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Bachelor of Technology
In
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
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Attenuators
point absorber
Overtopping devices
Oscillating water column
Attenuators
attenuators are long multisegment floating structures oriented
parallel to the direction of the waves. They ride the waves like a
ship, extracting energy by using restraints at the bow of the
device and along its length. The differing heights of waves
along the length of the device causes flexing where the
segments connect. The segments are connected to hydraulic
pumps or other converters to generate power as the waves
move across. A transformer in the nose of the unit steps up the
power-to-line voltage for transmission to shore. Power is fed
down an umbilical cable to a junction box in the seabed,
connecting it and other machines via a common subsea cable
to shore.
Structural elements
The structure is a steel structure that can be built locally using
standard construction techniques available at most shipyards.
The device structure has been designed using standard
offshore construction principles, and a leading offshore
technology consulting firm independently verified the design.
there are different barriers that generation of wave energy has
yet to pass, but one of the biggest ones is its costs. The
predicted cost of energy from these technologies is relatively
high compared to other renewables, but significant cost
reduction potential is expected in the long term.
Waves have the characteristic that once created they can travel
for many kilometres practically without energy losses.In that
sense, the energy from the sun reaches the coasts, where most
of the populations of coastal countries are located, in a
concentrated and fairly continuous way. the right type of
location is done under a careful techno-economic evaluation.
We have identified 4 different types of wave energy capturing
devices that even though all of them are installed at the surface
or near the surface of the ocean they differ in the way they
interact with the waves, capture the wave energy and the way
they convert this energy into electricity.
Mooring
The mooring consists of a 3-point slack-mooring configuration.
The mooring allows the device to turn into wave direction within
its mooring constraints. The mooring and survivability of the
system has been simulated theoretically and tested in wave
Performance
The device is able to rapidly tune to the incident wave climate
using a digitally controlled hydraulic system and detune to over-
sized waves. A large amount of effort has gone into optimizing
Survivability
The Pelamis has excellent survivability characteristics. Being a
relatively narrow device, which will point into the wave and is
able to completely de-adjust to large waves, it will always
minimize loads on its mooring system. The power take off and
control subsystems have been designed with many
redundancies in place to minimize reactive maintenance such
as the required intervention after a storm. The estimated life
duration of this device is 15 years.
Operation&Maintenance
The device is designed to be quickly disconnected from its
mooring and towed into a nearby port for maintenance
overhauls. Many subsystems, such as power modules, are
designed in such a way that they can be lifted out with a crane
and replaced with a tested subsystem. Remote diagnostic
capability, extensive instrumentation and a high level of
redundancy will minimize the physical intervention
requirements and will allow O&M activities to be carried out
during suitable weather windows.
Point absorber
Structural elements
The structure is made of steel and can be built locally using
standard construction techniques available in most shipyards.
The structural elements were designed using finite element
analysis.
Grid Connection
The AquaBuOY is synchronized with the grid using a
variable speed AC-DC-AC converter and the voltage is
increased with a step-up transformer. Flexible riser cables
connect the devices to a junction box on the ocean floor.
This aspect is standard and does not raise any significant
concerns.
Installation
As the AquaBuOY is a relatively small device, it can be
easily towed into a nearby port for major overhaul
activities. In order to tow it into a nearby port, it would be
required to be brought into horizontal position. This can
be accomplished using a crane to bring the counter-
reaction tube into horizontal position or by pumping air
into sub-sea compartments.
Performance
Power Output comparison of wave tank testing and
theoretical models developed by the company revealed an
uncertainty in performance predictions. The root of the
uncertainty may be that the system has only modelled the
counter reacting tube as a mass without considering
hydrodynamic interactions. The performance of this
device will be limited by the capabilities of the power take
off, which is only able to slowly adjust the device to the
dominant wave period as outlined in the power take off
section. The manufacturer also quotes a capacity per
device of 250 kW, with an associated capacity factor of
about 12% (assuming a 25kW/m wave climate). It is
predicted that a capacity factor of around 40% could
provide a near optimal economic value of electrical energy
for this type of a device.
Survivability
The AquaBuOY has successfully solved the end-stop
problem. If the hose pumps are elongated to a certain
point, the piston assembly in the counter reacting tube will
come into an area where the reaction tube widens. As a
result, the water inside the tube is able to bypass the
piston assembly and discharge without creating further
dynamic stresses in the device structure. As such, it is an
effective overload mechanism. The estimated life duration
of this device is 20 years.
b) Floating device
The coast based devices are most applicable in coastal regions
with deep water close to a rocky coastline. Therefore for
countries where the coast generally consists of gentle sloped
beaches, such as Denmark, the coast based devices are not
appropriate as the waves lose the majority of their energy
content through bottom friction and wave breaking before they
reach the shore. Thus a number of floating WECs utilizing wave
overtopping have been proposed. The fact that these devices
are floating not only makes it possible to move them to regions
with larger wave energy density but also solves problems
associated with tide and enables relatively easy control of the
crest level of the slope. Among the first devices to use this
approach was the Sea Power WEC from Sweden. This device
has been tested in prototype scale. In Denmark one of the
WECs which has been most developed is the Wave Dragon
(WD). The WD combines ideas from TAPCHAN and Sea
Power and is a floating structure equipped with wave reflectors
that focus the waves towards the slope.
Conclusions
In the present paper a transparent Oscillating Water Column
Wave Energy Converter simulator was built and tested. The
system is able to run performance tests with different air
turbines at different wave frequency and amplitude. Moreover,
flow characteristics and velocity field around turbine rotor can
be measured by means of Particle Image Correlation method.
In particular, in this paper a straight-bladed Darrieus type air
turbine was tested. Using the PIV system velocity field around
the turbine rotor was measured. On the basis of the obtained
results the system allows to study velocity field in the air
column and around the rotor, while carrying out air turbine
performance assessments. This tool can be used to obtain
reference experimental data to validate OWCWEC and air
turbine design procedure, as well as to calibrate and verify
1D/3D mathematical model predictions