Optimal control of wave energy devices with various power-take-off mechanisms

The aims of this research are to develop and test methods for analyzing and computing optimal control strategies for maximizing the useful power generated from wave energy converters incorporating realistic power-take-off and control mechanisms. Previously, strategies for maximizing energy absorbed by wave devices have been investigated, but these studies have assumed an ideal conversion rate using perfectly efficient turbomachinery with no constraints imposed by the generator capacity. In this paper various turbine characteristics and control mechanisms incorporating nonlinear losses are modelled, the qualitative properties of the optimal control strategy for maximizing average power delivered at the turbine shaft are analyzed, computational techniques for determining numerical solutions to the optimal control problem are established and the results are tested on a fully developed hydrodynamic model of a wave energy device.