On Real-Time Hybrid Testing of Ocean Wave Energy Conversion Systems: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The growing wave energy sector requires an efficient and flexible testing process for the development phase of wave energy systems. Real-time hybrid testing is a promising technique for the accelerated testing of wave energy conversion systems. This article presents an experimental study on developing a hybrid testing platform for wave energy systems at the Wallace Energy System and Renewables Facility (WESRF) at Oregon State University. The wave energy conversion system is broken down into numeric (i.e., virtual) and physical (i.e., hardware) components. The numeric component involves software components such as the control algorithm for Wave Energy Converter (WEC) and controller for the power electronic converters and numerical models for the WEC device hydrodynamics. The hardware involves an ocean wave emulator testbed, Power Take-Off (PTO) mechanism, power electronics, and instrumentation. The numeric components are implemented in a real-time target machine and are interfaced with the experimental system. A case study implementation of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) is presented for a single degree of freedom heaving nonlinear WEC model with a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) as a PTO system. A Field-Oriented Control (FOC) algorithm controls the PMSG-PTO generation using a three-phase Integrated Intelligent Power (IIP) module converter. A demonstration of the proposed hybrid testing setup is provided.