Can individual wave energy converters effectively share power take offs to reduce costs within arrays?

各个波浪能转换器能否有效共享功率输出装置以降低阵列内的成本？

• 批准号: EP/M01956X/1
• 负责人: Martyn Hann
• 金额: $ 15.84万
• 依托单位: Plymouth University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2014 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FM01956X%2F1
• 关键词: individual; wave; energy; converters; effectively

Energy converted from ocean waves has the potential to make a significant contribution to the worlds energy requirements. However to do this wave energy converters will need to form part of wave energy farms, where arrays of devices are deployed in the same geographical vicinity. Current plans for arrays of point absorber wave energy converters generally have devices with individual PTO systems. These generate electricity locally, which is then delivered to a central hub before being transmitted ashore. In this project an alternative to each device having an individual PTO is investigated, with the aim of significantly reducing the cost of arrays. Several individual point absorber devices will pump air to and from a single central common PTO, which will then generate electricity centrally. Such a configuration has the potential for significant cost savings, resulting from a reduction in the amount of electrical generation technology used within the array. There are also potential power smoothing effects resulting from several point absorbers, at different stages in their power capture cycle, feeding into the same PTO. However by sharing a common PTO control strategies, such as latching and variable damping, can no longer be applied to individual devices. There will also be losses brought about by the longer transmission distances of air between the power capture mechanism and the PTO. This may be significant. The use of a common PTO will also further complicate the intra array effects between individual point absorbers within the array.The project will examine these potential advantages and disadvantages of using a common PTO, with the aim of providing design guidance to the wave energy industry and research community. The work is being conducted as a collaboration between Plymouth University and Dalian University of Technology. Physical experiments will be conducted at Plymouth University with arrays of up to 4 devices and at two different scales. Results from these measurements will then be used to validate both a frequency and a time domain model developed at Dalian University of Technology. The numerical models can be used to model larger arrays and different configurations, before finally both experimental and numerical results are used to provide design guidance on the use of common PTO.

从海浪转化的能量有可能对世界的能源需求作出重大贡献。然而，要做到这一点，波浪能转换器需要成为波浪能农场的一部分，在波浪能农场中，设备阵列部署在同一地理位置附近。目前计划的点吸收波能转换器阵列通常有单独的PTO系统的设备。这些装置在当地发电，然后在传输到岸上之前，将电力输送到一个中央集线器。在这个项目中，研究了每个设备具有单独PTO的替代方案，目的是显着降低阵列的成本。几个单独的点吸收装置将把空气抽进和抽出一个中央公共PTO，然后集中发电。由于阵列中使用的发电技术数量减少，这种配置具有显著节省成本的潜力。在能量捕获周期的不同阶段，输入同一个PTO的几个点吸收器也有潜在的功率平滑效应。然而，通过共享一个共同的PTO控制策略，如锁存和可变阻尼，不能再适用于单个设备。由于能量捕获机构和PTO之间的空气传输距离较长，也会带来损失。这可能意义重大。使用通用PTO还会使阵列内单个点吸收器之间的阵列内效应进一步复杂化。该项目将研究使用通用PTO的这些潜在优点和缺点，目的是为波浪能工业和研究界提供设计指导。这项工作由普利茅斯大学和大连理工大学合作进行。物理实验将在普利茅斯大学进行，最多有4个设备阵列，两种不同的规模。这些测量结果将用于验证大连理工大学开发的频率和时域模型。数值模型可以用来模拟更大的阵列和不同的配置，最后，实验和数值结果用于通用PTO的设计指导。