Abstract
The objective of this work is to identify the maximum absorbed power and optimal buoy geometry of a heaving axisymmetric point absorber for a given cost in different sea states. The cost of the wave energy converter is estimated as proportional to the displaced volume of the buoy, and the buoy geometry is described by the radius-to-draft ratio. A conservative wave-height-dependent motion constraint is introduced to prevent the buoy from jumping out of the free surface of waves. The constrained optimization problem is solved by a two-nested-loops method, within which a core fundamental optimization process employs the MATLAB function fmincon. Results show that the pretension of the mooring system should be as low as possible. Except for very small energy periods, the stiffness of both the power take-off and mooring system should also be as low as possible. A buoy with a small radius-to-draft ratio can absorb more power, but at the price of working in more energetic seas and oscillating at larger amplitudes. In addition, the method to choose the optimal buoy geometry at different sea states is provided.
Highlights
Wave energy conversion has been extensively studied since the energy crisis during the 1970s
A well-accepted one, which is proposed by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), classified wave energy converters (WECs) into nine types: Point absorber, terminator, attenuator, overtopping, oscillating water column, submerged pressure differential, . . . and others [1]
It should be noted that the objective of this paper is to identify the maximum absorbed power and optimal buoy geometry for a given cost of the WEC at different sea states
Summary
Wave energy conversion has been extensively studied since the energy crisis during the 1970s. This technology is still in the infant stage. Due to rather scattered working principles of wave energy conversion processes, several classifications of wave energy converters (WECs) have been proposed [1,2,3]. A well-accepted one, which is proposed by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), classified WECs into nine types: Point absorber, terminator, attenuator, overtopping, oscillating water column, submerged pressure differential, . A point absorber features a small horizontal dimension compared to the wavelength and a relatively large motion response to incident waves. Statistical results from EMEC [1] revealed that point absorber developers occupy
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