直驱式波浪能转换系统的研究和性能优化

A direct-drive wave energy conversion system based on a three-phase permanent magnet tubular linear generator （PMTLG） and a heaving buoy is proposed to convert wave energy into electrical energy. Sufficient experimental methods are adopted to compare the computer simulations, the validity of which is verified by the experiment results from a wave tank laboratory. In the experiment, the motion curves of heaving buoy are with small fluctuations, mainly caused by the PMTLG＇s detent force. For the reduction of these small fluctuations and a maximum operational efficiency of the direct-drive wave energy conversion system, the PMTLG＇s detent force minimization technique and the heaving buoy optimization will be discussed. It is discovered that the operational efficiency of the direct-drive wave energy conversion system increases dramatically after optimization. The experiment and optimization results will provide useful reference for the future research on ocean wave energy conversion system.     

Farm size comparison with analytical model of linear generator wave energy converters

Ocean wave energy is an emerging kind of renewable energy, and several energy conversion methods are available today. One solution is to connect a buoy to a linear generator. Such units are quite small (10–100 kW), and farm solutions are suggested to increase power production. This paper shows the results from small farm simulations where the translator motion is varied for the generators in the farm.Simulations with five and 10 units show that power fluctuations decrease with an increasing number of generators.     

Ocean wave energy harvesting with a piezoelectric coupled buoy structure

An expedient piezoelectric coupled buoy energy harvester from ocean waves is developed. The harvester is made of several piezoelectric coupled cantilevers attached to a floating buoy structure, which can be easily suspended in the intermediate and deep ocean for energy harvesting. In the buoy structure, a slender cylindrical floater is attached on a large sinker. The energy harvesting process is realized by converting the transverse ocean wave energy to the electrical energy via the piezoelectric patches mounted on the cantilevers fixed on the buoy. A smart design of the buoy structure is developed to increase the energy harvesting efficiency by investigation of the effects of the sizes of the floater and the sinker. A numerical model is presented to calculate the generated electric power from buoy energy harvester. The research findings show that up to 24 W electric power can be generated by the proposed expedient buoy harvester with the length of the piezoelectric cantilevers of 1 m and the length of the buoy of 20 m. The technique proposed in this research can provide an expedient, feasible and stable energy supply from the floating buoy structure.     

Hydrodynamic Analysis and Power Conversion for Point Absorber WEC with Two Degrees of Freedom Using CFD

Point absorber wave energy device with multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) is assumed to have a better absorption ability of mechanical energy from ocean waves. In this paper, a coaxial symmetric articulated point absorber wave energy converter with two degrees of freedom is presented. The mechanical equations of the oscillation buoy with power take-off mechanism (PTO) in regular waves are established. The three-dimensional numerical wave tank is built in consideration of the buoy motion based upon the CFD method. The appropriate simulation elements are selected for the buoy and wave parameters. The feasibility of the CFD method is verified through the contrast between the numerical simulation results of typical wave conditions and test results. In such case, the buoy with single DOF of heave, pitch and their coupling motion considering free (no PTO damping) and damped oscillations in regular waves are simulated by using the verified CFD method respectively. The hydrodynamic and wave energy conversion characteristics with typical wave conditions are analyzed. The numerical results show that the heave and pitch can affect each other in the buoy coupling motion, hydrodynamic loads, wave energy absorption and flow field. The total capture width ratio with two coupled DOF motion is higher than that with a single DOF motion. The wave energy conversion of a certain DOF motion may be higher than that of the single certain DOF motion even though the wave is at the resonance period. When the wave periods are high enough, the interaction between the coupled DOF motions can be neglected.     

Gas concentration cells for the conversion of ocean wave energy

The concept of using electrochemical gas concentration cells to convert the mechanical potential energy of ocean waves to electricity using a taut-moored buoy is analyzed. Several idealized embodiments are discussed and one of these is shown to have particular merit. Some results obtained in an experimental program aimed at developing such a system are described. In particular, an electrochemical cell employing the protonically conducting synthetic polymer Nafion, bounded by platinum electrodes, has been studied in a manner which simulates the operation of such a device within a taut-moored buoy subject to ocean waves. It is shown that with some modest engineering advances, this system is indeed capable converting a significant fraction of ocean wave energy into electricity.     

