Experimental study on a heaving buoy wave energy converter

A Heaving buoy wave energy converter (HBWEC) is proved feasible in the coastal area with relatively small wave height and short wave period, especially in North China Sea. The Power Take-Off (PTO) of HBWEC is designed with the hydraulic system in which energy accumulators are applied. In this paper, a wave-to-wire test has been conducted, the overall performance of the HBWEC has been studied, and the influences of the initial and discharge pressures have been discussed. The results show that the energy storage mechanism is beneficial to collecting wave energy, under which does the output power of generator increase and does the stability of the system improve. The average output power of the HBWEC increases firstly with the increase of the initial pressure and then maintains a fixed value, and it increases with the increase of the discharge pressure. This study provides guidance for the design optimization of HBWEC.