Introduction

The present invention is a system to enhance the energy harvesting of a pitching floating wave energy converter. The system is composed of water sloshing U-shaped tanks named U-Tanks that allows the tuning of the resonance peak frequency of the device with the incoming sea state. The resonance tuning will results in energy harvest enhancement of the device.

Technical features

The aim of this invention is to increase the dynamic response bandwidth of a system for harvesting ocean wave energy. The present invention consists in water sloshing U-shaped Tanks (U-Tank) installed on a system for generating energy from ocean waves. The control of the dynamic of the U-Tank allows the tuning of the device resonance period with the incoming sea state dominant period. This resonance tuning results in the enhancement of the energy production of the system. The active control of the U-Tank is achieved by air valves that regulate the air flow between the U-Tank reservoirs varying the device response.

Possible Applications

• Wave energy converter;
• Offshore floating wind turbines;
• Multipurpose offshore structures;
• Artificial floating islands;
• Floating breakwaters;
• Ships and cargos.

Advantages

• Enhancement of energy production;
• System Resonance tuning;
• Simple and well established technology;
• Standard components and manufacturing process;
• Standard control regulation system.