Wave-to-Wire Power Maximization Control for All-Electric Wave Energy Converters with Non-Ideal Power Take-Off

Marios Charilaos Sousounis and Jonathan Shek
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Marios Charilaos Sousounis: School of Engineering, Institute for Energy Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Faraday Building, The King’s Buildings, Colin Maclaurin Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, UK
Jonathan Shek: School of Engineering, Institute for Energy Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Faraday Building, The King’s Buildings, Colin Maclaurin Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, UK

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-27

Abstract: The research presented in this paper investigates novel ways of optimizing all-electric wave energy converters for maximum wave-to-wire efficiency. In addition, a novel velocity-based controller is presented which was designed specifically for wave-to-wire efficiency maximization. In an ideal wave energy converter system, maximum efficiency in power conversion is achieved by maximizing the hydrodynamic efficiency of the floating body. However, in a real system, that involves losses at different stages from wave to grid, and the global wave-to-wire optimum differs from the hydrodynamic one. For that purpose, a full wave-to-wire wave energy converter that uses a direct-drive permanent magnet linear generator was modelled in detail. The modelling aspect included complex hydrodynamic simulations using Edinburgh Wave Systems Simulation Toolbox and the electrical modelling of the generator, controllers, power converters and the power transmission side with grid connection in MATLAB/Simulink. Three reference controllers were developed based on the previous literature: a real damping, a reactive spring damping and a velocity-based controller. All three literature-based controllers were optimized for maximum wave-to-wire efficiency for a specific wave energy resource profile. The results showed the advantage of using reactive power to bring the velocity of the point absorber and the wave excitation force in phase, which was done directly using the velocity-based controller, achieving higher efficiencies. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that maximizing hydrodynamic energy capture may not lead to maximum wave-to-wire efficiency. Finally, the controllers were also tested in random sea states, and their performance was evaluated.

Keywords: wave energy converters; wave-to-wire modelling; point absorber; direct drive; permanent magnet linear generator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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