41 research outputs found
DESIGN TOOLS FOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY
No full textThe crisis caused by the COVID-19 has awakened the fear of forgetting the fight against Climate Change coming up with a number of initiatives demanding to accelerate the European Green Deal, as the best way out of the crisis. Offshore renewable energy sources, including offshore wind, wave power and tidal streams, might play a crucial role in meeting low-carbon energy scenarios, which is one of the six key principles of the Green Recovery, contributing at the same time to economic growth and job creation. However, continuous cost reduction is needed to achieve more efficient and competitive technologies in comparison to other energy sources. Design tools can help to accelerate cost reduction in early stages of technology development or deployment project planning. This article shows some examples of design tools developed within four European funded R&D projects: • DTOcean and DTOceanPlus provide advanced design tools for ocean energy systems innovation, development and deployment • LIFES50+ proves cost effective technology for floating substructures for 10MW wind turbines at water depths greater than 50 m • OPERA collects, analyses and shares open-sea operating data and experience to validate and de-risk several industrial innovations for wave energy The design tools presented in this article cover different stages of technology or project development: • Multi-physics numerical modelling tools for the design of floating offshore wind turbines • Decision-making tools during the planning phase of offshore wind or ocean energy farms • Structured innovation and stage gate tools for the evaluation of innovations for offshore renewables at early stages of development The reader will be able to find out references to useful open source tools and public documents produced by these projects.Peer reviewe
Layout Optimisation of Wave Energy Converter Arrays
No full textThis paper proposes an optimisation strategy for the layout design of wave energy converter (WEC) arrays. Optimal layouts are sought so as to maximise the absorbed power given a minimum q-factor, the minimum distance between WECs, and an area of deployment. To guarantee an efficient optimisation, a four-parameter layout description is proposed. Three different optimisation algorithms are further compared in terms of performance and computational cost. These are the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA), a genetic algorithm (GA) and the glowworm swarm optimisation (GSO) algorithm. The results show slightly higher performances for the latter two algorithms; however, the first turns out to be significantly less computationally demanding
Performance analysis and control design of a gyro-based wave energy converter
No full textThis paper analyses the performance of particular wave-energy converter that uses the gyroscopic effects of a large rotating fly-wheel in combination with a controlled power-take-off device. Controlled gyroscopic forces have been used successfully in the past to reduce the motion of marine structures. With appropriately designed power-take-off elements, gyroscopic forces can be controlled to optimise the extracted energy from the motion of marine structures
A novel methodology for the assessment of wave energy options at early stages
No full text276 p.El aumento de la proporción de generación de electricidad a partir de fuentes renovables es clave para garantizar un sistema energético totalmente descarbonizado y luchar contra el cambio climático. La energía undimotriz es un recurso abundante pero, al mismo tiempo, es la menos desarrollada de todas las tecnologías renovables. El marco de evaluación común desarrollado en la tesis se basa en principios sólidos de ingeniería de sistemas y abarca el contexto externo, los requisitos del sistema y los criterios de evaluación. Se puede aplicar a diferentes niveles de madurez tecnológica y capta los aspectos cualitativos relacionados con las expectativas de las partes interesadas. El enfoque novedoso guía las decisiones de diseño a lo largo del proceso de desarrollo para la gestión adecuada del riesgo y la incertidumbre, y facilita la selección y evaluación comparativa de la tecnología undimotriz a diferentes niveles de madurez de manera controlada. Los métodos propuestos en esta investigación brindan información valiosa para enfocar los esfuerzos de innovación en aquellas áreas que tienen la mayor influencia en el desempeño de la tecnología. La incorporación de estrategias de innovación eficaces en el desarrollo de la energía undimotriz ayuda a gestionar la complejidad del sistema y canalizar la innovación hacia mejoras útiles.Tecnali
A novel methodology for the assessment of wave energy options at early stages
No full text276 p.El aumento de la proporción de generación de electricidad a partir de fuentes renovables es clave para garantizar un sistema energético totalmente descarbonizado y luchar contra el cambio climático. La energía undimotriz es un recurso abundante pero, al mismo tiempo, es la menos desarrollada de todas las tecnologías renovables. El marco de evaluación común desarrollado en la tesis se basa en principios sólidos de ingeniería de sistemas y abarca el contexto externo, los requisitos del sistema y los criterios de evaluación. Se puede aplicar a diferentes niveles de madurez tecnológica y capta los aspectos cualitativos relacionados con las expectativas de las partes interesadas. El enfoque novedoso guía las decisiones de diseño a lo largo del proceso de desarrollo para la gestión adecuada del riesgo y la incertidumbre, y facilita la selección y evaluación comparativa de la tecnología undimotriz a diferentes niveles de madurez de manera controlada. Los métodos propuestos en esta investigación brindan información valiosa para enfocar los esfuerzos de innovación en aquellas áreas que tienen la mayor influencia en el desempeño de la tecnología. La incorporación de estrategias de innovación eficaces en el desarrollo de la energía undimotriz ayuda a gestionar la complejidad del sistema y canalizar la innovación hacia mejoras útiles.Tecnali
Applying international power quality standards for current harmonic distortion to wave energy converters and verified device emulators
