Share reportPower Take Off
This programme supported a wide range of Power-Take Off systems that each proposed a step change in the capital cost and/or efficiency/performance over current technology.
Lead contractor
Blue Power Energy Ltd
Sub-contractor(s)
Energy Technology Centre Ltd
Overview
The Blue Power PTO is centred around the use of a pair of back-driven ballscrews to convert linear motion of a pushrod to rotational motion. The basic configuration of the device uses twin, one-way, clutches, each arranged for the opposite direction of drive. Consequently, as the rotary motion of the ballscrew shafts slows and then reverses during each cycle of the pushrod, unidirectional rotation of the generator is maintained.
The Blue Power PTO has the opportunity of achieving early and reliable deployment in conjunction with a range of WEC designs by utilising a range of existing hardware components and subsystems in this novel application. A key outcome of the project is a detailed performance characterisation of the PTO and, following this, the development of control strategies to ensure that the versatility of the PTO can be fully exploited for different WEC designs.
Stage 2
June 2017
There were three primary objectives for the Blue Power PTO project. These were, firstly, to evaluate accurately the conversion efficiency of the PTO and then optimise the design to ensure that the best possible overall efficiency level is obtained. Secondly, to develop a control system that can tune generator output, such that energy extraction and power smoothing can be maximised over a wide range of input sea states. And thirdly, to evaluate accurately the loading on the system components, and to carry out accelerated life cycle testing, in order to gain confidence in the predicted availability factors for the system.
During the execution of the project, the particular advantages of the Blue Power PTO in providing rectified and smoothed power were further developed to deliver a compact design which provides a significant advance in the performance, reliability, affordability and LCOE of WEC devices.
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