Research Information System
4th International Scientific Conference on SEA-CONF, Constanta, Romania, 17 - 19 May 2018, vol.172
Energy from the waves at sea is one of the areas that has been an area of interest of the engineering communities worldwide. Recent decades have witnessed the development of various wave energy systems, using various schemes and principles. The main challenge for most systems in efficient energy converting is posed by converting energy into a usable form from the reciprocating wave induced motions due to the harmonic motion of water particles. The authors have conceived a scheme to convert the harmonic motions of water particles which manifest themselves as the near-sinusoidal motion of the free water surface into a unidirectional water flow that can be exploited for harvesting energy: An array of buoys that are arranged in a line perpendicular to the wave direction, that are allowed to oscillate in heaving motion. The heaving motion enforces a series of actuators to induce a sinusoidal motion to a diaphragm sheet placed inside a rectangular channel, which is placed beneath the free surface at a sufficient depth. The motion of the diaphragm sheet shall result in the peristaltic motion of the otherwise stagnant water. The mass of flowing water peristaltic-pumped then can be channelled to a turbine from which energy can be obtained.