Japan STA Program: Optimal Control of Floating Wave Energy Converters

该奖项支持Umesh Korde博士在日本横须贺日本海洋科学技术中心（JAMSTEC）获得为期24个月的科学技术机构（STA）博士后奖学金。Korde博士将与高级研究工程师Yukihisa Washio博士合作进行一个名为“浮动波能装置的最佳控制”的研究项目。在过去的二十年里，人们开发了各种各样的设备来吸收波浪能，近岸、浅水设备的安装和维护要容易得多。然而，研究人员目前面临的实际问题是，如何开发应用程序，以吸收更深水域中增加的可用波浪能。大多数设备的主要组成部分是一次能量转换器，这是一种响应波振荡并通过涡轮发电机或泵的往复将这些振荡转换为转数的技术。在浮动装置上，通常使用浮动船体作为参考进行一次转换器运动，这一过程降低了能量转换效率。如果能在船体上提供一个主动控制体，作为稳定的参照系，将会产生显著的改进。提出的研究的主要目标是开发这样一个系统。第二个目标是开发一种时域控制方法，该方法可以逐波调整主转换器的动态，以优化不规则波中吸收的能量。＊＊＊

Korde 9703749 This award supports a 24 month Science and Technology Agency (STA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Umesh Korde at the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan. Dr. Korde will work with Dr. Yukihisa Washio, Senior Research Engineer, on a research project entitled, "Optimal Control of Floating Wave Energy Devices." Over the last two decades, various types of devices have been developed to absorb wave energy, with near-shore, shallow-water devices being far easier to install and maintain. The practical problem currently confronted by researchers, however, is how to develop applications that absorb increased available wave energy in deeper waters. The principal component of most devices is the primary energy converter, a technique that oscillates in response to the waves and converts these oscillations into revolutions via a turbogenerator or reciprocations of a pump. On floating devices, the primary converter motion normally occurs using the floating hull as a reference, a process that reduces the energy-conversion efficiency. Significant improvements would result if one could provide on board the hull an actively controlled body which serves as a steady frame of reference. The primary goal of the proposed research is to develop such a system. The secondary goal is to develop a time-domain control method that adjusts the primary converter dynamics on a wave-by-wave basis to optimize the energy absorbed in irregular waves. ***