A Study on Modeling and Experiment of a Wave Energy Converter Using Mechanical Coupled with Hydraulic Power Take-Off

The article’s proposal refers to a new concept of wave energy converter (WEC), in which the power take-off (PTO) is combined with the mechanical and hydrostatic transmission. Here, the wave energy is absorbed by turning the two-way movement of an incident wave into the one-way rotation of a hydraulic pump which drives a high-pressure (HP) hydraulic circuit. Electricity is generated using a rotating generator which is driven by an HP hydraulic circuit. First, the coupled PTO mechanism is presented to describe the working principle of the proposed WEC. Next, a mathematical model of the buoy connects generator system is shown to analyze the equipment’s performance subjected regular waves. And then, by using the theory of linear potential wave, the hydrodynamic forces acting on the semi-submerged floating buoy and an analytical model of the mechanical transmission coupled with the hydraulic transmission are modeled to investigate the motion of the rotary generator. An experimental Setup is performed to verify the analytical model. Based on the validated model, a structural optimization is calculated to bring the system to resonance condition. Then, a dry test is implemented to analyze the system’s performance. Some optimum parameters are determined and applied to the analytical model, which sends the signal to drive the actuator. As a result, the absorbed efficiency is increased significantly.