Browsing by Author "Kelly, James"
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Item Applying International Power Quality Standards for Current Harmonic Distortion to Wave Energy Converters and Verified Device Emulators(2019-09-24) Kelly, James; Aldaiturriaga, Endika; Ruiz-Minguela, Pablo; Tecnalia Research & InnovationThe push for carbon-free energy sources has helped encourage the development of the ocean renewable energy sector. As ocean renewable energy approaches commercial maturity, the industry must be able to prove it can provide clean electrical power of good quality for consumers. As part of the EU funded Open Sea Operating Experience to Reduce Wave Energy Cost (OPERA) project that is tasked with developing the wave energy sector, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) developed electrical power quality standards for marine energy converters, which were applied to an oscillating water column (OWC). This was done both in the laboratory and in the real world. Precise electrical monitoring equipment was installed in the Mutriku Wave Power Plant in Spain and to an OWC emulator in the Lir National Ocean Test Facility at University College Cork in Ireland to monitor the electrical power of both. The electrical power generated was analysed for harmonic current distortion and the results were compared. The observations from sea trials and laboratory trials demonstrate that laboratory emulators can be used in early stage development to identify the harmonic characteristics of a wave energy converter.Item Comparative assessment of control strategies for the biradial turbine in the Mutriku OWC plant(2020-02) Faÿ, François-Xavier; Henriques, João C.; Kelly, James; Mueller, Markus; Abusara, Moahammad; Sheng, Wanan; Marcos, Marga; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; RENOVABLES EFICIENCIA ENERGETICA Y CIRCULARIDADTo be competitive against other renewable energy sources, energy converted from the ocean waves needs to reduce its associated levelised cost of energy. It has been proven that advanced control algorithms can increase power production and device reliability. They act throughout the power conversion chain, from the hydrodynamics of wave absorption to the power take-off to improve the energy yield. The present work highlights the development and test of several algorithms to control the biradial turbine which is to be installed in the Mutriku oscillating water column plant. A collection of adaptive and predictive controllers is explored and both turbine speed controllers and latching strategies are examined. A Wave-to-Wire model of one chamber of the plant is detailed and simulation results of six control laws are obtained. The controllers are then validated using an electrical test infrastructure to prepare the future deployment in the plant. Finally, the control strategies are assessed against criteria like energy production, power quality or reliability.Item Numerical Simulation of Control Strategies at Mutriku Wave Power Plant(American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2018) Faÿ, François-Xavier; Kelly, James; Henriques, João; Pujana, Ainhoa; Abusara, Mohammad; Mueller, Markus; Touzon, Imanol; Ruiz-Minguela, Pablo; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; RENOVABLES EFICIENCIA ENERGETICA Y CIRCULARIDAD; DIGITAL ENERGY; RENOVABLES OFFSHOREIn order to de-risk wave energy technologies and bring confidence to the sector, it is necessary to gain experience and collect data from sea trials. As part of the OPERA H2020 project, the Mutriku Wave Power Plant (MWPP) is being used as a real condition laboratory for the experiment of innovative technologies. The plant is situated in the North shore of Spain and has been operating since 2011. It uses the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) principle, which consists in compressing and expanding the air trapped in a chamber due to the inner free-surface oscillation resulting from the incident waves. The pressure difference between the air chamber and the atmosphere is used to drive an air turbine. In that case, a self-rectifying air turbine is the best candidate for the energy conversion, as it produces a unidirectional torque in presence of a bi-directional flow. The power take-off system installed is composed of a biradial turbine connected to a 30kW off-the-shelf squirrel cage generator. One of the novelties of the turbine is a high-speed stop-valve installed close to the rotor. The valve may be used to control the flow rate through the turbine or for latching control. This paper focuses on the development, the implementation and the numerical simulation of five control strategies including turbine speed and generator torque controllers. The algorithms were designed thanks to a numerical model describing one of the OWC chambers of the Mutriku power plant. Numerical results are presented for a variety of sea states and a comparison between the proposed control laws in terms of energy production and power quality is performed.