No full textThe push for carbon-free energy sources has helped encourage the development of the ocean renewable energy sector. As ocean renewable energy approaches commercial maturity, the industry must be able to prove it can provide clean electrical power of good quality for consumers. As part of the EU funded Open Sea Operating Experience to Reduce Wave Energy Cost (OPERA) project that is tasked with developing the wave energy sector, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) developed electrical power quality standards for marine energy converters, which were applied to an oscillating water column (OWC). This was done both in the laboratory and in the real world. Precise electrical monitoring equipment was installed in the Mutriku Wave Power Plant in Spain and to an OWC emulator in the Lir National Ocean Test Facility at University College Cork in Ireland to monitor the electrical power of both. The electrical power generated was analysed for harmonic current distortion and the results were compared. The observations from sea trials and laboratory trials demonstrate that laboratory emulators can be used in early stage development to identify the harmonic characteristics of a wave energy converter
Successful innovation strategies to overcome the technical challenges in the development of wave energy technologies
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2023 European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference.The process of designing wave energy technologies is complex and time-consuming, involving many decisions. Despite numerous wave energy concepts being developed in the last 30 years, none have reached commercial readiness due to unresolved technical challenges and high costs in comparison to other renewable energy sources. To address the wave energy industry's high aspirations, this research proposes a systematic problem-solving approach based on sound Systems Engineering methods from the outset of technology development. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is used for problem formulation and selection, ensuring the traceability of requirements. The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is used for concept generation, providing efficiency and predictability by exploring a vast solution space. This approach has identified the top-five Inventive Principles to overcome the most critical technical challenges for wave energy technologies in the utility-scale market. Promising concepts are also suggested for each Inventive Principle. While the current research does not focus on a specific concept, this approach provides a structured way to assess the potential of innovative archetypes holistically.Peer reviewe
Electrical Connectors for Underwater Applications
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Nowadays, numerous companies offer a large choice of underwater connectors and assemblies, and it can be complex to distinguish the different technologies employed for each of them. This chapter provides an overview of the types of connectors that exist for underwater and subsea electrical connections. It presents different types of commercial-off-the-shelf electrical connectors, and lists their performances and defaults, as well as typical failure modes and their known causes. Although each manufacturer has its own designs and technologies, underwater connectors can be grouped into five main categories: rubber-molded, rigid-shell or bulkhead assemblies, fluid-filled underwater mateable, inductive coupling, and assemblies (non-unmateable). The chapter contains the theory on sealing and on connectors’ thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. It provides information on connection procedures and other details about connecting subsea cables with a focus on the connection of offshore renewable energy farms.Peer reviewe
Review of Electrical Connectors for Underwater Applications
No full textThe history of underwater electrical connectors is relativelynew: In 1858, the first transatlantic communication cable was created. Sincethen, the need for subsea electrical connectors has been growing very fastin the offshore industry. Today numerous companies offer a large choiceof underwater connectors and assemblies, and it can be intricate to distinguish the different technologies employed for each of them. However theuse, deployment, maintenance, and lifetime of any subsea equipment, froma simple sonar to a wave energy converter, relies on its connectors. Hencethe design of an underwater electrical connector is to be carefully lookedat, and especially for tailor-made applications that have more specific requirements. To produce a good connector, it is necessary to account for thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties, as well as to determine thebest materials that should be used for the application. Finally, connector issues go hand in hand with the deployment and operation of any electrical equipment, and it is of interest to review the different techniques for cable connection, as well as the challenges related to cable layout. Those challenges can be of different nature, but they should all be taken into account for any subsea connection
Review of Systems Engineering (SE) Methods and Their Application to Wave Energy Technology Development
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The design of effective and economically viable wave energy devices involves complex decision-making about the product based on conceptual design information, including stakeholder requirements, functions, components and technical parameters. The great diversity of concepts makes it extremely difficult to create fair comparisons of the relative merits of the many different designs. Conventional design approaches have proved insufficient to guarantee wave energy technologies meet their technical and economic goals. Systems engineering can provide a suitable framework to overcome the obstacles towards a successful wave energy technology. The main objective of this work is to review the well-established systems engineering approaches that have been successfully implemented in complex engineering problems and to what extent they have been applied to wave energy technology development. The paper first reviews how system information can be organised in different design domains to guide the synthesis and analysis activities and the definition of requirements and metrics, as well as the search for solutions and decision-making. Then, an exhaustive literature review on the application of systems engineering approaches to wave energy development is presented per design domain. Finally, a set of conclusions is drawn, along with some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of wave energy technology development.Acknowledgments: Authors would like to thank the Basque Government through the research groups IT1314‐ 19 and GIU19/276 and the Scottish Government for the support of Wave Energy Scotland. Funding: This work was partially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 785921, project DTOceanPlus (Advanced Design Tools for Ocean Energy Systems Innovation, Development and Deployment).Peer reviewe
