Power Generation Using Mechanical Wave Energy Converter

Abstract

Ocean wave energy plays a significant role in meeting the growing demand of electric power. Economic, environmental, and technical advantages of wave energy set it apart from other renewable energy resources. Present study describes a newly proposed Mechanical Wave Energy Converter (MEWC) that is employed to harness heave motion of floating buoy to generate power. Focus is on the conceptual development of the device, illustrating details of component level analysis. Employed methodology has many advantages such as i) simple and easy fabrication; ii) easy to control the operations during rough weather; and iii) low failure rate during normal sea conditions. Experimental investigations carried out on the scaled model of MWEC show better performance and its capability to generate power at higher efficiency in regular wave fields. Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) shows rare failure rates for all components except the floating buoy.