Theory and Experiment on an Elastically Moored Cylindrical Buoy

In this paper, we compare simulated forces and accelerations for a moored floating buoy with full-scale experimental results in real ocean waves. The buoy is moored with a wire connected by springs to a concrete foundation situated at the seafloor. This study aims to develop a computer model using potential theory with a linearized free-surface boundary condition to describe the motion of such a system. The intention is to use the model for future study of wave-energy absorption and design of converters. Another objective is to see how complex a model is required to get accurate results. The method used is computationally fast and makes it possible to couple linear buoy wave interaction with nonlinear generator models, so that different loads and latching can be studied. A computationally fast method is required to model farms of wave-energy converters     

Piezoelectric Energy Analysis on Diverse Buoy Coupling with Hydrodynamic Parameters

This paper mainly describes the influence factors of the captured energy power by huge wave energy harvesters, in which the vertical motion of buoy can transform ocean’s potential energy into piezoelectric energy power by undulating waves. Firstly, related environmental coefficients are analyzed by means of the incident wave theory. Besides, the geometric structural parameters are also analyzed and compared under optimal environmental coefficients with semi-analytical solutions. Thirdly, the numerical results also show the impact trend of hydrodynamic parameters and geometric volume on motion, voltage and power with qualitative agreement. The numerical simulation confirms that the improved structure parameters could markedly deliver sufficient power under the same conditions with long-time stability.     

Utilization of the energy in ocean waves

The characteristics of ocean wind waves place certain constraints upon devices designed to convert their energy to a useful form. Here we consider the nature of these constraints and the theoretical analysis of a wave power generator that conforms to the design criteria. We also present the results of field tests with several models of the wave power generator. The experimental results support the theory and indicate that such a wave pump is suitable for power generation in a variety of circumstances.     

改进型中心管模型能量转换性能试验及样机设计

为了提高中心管振荡水柱波浪能利用技术能量转换效率,基于新的认识和目前常用的2.4米导航灯标,对中心管尾部设计了三种模型并在造波水槽中进行能量转换性能试验。试验结果表明:直管型中心管俘获宽度比最高达到了70.25%,但通频带宽度窄;加长喇叭口型中心管略好于喇叭口型中心管;在喷咀比为0.02条件下,加长喇叭口型中心管浮体有较高双峰俘获宽度比,波峰为40.0%,波谷为31.6%,通频带宽,为随机波下高效转换创造了条件。最高俘获宽度比和双峰通频带特性实验数据结果都优于历史文献值。根据试验数据对一些适合小型海洋仪器供电的样机进行了设计,设计的样机具有较高的性价比。     

Investigation on the Oscillating Buoy Wave Power Device

An oscillating buoy wave power device (OD) is a device extracting wave power by an oscillating buoy. Being excited by waves, the buoy heaves up and down to convert wave energy into electricity by means of a mechanical or hydraulic device. Compared with an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave power device, the OD has the same capture vvidth ratio as the OWC does, but much higher secondary conversion efficiency. Moreover, the chamber of the OWC, which is the most expensive and difficult part to be built, is not necessary for the OD, so it is easier to construct an OD. In this paper, a nu-merical calculation is conducted for an optimal design of the OD firstly, then a model of the device is built and, a model test is carried out in a wave tank. The results show that the total efficiency of the OD is much higher than that of the OWC and that the OD is a promising wave power device.     

自治式海洋环境监测系统的低功耗设计

针对海洋环境监测系统中供电电池组有限储能与仪器长期工作之间的矛盾,进行了自治式海洋环境监测系统的低功耗研究.从节能降耗、充分利用水体能源出发,将定点锚泊潜标和浮标技术相结合,采用双浮体技术,基于能量守恒,研制了一种储能型的传动装置;在分析了影响系统功耗的各种因素的基础上,对单片机数据采集控制存储系统进行了低功耗设计,为海洋环境监测系统长期在位作业提供了有力的能源保证,很好地解决了海洋环境监测系统的能源供应问题,使得该系统可以依靠单一的传感器组完成深达55 m以上的水体次表层海洋要素的长期连续垂直剖面观测.     

Study of a Wave Energy Converter Connected to a Nonlinear Load

This paper presents experimental results from a wave energy converter (WEC) that is based on a linear generator connected to a rectifier and filter components. The converter-filter system is installed onshore, while the linear wave generator operates offshore a few kilometers from the Swedish west coast. The power from the generator has been rectified with a diode bridge and then filtered using a capacitive filter. Performance of the whole conversion system was studied using resistive loads connected across the filter. The aim was to investigate the operational characteristics of the generator while supplying a nonlinear load. By changing the value of the resistive component of the load, the speed of the translator can be changed and so also the damping of the generator. The power absorbed by the generator was studied at different sea states as well. The observations presented in this paper could be beneficial for the design of efficient wave energy conversion systems.      

