Numerical Modelling and Mechanical Studies on a Point Absorber Type Wave Energy Converter

Oceans cover two thirds of the Earth’s surface and the energy potential of ocean waves as a renewable energy source is huge. It would therefore be a tremendous achievement if the vast mechanical energy in waves was converted into a form of energy that could be used successfully by society. For years, scientists and engineers have endeavored to exploit this renewable energy by inventing various generators designed to transform wave energy into electrical energy. Generally, this sort of generator is called a Wave Energy Converter (WEC). In this thesis, the research is based on the WEC developed in the Lysekil Project. The Lysekil Project is led by a research group at Uppsala University and has a test site located on the west coast of Sweden. The project started in 2002. So far, more than ten prototypes of the WEC have been deployed and relevant experiments have been carried out at the test site. The WEC developed at Uppsala University can be categorized as a point absorber. It consists of a direct-drive linear generator connected to a floating buoy. The linear generator is deployed on the seabed and driven by a floating buoy to extract wave energy. The absorbed energy is converted to electricity and transmitted to a measuring station on land. The work presented in this thesis focuses on building a linear generator model which is able to predict the performance of the Lysekil WEC. Studies are also carried out on the damping behavior of the WEC under the impact of different sea climates. The purpose is to optimize the energy absorption with a specific optimal damping coefficient. The obtained results indicate an optimal damping for the Lysekil WEC which can be used for optimizing the damping control. Additionally, the impact two central engineering design features (the translator weight and the stroke length) are investigated. The aim is to find a reasonable structural design for the generator which balances the cost and the energy production