GOALI: Optimizing the Design of Ocean Wave Energy Farms

该奖项将在使利用海浪发电的替代能源在经济上可行方面发挥重要作用。最终目标是使波浪能成为可靠且具有成本效益的大规模、电网质量的清洁能源。将开发数学优化模型和技术，并用于设计所谓的波浪农场。此外，构成这些波浪场的波浪能转换（WEC）设备可以通过传感器网络连接，这允许WEC的动态操作，从而允许不仅具有成本效益而且相对于海洋环境的变化具有鲁棒性的解决方案。利哈伊大学和海洋动力技术公司（OPT）之间的学术/工业合作伙伴关系将为该研究提供强大的应用潜力，帮助美国在波浪能转换的研究和实施方面处于领先地位。该奖项的主要目标是开发新颖的优化模型和算法，用于设计和操作WEC设备阵列。研究人员将推进WEC阵列（也称为波浪农场）布局中建模和优化战略问题的最新技术。该项目将考虑确定性海洋环境（仍有许多悬而未决的问题）和随机波浪环境（这将启动一个新的研究机构）。将开发模型和算法，以优化WEC在波浪发电场阵列内的位置，由于WEC之间的水动力相互作用，这可能对发电场的总功率产生重大影响。该项目的第二个目标是优化收集波浪数据并预测WEC实际波形的传感器的类型和位置，从而改善WEC的控制。该研究团队将开发用于波实现的最大似然估计的模型和算法，作为传感器系统设计的函数，然后根据传感器的类型和位置优化设计本身。

This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) award will play an important role in making the alternative energy source that harnesses the power of ocean waves economically viable. The ultimate goal is to make wave energy a reliable and cost-effective source of large-scale, grid-quality, clean power. Mathematical optimization models and techniques will be developed and used to design so-called wave farms. In addition, the wave energy conversion (WEC) devices that constitute these wave farms can be connected via sensor networks, which allows dynamic operation of the WECs, allowing for solutions that are not only cost-effective but also robust with respect to changes in the sea environment. The academic/industry partnership between Lehigh University and Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) will give the research strong potential to be applied in practice, helping the U.S. take the lead in research and implementation of wave energy conversion.The main objective of this award is to develop novel optimization models and algorithms for designing and operating arrays of WEC devices. The investigators will advance the state of the art in modeling and optimizing strategic problems in the layout of arrays of WECs (also known as wave farms). The project will consider both deterministic sea environments (for which there are still many open questions) and stochastic wave environments (which will initiate a new body of research). Models and algorithms to optimize the locations of WECs within a wave farm array, which can have a significant impact on the total power of the farm due to the hydrodynamic interactions among the WECs, will be developed. A second goal of the project is to optimize the types and locations of sensors that collect data on waves and forecast the actual waveforms at the WECs, thus improving the control of the WECs. The research team will develop models and algorithms for maximum-likelihood estimation of wave realizations as a function of sensor system design, and then optimize the design itself with respect to the types and locations of sensors.