Abstract
A novel tuned heave plate energy-harvesting system (THPEH) is presented for the motion suppressing and energy harvesting of a semi-submersible platform. This THPEH system is designed based on the principle of a tuned mass damper (TMD) and is composed of spring supports, a power take-off system (PTO) and four movable heave plates. The permanent magnet linear generators (PMLG) are used as the PTO system in this design. A semi-submersible platform operating in the South China Sea is selected as the research subject for investigating the effects of the THPEH system on motion reduction and harvesting energy through numerical simulations. The numerical model of the platform and the THPEH system, which was established based on hydrodynamic analysis, is modified and validated by the results of the flume test of a 1:70 scale model. The effects of the parameters, including the size, the frequency ratio and the damping ratio of the THPEH system, are systematically investigated. The results show that this THPEH system, with proper parameters, could significantly reduce the motions of the semi-submersible platform and generate considerable power under different wave conditions.
Highlights
Powerful waves are harmful to ocean structures and have the great potential to provide clean energy at the same time
Wave energy converters are still far from commercial use, with the development of energy harvesting technologies, especially the improvement of the permanent magnet linear generator, wave energy converters (WEC) employing permanent magnet linear generators (PMLG) as the power take-off system (PTO) system have emerged in applications and research studies [1,2,3]
For reducing the heave motion of the semi-submersible platform, a novel tuned heave plate system was proposed by Kun Liu [20] and Hang Zhu [21] based on the same idea as the tuned mass damper (TMD)
Summary
Powerful waves are harmful to ocean structures and have the great potential to provide clean energy at the same time. To improve the performance of semi-submersible platforms, many scholars have concentrated their efforts on inventing novel type semi-submersibles [6,7,8,9] These concepts for improving the semi-submersible platform could be summarized as having a deeper draft, installing heave plates and using truss columns instead of conventional columns. For reducing the heave motion of the semi-submersible platform, a novel tuned heave plate system was proposed by Kun Liu [20] and Hang Zhu [21] based on the same idea as the TMD. The damping elements of the tuned heave plate system are replaced by PMLGs, and this tuned heave plate energy-harvesting system (THPEH) could suppress the motions of the platform and produce power for the platform’s operation at the same time. The results show that the THPEH system could significantly reduce motions and generate considerable power at the same time
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