Session: 06-11-01 Ocean Engineering Technology - I

Submission Number: 175795

Experimental Study on the Energy Storage Performance of a Pendulum- Based Wave Energy Converter for Self-Powered Ocean Drifting Buoys 

This paper investigates the performance of a pendulum-based wave energy converter (PWEC), aiming to provide stable power for ocean drifting buoys during offshore operations, thereby enabling sustainable operation and autonomous wireless sensing and data transmission of the internal devices. This PWEC is composed of a gravity pendulum, a transmission mechanism, and a power management unit. The buoy vibrations caused by external wave excitation are converted into the unidirectional high-speed rotation of a flywheel through the gravity pendulum and transmission mechanism that includes a bidirectional-to-unidirectional gear set and a gearbox, thereby driving the generator to produce DC electricity. This electricity is finally processed by the power management unit to power the system. To verify its performance, this study conducted simulation experiments on a six-degree-of-freedom vibration platform. By adjusting the frequency and amplitude of the platform to simulate actual sea conditions, the characteristics of the PWEC in converting mechanical vibrations into electrical energy were tested. The electrical energy is regulated by a voltage stabilization module into a stable DC power source and stored in an intermediate capacitor. It is then converted to a suitable voltage via a boost circuit to charge a lithium battery. The experiments focused on the influence of the output characteristics of the PWEC under different vibration conditions and the capacitor voltage level before boosting on the lithium battery charging rate, in order to determine the optimal energy conversion efficiency point of the system. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed PWEC is assessed as a stable power source to supply energy to ocean drifting buoys, including microcontrollers, sensors, and other loads.

Presenting Author: Tao Wang Northwestern Polytechnical University

Presenting Author Biography: The presenting author is a master's student at Northwestern Polytechnical University in China, specializing in marine renewable energy. His research focuses on the energy storage performance of pendulum-based wave energy converters (PWEC), designed to power ocean drifting buoys. This work evaluates the feasibility of the proposed PWEC as a stable power source for ocean drifting buoys in real ocean environments.

Authors:

Tao Wang Northwestern Polytechnical University
Siya Jin Northwestern Polytechnical University
Yihong Shi Northwestern Polytechnical University
Siya Deng Northwestern Polytechnical University
Kunde Yang Northwestern Polytechnical University