimization of both the spooling and cross-current trajectories of a marine hydrokinetic kite remains relatively unexplored. The paper formulates this co-optimization problem using a 3 degree-of-freedom kite model, coupled with an inelastic tether. A Fourier series expansion is then used for solving this co-optimization problem, and the key features of the resulting optimal trajectory are analyzed. Significant energy harvesting is achieved through co-optimization, approaching theoretical maximum power for cross-current systems.
ISSN:2576-2370
DOI:10.1109/CDC45484.2021.9683785