Abstract:
Sea wave is a high density renewable energy source which can be used to extract
electrical energy using suitable technology. Performance of wave energy
convertors (WECs) depends on the sea or wave conditions and characteristics of the
WEC. However, in most of the available WEC systems, the converter characteristics
are not tuned dynamically to match with the variations of the incoming wave
conditions and as a result, their energy extraction is not optimum. In this
background, this research focused to develop an adaptive control system for a
single floater based WEC so that the performance of the WECs can be optimised
dynamically to match with wave conditions. The technique includes a sonar sensor
to per-observe the height and the frequency of incoming waves and to control the
dynamic characteristics of the generator so that is natural frequency closely
matches with the wave frequency to operate at maximum energy extraction
efficiency. From the generator side, armature voltage was varied allowing it to
operate at different dynamic characteristics. This controller was implemented
using a microcontroller circuit connected to a computer to record the output
parameters of the WEC. It was observed that overall 30% of efficiency increment
can be achieved with the use of the controller. The proposed controller has a very
high potential to be used for new generation of WECs to improve the overall energy
conversion efficiency in varying sea wave conditions.
