Control techniques for oscillating wave energy converter

This study aims at achieving increase in the power capture performance of heaving type oscillating wave energy converters with the proposed control techniques. It has been shown that the power capture performance of a heaving wave energy converter depends on meeting the resonance condition with the incident wave frequency. In regular sea wave conditions, the task of setting the control parameters is a well-known task where the wave frequency is clearly defined. However, in irregular sea conditions, the wave frequency needed for control settings is not clearly defined and there does not exist a widely accepted procedure for identification of wave frequency. In the first part of the study, an investigation on how the power capture performance of a heaving wave energy converter varies with the varying the ratio of power take off unit damping to radiation damping is performed. This study has proven to have considerable benefits. In second part of the study, a control algorithm including Fuzzy Logic controller which controls the added mass is proposed. The results of the study show that the power capture performance of the heaving wave energy conversion system is increased. Also, as the last part of this study, an approach is proposed that combine renewable energy production system with the reverse osmosis desalination plant. The power captured by the wave energy conversion system is utilized to produce fresh water from the reverse osmosis-based desalination system model. The simulation results indicates that the operation of the combined system is a feasible solution to the fresh water issue and it is also much environmentally friendly.