Discrete control of resonant wave energy devices

Aiming at amplifying the energy productive motion of wave energy converters (WECs) in response to irregular sea waves, the strategies of discrete control presented here feature some major advantages over continuous control, which is known to require, for optimal operation, a bidirectional power take...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2012-01, Vol.370 (1959), p.288-314
Main Authors: Clément, A. H., Babarit, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coefficients
Cylinders
Damping
Discrete Control
Energy production
Fluid mechanics
Mechanics
Natural frequencies
Parent teacher organizations
Physics
Resonance
Wave Energy
Wave Energy Converter
Wave Energy Device
Wave excitation
Waves
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Summary:Aiming at amplifying the energy productive motion of wave energy converters (WECs) in response to irregular sea waves, the strategies of discrete control presented here feature some major advantages over continuous control, which is known to require, for optimal operation, a bidirectional power take-off able to re-inject energy into the WEC system during parts of the oscillation cycles. Three different discrete control strategies are described: latching control, declutching control and the combination of both, which we term latched-operating-declutched control. It is shown that any of these methods can be applied with great benefit, not only to mono-resonant WEC oscillators, but also to bi-resonant and multi-resonant systems. For some of these applications, it is shown how these three discrete control strategies can be optimally denned, either by analytical solution for regular waves, or numerically, by applying the optimal command theory in irregular waves. Applied to a model of a seven degree-of-freedom system (the SEAREV WEC) to estimate its annual production on several production sites, the most efficient of these discrete control strategies was shown to double the energy production, regardless of the resource level of the site, which may be considered as a real breakthrough, rather than a marginal improvement.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2011.0132