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附近的波浪能量集中也大约是太阳能的十倍。自18世纪以来，海浪的明显力量激发了各种波浪能量转换器（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入口。然而，目前对加拿大波浪能机会的描述几乎没有精确的描述，也不清楚WECs在加拿大水域的表现如何。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累积海洋能源公司（AOE）开发的创新型加拿大WEC设备的性能。AOE装置采用升沉点吸收器对空气进行压缩，压缩后的空气分段积累；每一级包含多个点吸收器，将加压空气驱动到下一级进一步压缩；在这个过程的最后，加压空气被用来驱动发电机。为了准确地评估AOE装置的性能，必须将浮点吸收器船体的流体力学、系泊动力学和气动累积的热力学充分耦合；系泊、船体和压缩空气的状态是密不可分的。拟议的项目将创建一个新的气动PTO模型，可以插入到商业软件ProteusDS中，该软件已经包括浮动船体和系泊流体动力学算法。此外，该项目将研究加速ProteusDS代码执行速度的方法，以便在不牺牲整个系统中各种动态过程耦合的情况下，考虑多个阶段的AOE点吸收器。完成的模型将用于评估系统在温哥华岛附近WCWI记录的有限波况下的性能。

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.