TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental Modelling of an Isolated WECfarm Real-Time Controllable Heaving Point Absorber Wave Energy Converter
AU - Vervaet, Timothy
AU - Stratigaki, Vasiliki
AU - Ferri, Francesco
AU - De Beule, Louis
AU - Claerbout, Hendrik
AU - De Witte, Bono
AU - Vantorre, Marc
AU - Troch, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Offshore Renewables for a Transition to a Low Carbon Society)
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - To offer point absorber wave energy converters (WECs) as a bankable product on the marine renewable energy market, multiple WECs will be installed together in an array configuration. The wave energy community (research and industrial) has identified the urgent need for available realistic and reliable data on WEC array tests in order to perform a better WEC array optimization approach and in order to validate recently developed (non-linear) numerical models. The ‘WECfarm’ project is initiated to cover this scientific gap on necessary experimental data. The ‘WECfarm’ experimental setup consists of an array of five generic heaving point-absorber WECs. The WECs are equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), addressing the need for WEC array tests with an accurate and actively controllable power take-off (PTO). The WEC array control and data acquisition are realized with a Speedgoat Performance real-time target machine, offering the possibility to implement advanced WEC array control strategies in the MATLAB-Simulink environment. The presented article describes the experimental setup, the performed tests and the results of the test campaign using a single, isolated ‘WECfarm’ WEC in April 2021 at the wave basin of Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark. A Coulomb and viscous friction model is determined to partly compensate for the drivetrain (motor, gearbox, rack and pinion) friction. A system identification (SID) approach is adopted considering the WEC system to be composed of two single input single output (SISO) models, the radiation and the excitation model. Radiation tests yield the intrinsic impedance. Excitation tests yield the excitation frequency response function. Adopting an impedance matching approach, the control parameters for the resistive and reactive controller are determined from the complex conjugate of the intrinsic impedance. Both controllers are tested for a selection of regular wave conditions. The performed experimental test campaign using an isolated ‘WECfarm’ WEC allows a full evaluation of the WEC design prior to extending the setup to five WECs. Within the ‘WECfarm’ project, an experimental campaign with a five-WEC array in the Coastal and Ocean Basin (COB) in Ostend, Belgium, is under preparation.
AB - To offer point absorber wave energy converters (WECs) as a bankable product on the marine renewable energy market, multiple WECs will be installed together in an array configuration. The wave energy community (research and industrial) has identified the urgent need for available realistic and reliable data on WEC array tests in order to perform a better WEC array optimization approach and in order to validate recently developed (non-linear) numerical models. The ‘WECfarm’ project is initiated to cover this scientific gap on necessary experimental data. The ‘WECfarm’ experimental setup consists of an array of five generic heaving point-absorber WECs. The WECs are equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), addressing the need for WEC array tests with an accurate and actively controllable power take-off (PTO). The WEC array control and data acquisition are realized with a Speedgoat Performance real-time target machine, offering the possibility to implement advanced WEC array control strategies in the MATLAB-Simulink environment. The presented article describes the experimental setup, the performed tests and the results of the test campaign using a single, isolated ‘WECfarm’ WEC in April 2021 at the wave basin of Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark. A Coulomb and viscous friction model is determined to partly compensate for the drivetrain (motor, gearbox, rack and pinion) friction. A system identification (SID) approach is adopted considering the WEC system to be composed of two single input single output (SISO) models, the radiation and the excitation model. Radiation tests yield the intrinsic impedance. Excitation tests yield the excitation frequency response function. Adopting an impedance matching approach, the control parameters for the resistive and reactive controller are determined from the complex conjugate of the intrinsic impedance. Both controllers are tested for a selection of regular wave conditions. The performed experimental test campaign using an isolated ‘WECfarm’ WEC allows a full evaluation of the WEC design prior to extending the setup to five WECs. Within the ‘WECfarm’ project, an experimental campaign with a five-WEC array in the Coastal and Ocean Basin (COB) in Ostend, Belgium, is under preparation.
KW - Heaving point absorber WEC
KW - MATLAB-Simulink
KW - Physical modelling
KW - Real-time control
KW - System identification (SID)
KW - Wave energy converter (WEC)
KW - WECfarm
KW - Heaving point absorber WEC
KW - MATLAB-Simulink
KW - Physical modelling
KW - Real-time control
KW - System identification (SID)
KW - Wave energy converter (WEC)
KW - WECfarm
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140990554&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/jmse10101480
DO - 10.3390/jmse10101480
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85140990554
SN - 2077-1312
VL - 10
JO - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
JF - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
IS - 10
M1 - 1480
ER -