Design and Analysis of a Wave Energy Converter of Point Absorber Type for the Energy Extraction from the Waves

Abstract

The generation of electric power from ocean waves has been in constant technological growth during the last decades, for being a clean source of abundant and renewable energy. However, the existing systems are extensive in size and cost. Thus, in this thesis, a design methodology for the construction of a wave energy prototype is developed. The proposed device is a slider-crank mechanism connected to a spherical buoy. The buoy, situated on the surface of the water, takes advantage of the vertical movement of the waves converting their oscillation movement into a rotational motion that actuates over the shaft of the armature coils within the generator to obtain electric power. The design of the mechanical components was conducted by the application of the principle of Virtual Work and D'Alembert, which allowed the determination of the dynamical model of the system; then, using these results, the mass and inertia of each element were obtained by an optimization procedure using the Optimization Toolbox of Matlab. Lastly, the results of the mathematical model were validated by experimentation in a scaled prototype of the dispositive.