Modelling and field testing of a breakwater-integrated U-OWC wave energy converter with dielectric elastomer generator

Moretti, Giacomo; Malara, Giovanni; Scialò, Andrea; Daniele, Luca; Romolo, Alessandra; Vertechy, Rocco; Fontana, Marco; Arena, Felice

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.077

Cited by 53 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…[49] To date, experimental demonstration of DEGS-based energy scavenging from ambient and renewable energy sources has been provided via scaled laboratory prototypes (up to roughly 10 W of power). [48,49,140] Several theoretical estimates and numerical simulations have been carried out, which suggest that large-scale energy harvesting from ambient sources (wind and waves) is in principle feasible, [18,144] with bounds that are only due to current technological restrictions (e.g., manufacturing process and electronics upscaling).…”

Section: Energy Harvesting From Ambient Sources and Renewable Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Dielectric Elastomer Generator Systems

Moretti

Rosset

Vertechy

et al. 2020

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Dielectric elastomer generator systems (DEGSs) are a class of electrostatic softtransducers capable of converting oscillating mechanical power from different sources into usable electricity. Over the past years, a diversity of DEGSs has been conceived, integrated, and tested featuring diverse topologies and implementation characteristics tailored on different applications. Herein, the recent advances on DEGSs are reviewed and illustrated in terms of design of hardware architectures, power electronics, and control, with reference to the different application targets, including large-scale systems such as ocean wave energy converters, and small-scale systems such as human motion or ambient vibration energy harvesters. Finally, challenges and perspectives for the advancement of DEGSs are identified and discussed.

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Section: Energy Harvesting From Ambient Sources and Renewable Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Dielectric Elastomer Generator Systems

Moretti

Rosset

Vertechy

et al. 2020

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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“…This characteristic allows to increase significantly the hydrodynamic performance in comparison to traditional OWC plants. REWEC3 was developed by Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria and a small prototype with scale 1:10 and length 16.2 m was installed at the Natural Ocean Engineering Laboratory NOEL of the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria Moretti et al, 2019). The estimated average electrical energy produced during 1 year from a Rewec plant with total length of 1 km in central Mediterranean Sea is 6,000-9,000 MWh 2 .…”

Section: Rewec3: Resonant Wave Energy Convertermentioning

confidence: 99%

State of the Art and Perspectives of Wave Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Backstage of ISWEC

Mattiazzo

2019

Front. Energy Res.

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According to the European Commission, sea waves have a great potential as renewable energy source. Despite wave energy technology is a field in continuous development, it is not yet competitive with the other renewables, due to the small quantities of devices sold, most of them being prototypal solutions at level. So far, various Wave Energy Converter concepts have been developed and some of them tested in full scale. The most recurrent test environment is the North Atlantic Ocean, which possesses high energy potential. The Mediterranean Sea on the other hand is less energetic, but also possesses less dangerous extreme conditions. It represents a favorable starting point to develop technologies that later will be scaled up to more powerful sites. This article illustrates the wave energy potential of the Mediterranean and analyses the wave energy converters engineered according to sea states characteristic of the Mediterranean Sea. Focus is brought to the Inertial Sea Wave Energy Converter (ISWEC) technology, which is one of the few Mediterranean concept to have reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7. The article will document the deployment and the following open sea test campaign of a full-scale prototype off the shore of Pantelleria Island, Italy.

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“…The DEG-based OWC has been largely investigated in the last few years [6]. Wave tank tests have been carried out to assess the energetic performance up to a scale of approximately 1:30 [10], and a first campaign of sea tests has been carried out in a mild natural basin to test the passive response (without electrical control) of a DEG-OWC in real waves [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Section 3 illustrates a relevant case study, involving a particular OWC topology known as U-OWC [18,19]. With reference to this application, we present tests in which a fully-functional DEG prototype is coupled with a hydrodynamic model of a scaled U-OWC [11], hence paving the way towards future sea tests on small-scale systems operating in a mild sea climate. Section 4 draws the conclusions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of wave energy converters based on dielectric elastomer generators

et al. 2021

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Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) are soft electrostatic generators based on low-cost electroactive polymer materials. These devices have attracted the attention of the marine energy community as a promising solution to implement economically viable wave energy converters (WECs). This paper introduces a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation framework for a class of WECs that combines the concept of the oscillating water columns (OWCs) with the DEGs. The proposed HIL system replicates in a laboratory environment the realistic operating conditions of an OWC/DEG plant, while drastically reducing the experimental burden compared to wave tank or sea tests. The HIL simulator is driven by a closed-loop real-time hydrodynamic model that is based on a novel coupling criterion which allows rendering a realistic dynamic response for a diversity of scenarios, including large scale DEG plants, whose dimensions and topologies are largely different from those available in the HIL setup. A case study is also introduced, which simulates the application of DEGs on an OWC plant installed in a mild real sea laboratory test-site. Comparisons with available real sea-test data demonstrated the ability of the HIL setup to effectively replicate a realistic operating scenario. The insights gathered on the promising performance of the analysed OWC/DEG systems pave the way to pursue further sea trials in the future.

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Modelling and field testing of a breakwater-integrated U-OWC wave energy converter with dielectric elastomer generator

Cited by 53 publications

References 36 publications

A Review of Dielectric Elastomer Generator Systems

A Review of Dielectric Elastomer Generator Systems

State of the Art and Perspectives of Wave Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Backstage of ISWEC

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of wave energy converters based on dielectric elastomer generators

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