Floating Offshore Platform and Wave Energy Converter Integration: Collaborative Platform Stabilization and Energy Conversion

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This grant will support research that is synergistic with the key societal goals of lowering the cost of wave energy conversion and transforming existing offshore platforms into renewable energy hubs. Wave energy converters transform the energy of a moving ocean wave into useful electrical energy. Costs of installation, mooring and foundation, and operation and maintenance account for the majority of life costs of wave energy projects. A promising way to reduce these costs is to integrate wave energy converters with offshore floating platforms used for oil and gas production and operating worldwide in deep water areas where wave energy resources are abundant. This award supports fundamental research that will lay a theoretical foundation for enabling such integration without compromising the platform stability, thereby promising higher wave energy production at a significantly lower cost. As the wave energy potential of North America is enormous, results from this research will benefit the U.S. economy and society. This research will substantially broaden the knowledge in the fields of nonlinear vibrations, hydrodynamics, and energy harvesting. This research will proactively engage individuals from underrepresented groups in these fields through carefully designed outreach and research activities. Traditional wave energy converters operate based on the basic principle of linear resonance, whereby a natural period close to a typical wave period results in a large resonant response and, hence, high-efficiency wave power production. When integrated with a floating platform, this large resonant response can give rise to large platform motions, potentially destabilizing the platform. This research aims to develop a novel wave energy converter that exploits nonlinearities and internal resonances to promote energy transfer that mitigates dangerous hydrodynamic responses of the platform and efficiently converts wave energy at the same time. The work will develop a new numerical technique that enables computationally efficient bifurcation analysis of the energy transfer phenomenon in the presence of regular and irregular waves. Simulation studies will be used to predict the hydrodynamic response, electricity generation, and wave conversion efficiency and bandwidths of the integrated system. Finally, in-laboratory and wave tank experiments will be conducted to validate the numerical predictions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.