Session: 09-02-03 WEC performance analysis

Paper Number: 81361

81361 - Input-Unknown Estimation for Arrays of Wave Energy Conversion Systems via LTI Synthesis 

The incoming menace of global overheating and the exhaustion of fossil fuels, highlights the needing for alternative, renewable energy sources. In this context, the most interesting ideas appear to be related to solar, wind and wave power conversion. If on one hand solar and wind power extraction techniques are already well-established technologies, on the other hand the wave field is still setting its point, both in terms of used tools and of actual potential. In optimizing Wave Energy Converters (WEC) productivity, control strategies appears immediately to be of paramount importance. Moreover, WECs are supposed to be arranged in array layouts, to maximize the energy production capacity of the accessible space. Among state-of-art techniques, optimal model based control techniques are showing their efficiency towards power production enlarging. However, various of model based optimal approaches need for a wave force estimation at every algorithm step, so mathematical estimators are needed. In particular, in array arrangements the mutual interactions between present devices lead to different force dynamics for the exciting waves, which must be taken into account during optimization. In this work an estimation approach for the wave exciting each WEC of the farm, which is the combination of the free response of the coupled identified system and the forced response induced by the other devices, is proposed. The technique is based on the extension of wave force model free estimation frameworks, that reconduct the estimation issue to a classical tracking control problem. The results showed how the developed approach manages to estimate properly the exciting force, and how neglecing the mutual inteaction in model identification phase can lead to inefficient estimation results.

Presenting Author: Guglielmo Papini MOREnergy Lab, Politecnico di Torino

Authors:

Guglielmo Papini MOREnergy Lab, Politecnico di Torino
Pasta Edoardo MOREnergy Lab, Politecnico di Torino
Nicolás Faedo MOREnergy Lab, Politecnico di Torino
Bruno Paduano Politecnico di Torino
Giuliana Mattiazzo Politecnico di Torino