Wave Energy Converter Performance Assessment
The WCWI has teamed up with Dynamic Systems Analysis (DSA) to create dynamic models of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) using their ProteusDS finite element analysis software. The WCWI has produced simulations of its four partners’ WEC technologies:
- Ocean Energy Limited’s (OEL) floating oscillating water column,
- Resolute Marine Energy’s (RME) seafloor mounted surging flap,
- Seawood Designs’ floating pontoon
- University of Victoria (UVic) two body point absorbers research platform.
Ocean Energy Ltd
Ocean Energy Ltd has developed the OE Buoy, which is floating Oscillating Water Colum type of Wave Energy Converter. This device is loosely moored, allowing the body of the device to interact with the waves. The change in water level inside of the OE Buoy due to the waves, acts to pressurize and depressurize the air within the air chamber inside the device, relative to the external air pressure. The high pressure air can then pass through a turbine that links the internal chamber of the OE Buoy with the outside atmosphere. The turbine spins in the same direction regardless of the direction of air flow, this rotational motion can then be transformed into electricity.
Resolute Marine Energy
Resolute Marine Energy (RME) is one of the industry partners which are involved with the West Coast Wave Initiative. Work with RME began with understanding their paddle wave energy converter design. Their design features a flap type wave energy converter and focuses on capturing the energy in near shore, shallow water waves. The paddle sits on the bottom of the ocean floor and is not visible from the surface. A unique feature of this design is its ability to be transported and installed with relative ease.
Work with RME involves coupling an in-house hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO) system simulation with their model in ProteusDS. A PTO in a wave energy application is any system that takes the energy harnessed by the WEC and converts it to electrical energy Furthermore, using the wave model simulation currently being developed for the West Coast of Vancouver Island, the power capture of the RME device can be estimated in Canadian locations using local wave conditions.
Seawood Designs
The WCWI work with the local Vancouver Island entrepreneur Charles Wood, founder of Seawood Designs, Inc, , and his Buoyant Wing wave following device, named SurfPower. This device follows the surface of a wave, generating energy through a piston pump which tethers the Wing to the ocean floor. This system uses ocean water as the working hydraulic fluid, which is pumped to shore were it passes through a Pelton turbine to generate electricity. Seawood Designs’ plans to build large arrays of up to 100 individual SurfPower units with the aim to have a low total cost of electricity.
UVic Research Platform
The UVic system being considered is solely a research platform that serves the development of design guidelines and control model validation. Each participating WEC system utilizes different methods of power capture, is affected differently by mooring dynamics and requires different control strategies. By including these affects in the simulation environment, better estimates of the available electric power will be computed and allow WCWI to iteratively test design and control concepts in simulation – something that isn’t possible to economically do on physical prototypes.
The WCWI performs physical model testing on a 1:25 scale version of its Research Platform and uses this to generate data to refine scaling parameters and validate the hydrodynamics calculations used in ProteusDS.