High fidelity computer simulation of cascading pneumatic wave energy converters

即使在平静的夏日，不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华岛海岸外的波浪能的集中度也大约是太阳能的十倍。 自1700年以来，海浪的明显力量激发了不同波浪能转换器（WEC）技术的发明，WEC设备经常被认为是加拿大现代可再生能源解决方案组合的重要组成部分。 然而，目前对加拿大波浪能机会的描述几乎没有提供任何精确性，也不清楚WEC将如何在加拿大沃茨发挥作用。 自2008年以来，由维多利亚大学综合能源系统研究所主办的西海岸波浪倡议（WCWI）一直在建立一个广泛的波浪条件数据库和计算工具，用于详细设计和优化WEC技术。 在拟议的Engage项目中，这些资产将用于研究由累积海洋能源（AOE）开发的加拿大WEC创新设备的性能。AOE装置使用升沉点吸收器来压缩空气，加压空气分阶段累积;每一阶段包含多个点吸收器，将加压空气驱动到下一阶段进行进一步压缩;在该过程结束时，加压空气用于驱动发电机。 为了准确评估AOE装置的性能，必须完全耦合浮点吸收器船体的流体动力学、系泊动力学和气动积聚的热力学;系泊、船体和压缩空气的状态是不可分割的。 拟议的项目将看到创建一个新的气动PTO模型，可以插入到商业软件，ProteusDS，其中已经包括浮动船体和系泊流体动力学算法。 此外，该项目将研究如何加快ProteusDS代码的执行速度，以便在不牺牲整个系统中各种动态过程的耦合的情况下，可以考虑AOE点吸收器的几个阶段。 完成的模型将用于评估系统性能的一组有限的波条件下记录的WCWI关闭温哥华岛。

Even on a calm summer day, the concentration of wave energy off the coast of Vancouver Island, BC is approximately ten times that of solar energy. The overt power of ocean waves has inspired the invention of different Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technologies since the 1700's, and WEC devices are often cited as an important entry in Canada's modern day portfolio of renewable energy solutions. Yet, little to no precision is currently provided in the description of Canada's wave energy opportunity and it is not clear how WECs will perform in Canadian waters. Since 2008, the West Coast Wave Initiative (WCWI) hosted at the University of Victoria's Institute for Integrated Energy Systems has been building an extensive database of wave conditions and computational tools for the detailed design and optimization of WEC technology. In the proposed Engage project, these assets will be applied to study the performance of an innovative Canadian WEC device developed by Accumulated Ocean Energy (AOE). The AOE device uses heaving point absorbers to compress air, and the pressurized air is accumulated in stages; each stage contains multiple point absorbers that drive pressurized air into the next stage for further compression; at the end of the process, the pressurized air is used to drive a generator. To accurately assess the performance of the AOE device, the hydrodynamics of the floating point absorber hulls, the mooring dynamics and the thermodynamics of the pneumatic accumulation must be fully coupled; the states of the mooring, the hulls and the compressed air are inextricably linked. The proposed project will see the creation of a new model of the pneumatic PTO that can be inserted into commercial software, ProteusDS, which already includes floating hull and mooring hydrodynamic algorithms. In addition, the project will examine ways of accelerating the execution speed of the ProteusDS code so that several stages of AOE point absorbers can be considered without sacrificing the coupling of the various dynamic processes in the complete system. The completed model will be used to assess the system performance for a finite set of wave conditions recorded by the WCWI off of Vancouver Island.