Abstract
A “bolt-on” wave energy converter is designed to provide power for sensors on an existing oceanographic buoy. The narrow-banded pitch/roll response of the target oceanographic buoy lends itself to a tuned-resonator design, for which we suggest a novel “pitch resonator” wave energy converter concept. Using a pseudo-spectral method, the performance of the proposed wave energy converter is modeled in the range of sea states expected to be present at the target deployment location to study the effect of flywheel inertia on performance. The results show that the system can marginally meet the desired power demands, but suggest that related design concepts may be worth consideration.