Enhancing efficiency of a point absorber bistable wave energy converter under low wave excitations

Huai Zhao, Haicheng Zhang, Rengui Bi, Ru Xi, Daolin Xu, Qijia Shi and Bo Wu

Energy, 2020, vol. 212, issue C

Abstract: In this study, an improved magnetic bistable mechanism is proposed to enhance capture efficiency of a point absorber wave energy converter (WEC), and it can improve the ability of energy harvesting for the conventional bistable WEC under low wave excitations. The improved magnetic bistable mechanism consists of three pairs of magnetic rings. The numerical simulations are carried out to study the dynamic characteristics and energy absorption. Time domain method, referred as the Cummins’ equation, is adopted to calculate the nonlinear responses of the bistable WEC. The reasonable design domain for the key parameters of the permanent magnets is suggested. The characteristics of wave energy capture are analyzed in details in comparison with the three types WECs (linear WEC, conventional magnetic bistable WEC and improved magnetic bistable WEC). The results show that the improved magnetic bistable mechanism can greatly broaden the bandwidth of energy absorption and increase the absorption efficiency especially under low wave excitations.

Keywords: Wave energy; Point absorber; Bistable; Nonlinear response; Capture width (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:212:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220317795

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118671

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