基于STM32的浮标及其定日光伏控制系统设计

为了提高海洋浮标对太阳能的利用率而设计了一种定日光伏系统的控制方案,采用STM32嵌入式单片机作为控制核心,结合浮标的特制外形,其太阳能电池板能够始终向着太阳转动,最大限度地为浮标进行供电。所述的浮标特制外形由带有对称肋板的浮标体和透明保护罩组成,提高了浮标的抗变形能力,减弱了太阳能电池板转动引起的反转及左右摇摆趋势。该系统经试验及仿真分析,达到预期目标,运行稳定可靠,有良好的推广应用价值。     

Measurements of ocean wave spectrum from airborne radar at small incidence angles

This paper proposes the retrieval method of ocean wave spectrum for airborne radar observations at small incidence angles, which is slightly modified from the method developed by Hauser. Firstly, it makes use of integration method to estimate total mean square slope instead of fitting method, which aims to reduce the affects of fluctuations superposed on normalized radar cross-section by integration. Secondly, for eliminating the noise spectrum contained in signal spectrum, the method considers the signal spectrum in certain look direction without any long wave components as the assumed noise spectrum, which would be subtracted from signal spectrum in any look direction for linear wave spectrum retrieval. Estimated ν from the integration method are lower than the one from fitting method and have a standard deviation of 0.004 between them approximately. The assumed noise spectrum energy almost has no big variations along with the wave number and is slightly lower to the high wave number part of signal spectrum in any look direction, which follows that the assumption makes sense. The retrieved directional spectra are compared with the buoy records in terms of peak wavelength, peak direction and the significant wave height. Comparisons show that the retrieved peak wavelength and significant wave height are slightly higher than the buoy records but don’t differs significantly (error less than 10%). For peak direction, the swell waves in first case basically propagate in the wind direction 6 hours ago and the wind-generated waves in second case also propagate in the wind direction, but the 180? ambiguity remains. Results show that the modified method can carry out the retrieval of directional wave spectrum.     

基于北斗通信的海洋多要素观测系统设计

以低功耗、多参数、安全可靠为设计目标,提出一种基于北斗卫星通信的海洋多要素观测系统设计。设计以嵌入式微控制器STM32F103RET6为核心,实现以漂流浮标为载体的海洋环境噪声测量,同时实现对海洋气温、气压、风速、风向及表层海温的多要素观测;以可充电锂电池组和太阳能电池板组合方式供电,同时进行必要的电源管理,有效提高漂流浮标的工作寿命;采用我国自主知识产权的北斗系统进行定位及双向通信,安全性高。实验表明,基于北斗通信的海洋多要素观测系统设计具有可行性,满足低功耗、多参数、安全可靠的设计要求,为以表面漂流浮标为载体的海洋多要素数据采集控制提供新的硬件设计方法。     

An Oscillating Wave Energy Converter with Nonlinear Snap-Through Power-Take-Off Systems in Regular Waves

Floating oscillating bodies constitute a large class of wave energy converters, especially for offshore deployment. Usually the Power-Take-Off (PTO) system is a directly linear electric generator or a hydraulic motor that drives an electric generator. The PTO system is simplified as a linear spring and a linear damper. However the conversion is less powerful with wave periods off resonance. Thus, a nonlinear snap-through mechanism with two symmetrically oblique springs and a linear damper is applied in the PTO system. The nonlinear snap-through mechanism is characteristics of negative stiffness and double-well potential. An important nonlinear parameter is defined as the ratio of half of the horizontal distance between the two springs to the original length of both springs. Time domain method is applied to the dynamics of wave energy converter in regular waves. And the state space model is used to replace the convolution terms in the time domain equation. The results show that the energy harvested by the nonlinear PTO system is larger than that by linear system for low frequency input. While the power captured by nonlinear converters is slightly smaller than that by linear converters for high frequency input. The wave amplitude, damping coefficient of PTO systems and the nonlinear parameter affect power capture performance of nonlinear converters. The oscillation of nonlinear wave energy converters may be local or periodically inter well for certain values of the incident wave frequency and the nonlinear parameter , which is different from linear converters characteristics of sinusoidal response in regular waves.     

