Separated magnet yoke for permanent magnet linear generator for marine wave energy converters

In this paper the performance of a longitudinal flux permanent magnet linear generator (PMLG) for wave energy converters (WEC) is investigated. The influence of the number of slots per pole, phase q and the number of stator's winding sections are analysed. The power output and the cogging forces in the PMLG are calculated and reviewed with respect to the above design parameters. In addition, an optimised PMLG model is designed and simulated. Three-dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) is used for solving the combined field and circuit equations of the generator.The PRIMaRE project

Designing and Testing Composite Energy Storage Systems for Regulating the Outputs of Linear Wave Energy Converters

Linear wave energy converters generate intrinsically intermittent power with variable frequency and amplitude. A composite energy storage system consisting of batteries and super capacitors has been developed and controlled by buck-boost converters. The purpose of the composite energy storage system is to handle the fluctuations and intermittent characteristics of the renewable source, and hence provide a steady output power. Linear wave energy converters working in conjunction with a system composed of various energy storage devices, is considered as a microsystem, which can function in a stand-alone or a grid connected mode. Simulation results have shown that by applying a boost H-bridge and a composite energy storage system more power could be extracted from linear wave energy converters. Simulation results have shown that the super capacitors charge and discharge often to handle the frequent power fluctuations, and the batteries charge and discharge slowly for handling the intermittent power of wave energy converters. Hardware systems have been constructed to control the linear wave energy converter and the composite energy storage system. The performance of the composite energy storage system has been verified in experiments by using electronics-based wave energy emulators