Wave energy converter using electromagnetic induction

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design an optimum Wave Energy Converter (WEC) device, which suits Malaysian wave characteristics based on the concept of electromagnetic induction. The existing WEC technologies are unsuitable for Malaysia wave characteristics as they are built for large waves with small frequency whilst Malaysian waves are small with high frequency. Besides, the available devices are massive and expensive in terms of fabrication and maintenance. Furthermore, a proper analysis was not conducted for the existing technologies as some of the previous works were scrapped due to inefficiency. A new device was designed using the theory of electromagnetic induction, which involves a magnet and a coil of wire. When a magnet moves through a coil, an induced current is produced in the coil. Performance estimation analysis was conducted to determine the system’s specifications. Wave characteristics such as significant height, Hs and period, Tinfluence the generated output. Thus, calculations between these two characteristics and the output characteristics, namely peak induced voltage, root mean square (RMS) induced voltage, RMS induced current and power generated were made. The relationships between these characteristics were then tabulated and presented in this paper. The conceptual design of this device has been completed. The next step is to fabricate the device, conduct performance analysis and compare with the performance estimation analysis.