Dynamic performance of key components for hydraulic power take-off of the wave energy converter

Abstract

Since the input power of the real waves varies continuously and periodically, how to stabilise the operation and generation during wave energy utilisation has become an inevitable and significant topic. This study focuses on the wave energy converter of a hydraulic power take-off (HPTO) connected to a pendulum and studies the influences of the key components, i.e. the high-pressure accumulator, oil tank and flow control valve, on the operational stability of HPTO by simulations and experiments. Parameters of the high-pressure accumulator are analysed and optimised. The dynamic performance of the HPTO with or without the oil tank is also investigated. Besides, the functions of the flow control valve in the cases of excessive input power and load shedding are given. Results show that the key components play very important roles in the operational stability of HPTO. Reasonable configurations of the high-pressure accumulator and oil tank are significant to improve the quality of output power and stability. Appropriate actions of the flow control valve are beneficial to protection and stability. Therefore, these key components should be considered preferentially during the design of HPTO.