The Development of a Rotational Wave Energy Conversion System: Design and Simulations

Electrical power generation by means of renewable energies is becoming a flourishing industry with many researchers focusing on investigating new and effective ways to harness this power. This paper presents a new proposed mechanism for harnessing the potential energy of open ocean waves and the procedures of efficiently converting this energy into electricity. Unlike many of the already proposed designs that utilize linear generators, this paper exposes some light on the idea of rotational conversion using ocean waves to make use of most-readily available generators. A simple buoy, piston, connecting rod and flywheel system fixed to a platform elevated from the sea level is designed and simulated to track the wave surface for converting the linear motion into rotational motion, which will eventually turn the generator. The results are validated with experimental data collected from a laboratory wave generator.