Performance investigation of a two-raft-type wave energy converter with hydraulic power take-off unit

Raft-type wave energy converter (WEC) is a multi-mode wave energy conversion device, using the relative pitch motion to drive its hydraulic power take-off (PTO) units for capturing energy from the ocean waves. The hydraulic PTO unit as its energy conversion module plays a significant role in storing large qualities of energy and making the output power smooth. However, most of the previous investigations on the raft-type WECs treat the hydraulic PTO unit as a linear PTO unit and do not consider the dynamics of the hydraulic circuit and components in their investigations. This paper is related to a two-raft-type WEC consisting of two hinged rafts and a hydraulic PTO unit. The aim of this paper is to make an understanding of the dynamics of the hydraulic PTO unit and how these affect the performance of the two-raft-type WEC. Therefore, a combined hydrodynamic and hydraulic PTO unit model is proposed to investigate and optimize the performance of the two-raft-type WEC; and based on the simulation of the combined model, the relationships between the optimal power capture ability, the optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force and the wave states are numerically revealed. Results show that an approximately square wave type hydraulic PTO force is produced by the hydraulic PTO unit, which causes the performance of the two-raft-type WEC not to be sinusoidal and the energy capturing manner different from that of the device using a linear PTO unit; moreover, there is an optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force for obtaining an optimal power capture ability, which can be achieved by adjusting the parameters of the hydraulic PTO unit; in regular waves, the optimal power capture ability as well as the optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force normalized by the wave height presents little relationship with the wave height, mainly depends on the wave period; in irregular waves, the trends of the optimal power capture ability and the normalized optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force against the peak wave periods at different significant wave heights are generally identical and show a good correlation. All means that the hydraulic PTO unit of the two-raft-type WEC can be tuned to the wave states, and these would provide a valuable guidance for the optimal design of its hydraulic PTO unit.     

Tsunami Wave Interaction with Data Buoys

To plan for proper mitigation measures, one should have an advanced knowledge of the phenomenon of tsunami propagation from the deep ocean to coastal waters. There are a few methods to predict tsunamis in the ocean waters; one method is the effective use of data buoy measurements. Although data buoys have been used along the Indian waters there has been a tremendous growth in the number of buoy deployment recently. Under the National Data Buoy Programme (NDBP) of India, the 2.2 m diameter discus data buoys were deployed along the east and west coasts of India for measuring meteorological and ocean parameters. It would be advantageous if these buoys could be efficiently used to measure rare events such as tsunamis. Understanding the dynamic behavior of the buoy is of prime importance if a tsunami warning system is to be successful. This may be accomplished through experimental or numerical studies. A comprehensive experimental study has been conducted to understand the dynamic behavior of a wave rider buoy exposed to a variety of waves. It is common that tsunami waves are represented in terms of shallow water waves, namely solitary and cnoidal waves. Hence, in the present study, the discus type data buoy is scale modeled and tested under the action of solitary and cnoidal waves in the laboratory. The time histories of wave elevations, as well as heave and pitch motions of the buoy model, were analyzed through a spectral approach as well as through wavelet transformations. The wavelet approach gives more detailed insight into the spectral characteristics of the buoy motion in the time scale. The harmonic analyses were performed for the cnoidal wave elevations and subsequent motion characteristics that give an insight into the energy variations. The details of the model, instrumentation, testing conditions and the results are presented in this paper.     

浙江省海洋水质监测浮标设计与实现

作为一种高技术监测手段,海洋浮标可实现现场自动监测而不受恶劣海况的影响,近年来得到了广泛的重视和快速发展。文中介绍了浙江近岸海域海洋水质监测浮标的结构设计和自动监测实现。浮标设计为生态浮标、海滨浮标和专项浮标3种类型,由浮体、标架、供电设备、防护设备、锚系、传感器、数据采集传输、电子/电池舱、岸站接收系统等9个部分组成。浮体设计为圆饼形,浮体下方正中安装稳定锤以保证具备足够的稳定性。供电设备由太阳能电池板、大容量蓄电池组成,可保障海上30 d连续阴雨天气、恶劣海况下的不间断供电。浮标经喷防污漆、牺牲阳极保护、裹铜皮、加过滤网和人工清除等5种方法防腐、防污处理后投放入海,采用常规维护、应急维护和年度维护等3种方式保障浮标系统运行稳定。投放后可实现对标浮所在海域水质、气象、生态等参数的连续、实时、自动监测。最后对浮体直径设计和浮标投放点选址提出了建议和要求。该设计可为其它类似区域的水质监控提供良好的参考。