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

从海浪转换的能量有可能对世界能源需求做出重大贡献。然而，要做到这一点，波浪能转换器将需要形成波浪能发电场的一部分，其中设备阵列部署在同一地理附近。目前的点吸收器波浪能转换器阵列的计划通常具有带有单独PTO系统的装置。这些发电站在当地发电，然后在输送到岸上之前输送到中央枢纽。在该项目中，研究了每个具有单独PTO的设备的替代方案，目的是显着降低阵列成本。几个单独的点吸收器装置将泵送空气到一个单一的中央公共PTO和从一个单一的中央公共PTO泵送空气，然后该PTO将集中发电。这种配置具有显著节省成本的潜力，这是由于减少了阵列内使用的发电技术的量。还存在由在其功率捕获循环的不同阶段处的若干点吸收器产生的潜在功率平滑效应，这些点吸收器馈送到相同的PTO。然而，通过共享共同的PTO控制策略，例如闭锁和可变阻尼，不能再应用于单个设备。动力捕获机构和PTO之间的空气传输距离较长也会带来损耗。这可能很重要。使用共同的PTO也将进一步复杂化阵列内的单个点吸收器之间的阵列内的效果。该项目将研究使用共同的PTO的这些潜在的优点和缺点，目的是为波浪能工业和研究界提供设计指导。这项工作是由普利茅斯大学和大连理工大学合作进行的。物理实验将在普利茅斯大学进行，最多有4个设备阵列，并有两种不同的规模。这些测量的结果将用于验证大连理工大学开发的频域和时域模型。数值模型可以用来模拟更大的阵列和不同的配置，最后，实验和数值结果被用来提供设计指导使用共同的PTO。

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.